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What is the point of GM's notes?
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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 8265594" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>In Burning Wheel, when my PC meets his brother when he was hoping to do so, I am being my character. I think this is more immersive than solving a puzzle - because solving a puzzle (I'm thinking here of, say, a number puzzle or a typical riddle) is a cognitive task that is largely independent of my character's distinct personality, whereas hoping to meet my brother is intimately connected to the details of <em>this character's </em>history and relationships and aspirations for his future.</p><p></p><p>It is true that, but for me expressing my hope and then me and the GM resolving a Circles check, the shared fiction would not include my PC's encounter with his brother. That does not change the fact that <em>I (my character) had a hope to meet his brother</em>.</p><p></p><p>I have never read nor played BitD, but I don't see that the flashback mechanic involves any sort of stepping out of character. Here and now, my character is confronted with a problem. I as my character recall what I planned for, in anticipation of the problem; and the GM and I now resolve the operationalisation of that plan. That is <em>me being my character</em>.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Like you, I struggle to see any contrast. In all these cases I (pemerton, the player) am using my imagination to imagine what I (pemerton's PC) am doing.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>In [USER=6696971]@Manbearcat[/USER]'s examples of play, the bolded thing is not true.</p><p></p><p></p><p>In BitD, the character <em>engaged in the planning</em> before <em>operationalising the planning</em>. The fiction does not involve any sort of time travel.</p><p></p><p>But just like Manbearcat's examples, the time sequence at the table does not correspond to the time sequence in the fiction.</p><p></p><p>If my character is asked to tell another character what s/he dreamt, then I (the player at the table) have to make something up about what my character dreamt. In other words, first I experience an event that happens in the (fictional) morning - <em>Character X asks my PC "what did you dream about?"</em> - and then I experience an event that happened earlier (my PC's dreams - it doesn't matter to the point if we assume that at this point I'm actually experiencing my PC's sleeping thoughts or if I'm experiencing my PC's recollection of those upon waking, because both those things happened, in the fiction, before X asked my PC the question).</p><p></p><p>If my character is asked by character X <em>did you try my coffee?</em> then whatever I answer, I (the player) am experiencing the episode of being asked the question <em>before </em>I have any experience of how the morning's coffee-drinking or coffee-declining unfolded, although <em>in the fiction</em> the sequence of events was of course the other way around.</p><p></p><p>The flashback mechanic is no different in the way it affects the relationship in-fiction time sequences to at-the-table time sequences except that instead of a leisurely question about coffee or dreams which is mere colour, it's more like - as a fight breaks out in a D&D game - one character asks my character <em>Did you cast Stoneskin on all of us this morning? </em>The affect on the time sequence is no different; it's just that the stakes of one rather than another answer are a bit higher.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 8265594, member: 42582"] In Burning Wheel, when my PC meets his brother when he was hoping to do so, I am being my character. I think this is more immersive than solving a puzzle - because solving a puzzle (I'm thinking here of, say, a number puzzle or a typical riddle) is a cognitive task that is largely independent of my character's distinct personality, whereas hoping to meet my brother is intimately connected to the details of [I]this character's [/I]history and relationships and aspirations for his future. It is true that, but for me expressing my hope and then me and the GM resolving a Circles check, the shared fiction would not include my PC's encounter with his brother. That does not change the fact that [I]I (my character) had a hope to meet his brother[/I]. I have never read nor played BitD, but I don't see that the flashback mechanic involves any sort of stepping out of character. Here and now, my character is confronted with a problem. I as my character recall what I planned for, in anticipation of the problem; and the GM and I now resolve the operationalisation of that plan. That is [I]me being my character[/I]. Like you, I struggle to see any contrast. In all these cases I (pemerton, the player) am using my imagination to imagine what I (pemerton's PC) am doing. In [USER=6696971]@Manbearcat[/USER]'s examples of play, the bolded thing is not true. In BitD, the character [I]engaged in the planning[/I] before [I]operationalising the planning[/I]. The fiction does not involve any sort of time travel. But just like Manbearcat's examples, the time sequence at the table does not correspond to the time sequence in the fiction. If my character is asked to tell another character what s/he dreamt, then I (the player at the table) have to make something up about what my character dreamt. In other words, first I experience an event that happens in the (fictional) morning - [I]Character X asks my PC "what did you dream about?"[/I] - and then I experience an event that happened earlier (my PC's dreams - it doesn't matter to the point if we assume that at this point I'm actually experiencing my PC's sleeping thoughts or if I'm experiencing my PC's recollection of those upon waking, because both those things happened, in the fiction, before X asked my PC the question). If my character is asked by character X [I]did you try my coffee?[/I] then whatever I answer, I (the player) am experiencing the episode of being asked the question [I]before [/I]I have any experience of how the morning's coffee-drinking or coffee-declining unfolded, although [I]in the fiction[/I] the sequence of events was of course the other way around. The flashback mechanic is no different in the way it affects the relationship in-fiction time sequences to at-the-table time sequences except that instead of a leisurely question about coffee or dreams which is mere colour, it's more like - as a fight breaks out in a D&D game - one character asks my character [I]Did you cast Stoneskin on all of us this morning? [/I]The affect on the time sequence is no different; it's just that the stakes of one rather than another answer are a bit higher. [/QUOTE]
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What is the point of GM's notes?
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