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<blockquote data-quote="Ovinomancer" data-source="post: 8236492" data-attributes="member: 16814">I think that the whole &quot;GM's notes&quot; thing can be simplified a bit into just &quot;GM decides.&quot;&nbsp; This mode of play is where the GM is the arbiter of what happens in the fiction, so play occurs according to the GM's understanding of the game world and the fiction.&nbsp; Now, within this scope, there's shades of difference, one of which is very much dependent on the GM's notes, or, rather, that the GM has pre-established in a largely fixed way a large amount of the game fiction.&nbsp; The play is then to determine what is in the GM's pre-conception of the game fiction.&nbsp; This is where Skilled Play a la Moldvay dungeon crawls situates itself.&nbsp; It's still under the auspice of GM Decides, but it's a subset.Another version of this is where the GM has few or almost no notes, but is still the source of how things come about in play.&nbsp; This is what's usually referred to as improv or ad-lib play by posters unfamiliar with systems built to generate content during play.&nbsp; This is what a D&amp;D game with a &quot;loosey-goosey&quot; GM looks like.To contrast &quot;GM Decides&quot; you have systems where the GM is tightly constrained, usually by having no pre-conception of the fiction, only the fiction as introduced, and with rules that state that actions cannot be blocked, only allowed to succeed or be challenged with the mechanics.&nbsp; They also have mechanical systems that allow for both player and GM input, and tight constraints on the outcomes.&nbsp; These are the Burning Wheel, PbtA, FitD style games.Somewhere in the middle of both of these are systems that can swing either way, depending on the GM.&nbsp; FATE, despite my not grasping how it can be a GM decides game and work at all, is apparently one given play reports.&nbsp; D&amp;D 4e is another.&nbsp; From how [USER=42582]@pemerton[/USER] describes Traveler, I'd say it fits as well.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Ovinomancer, post: 8236492, member: 16814"] I think that the whole "GM's notes" thing can be simplified a bit into just "GM decides." This mode of play is where the GM is the arbiter of what happens in the fiction, so play occurs according to the GM's understanding of the game world and the fiction. Now, within this scope, there's shades of difference, one of which is very much dependent on the GM's notes, or, rather, that the GM has pre-established in a largely fixed way a large amount of the game fiction. The play is then to determine what is in the GM's pre-conception of the game fiction. This is where Skilled Play a la Moldvay dungeon crawls situates itself. It's still under the auspice of GM Decides, but it's a subset. Another version of this is where the GM has few or almost no notes, but is still the source of how things come about in play. This is what's usually referred to as improv or ad-lib play by posters unfamiliar with systems built to generate content during play. This is what a D&D game with a "loosey-goosey" GM looks like. To contrast "GM Decides" you have systems where the GM is tightly constrained, usually by having no pre-conception of the fiction, only the fiction as introduced, and with rules that state that actions cannot be blocked, only allowed to succeed or be challenged with the mechanics. They also have mechanical systems that allow for both player and GM input, and tight constraints on the outcomes. These are the Burning Wheel, PbtA, FitD style games. Somewhere in the middle of both of these are systems that can swing either way, depending on the GM. FATE, despite my not grasping how it can be a GM decides game and work at all, is apparently one given play reports. D&D 4e is another. From how [USER=42582]@pemerton[/USER] describes Traveler, I'd say it fits as well. [/QUOTE]

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