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Message: <blockquote data-quote="hawkeyefan" data-source="post: 8253803" data-attributes="member: 6785785">But what does that even mean about the DM's hat? I mean, it's all made up...does it matter when? I mean, I can understand how it can be done poorly, sure. Or that certain kinds of games would not be the best fit for this.....something like a classic dungeon delve is probably best served by having a map and tracked resources and random encounters charts and the like, but that's more about this kind of game being about player skill. There's no reason that a dungeon delve style of scenario could not be crafted by a GM in a game that doesn't rely so heavily on GM prep. I've done it myself, so I know it's possible. I think the difference here is that writers benefit from having the chance to edit and to rework things, and to revise and retroactively fix things before publication, and all of this is without having to consider any kind of interactive quality with their audience. The audience will either like their work or not, but the audience will not shape an individual work with their own actions. Gaming is different. If the whole point of play is for players to experience a novel that's been crafted by the GM with some points of input, then sure, I would think advice on writing novels and worldbuilding for novels becomes more relevant. The benefit for me is that I don't need to spend so much time preparing for a game. I don't need to have a vast and detailed knowledge of anything prior to play. And I as GM am discovering a lot during play. I'm learning about the setting right along with the players a lot of the time. I also find sharing the creative process with the players tends to invest them more in the game and the setting. They feel more involved, which usually enhances play. Things matter more, they feel more immersed, they care about what's happening. In a lot of my earliest games that I GMed, I as GM cared a lot more about the setting than the players did. They just wanted a setting to enable play more than learning about as an interesting place.Well it's all fiction. But as far as what is "the fiction" of a specific game, then I think it is limited to what's been established. Prior to it being established, it can change.This is my point. The goal isn't to craft a story, even if we can kind of describe the events of play as a "story" after the fact. But it's not constructed as such with the kinds of dramatic considerations that authors typically use to craft stories. But it's still fiction. It's make believe. I feel like this is one of the few things that EVERY game each of us has mentioned in this thread has in common.....they all create some kind of make believe.I feel like denying that removes one of the central commonalities that all RPGs have, from Sandbox to Adventure Path to Story Now and anything in between.</blockquote>

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