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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lanefan" data-source="post: 7345415" data-attributes="member: 29398">I suppose (ii) might hold water in LARPing, where one is somewhat expected to assume the persona of one's character - much like stage or screen acting, where George Clooney might well answer "Right now I'm Danny Ocean" if asked his name during filming of one of the Ocean's nn movies because at that moment that answer is true in his mind.A truly immersive RPGer (sometimes unfairly disparaged as the "method actor" type) might do the same thing - try as far as possible to assume their character's identity during the game, then when the game is done leave it behind until next session.With you up to here, friend. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />Er...the last quoted word here...what is it?Let's go step by step and you can tell me where you start to disagree with me.  I'll try to make this as mechanics/system-neutral as I can, and focus on what happens rather than how.Once we all accept the stipulation that I'm Falstaff the Fighter and you're Gutboy Barrelhouse the Dwarf and Joe is Mialee the Wizard it's a very short step to also jointly accepting the stipulation that we're in the same imagined place (a tavern in a game world somewhere) having a conversation with each other about someday going out adventuring and seeing the world.  With me so far?From here it's another very short step to jointly accepting these stipulations regarding the scene around us:- that this tavern we're in has a reputation for fine food, dubious ale and a rough clientele, and also has a rather shady history- the tavern is in a moderate-size harbour town permanently populated mostly by humans with a wide scattering of other races coming and going on the ships- within the town the tavern is located a few streets inland from the docks, still in the sailors' part of townWith me so far?  Nothing very controversial yet...so let's put things in motion.From here it's another short step to jointly accepting the general premise of things happening within the stipulation: in this case the conversation we three are having being interrupted by Mialee noticing someone trying to pick her pocket.  She grabs the Thief's arm and pulls him around in front of her, whereupon Gutboy reaches up and grabs him by the hair to make sure he stays put.  Falstaff meanwhile looks around to make sure everyone else is minding their own business, which so far they are.  Now we've got some in-game action and we've all jointly bought in to the scene - with me so far?And from here it's a short step to finding examples of cause and effect within the scope of the stipulation.  The tavern's bouncers notice the disturbance and come over to take a look (Falstaff, observant clod that he is, doesn't see them coming); and quickly decide the simplest option is to throw all four of us out [this result was pre-planned by the DM if events allowed for it, see below for why].  Result: we're firmly escorted out the door, with Gutboy still grimly clinging to the poor Thief's hair!  Now we've got cause and effect within the scene: cause being the Thief provoking a disturbance, result being we're now out in the street with a captive Thief.  With me so far?So let's go a step further into the murk - assuming by now we're all fully bought in to the scene I'll let that one go and move to part two: hidden elements.  The Thief, tired of having his hair pulled, makes all kinds of promises that if released he'll be the best friend we three have ever had, he'll share his stealings with us, he'll never ever ever steal from us again, blah blah blah...and it slowly occurs to the three of us that this Thief might in fact make a good addition to our group.  So we take him somewhere quiet, sit him down, and get to know him.  End result: we take him in and our group grows by one.  Seems innocuous enough from a play perspective, right?  But here's the catch: though the Thief thus far has been played by the DM as if it was an NPC, unknown to anyone else except the DM this is in fact Mary's character Keyes; and she now steps in and takes him over.  Mary had this idea to start with, and acting on this idea she and the DM had pre-planned this as an unusual method of introducing her to the budding party; with Mary fully aware of the risk that Keyes' approach might be rejected (in which case there were plans B, C and D in the works to get him in later) or Keyes even killed outright (in which case Mary has another character on standby and ready to rock).This also explains the bouncers throwing us all out (a bit unusual, given the tavern is known to be a rough place anyway and our little disturbance was pretty minor): to isolate the four of us and thus give the Thief an opportunity to make his case.So to sum up: in a short sequence we've seen in-fiction cause and effect, we've seen hidden elements at work, we've seen DM pre-authorship at work, and we've got a party started!Where in your view does any of this go wrong?Lanefan</blockquote>

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