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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Fenris-77" data-source="post: 8242784" data-attributes="member: 6993955">That's a nice definition, but I think it misses a key element that GM Notes captures perfectly. Let's set aside, for a moment, everything about play style and adjudication, and focus for a moment on the specific idea of deep prep. This is a common thing for many GMs running many systems. It is also not, in itself, a bad thing as it can certainly lead to enormously deeply compelling and developed game worlds, something that I think we all enjoy to some degree. The nature of that prep, in other words the content and purpose of the notes, can differ greatly from GM to GM, and the differences there start to outline some of the negatives that can accompany this particular approach to setting design.I think we can agree that prep about mythology isn't harmful, nor are maps and geography, nor indeed are NPCs and factions. All of those things can exist in GM notes and be produced as needed to add depth and interest to a game. However, when those notes contain items that index more to plot than content that is where problems can start to arise. That sort of prep involves things like where specific information can be found, which NPCs know what, which factions are doing what, and more broadly, what the next steps of the adventure will look like. None of that has to be a negative, but it certainly can be. The extent to which a GM relies on those notes and his existing prep to try and guide the game in a specific direction, and the extent to which, in play, he does or does not make other avenues of action and investigation options functionally available to the players is also probably, quite fairly, the extent to which the term railroad might be applied to that game. In short, the extent to which the plot is something to be discovered is probably where this turns into a problem in a lot of games. Taking a different tack, the extent to which those notes are treated as inviolate in play is telling.The point of this is to differentiate the existence of GM notes period as an issue, which is isn't, from some specific uses and approaches to those notes, which can be a problem.</blockquote>

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