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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Maxperson" data-source="post: 7371140" data-attributes="member: 23751">The same way it worked in your example.  You described the feather as being a starting point.  The PC had to identify the feather as something that could be useful, get it enchanted, do a third thing, etc.  With the goal of becoming king, there will also be steps that need to be successfully completed along that patch in order to become king.  Probably more than just three, but theoretically it could be three or less depending on circumstances and background.With the player still.  There's very, very little chance that any hidden backstory will stop the player's goal, so at worst it will just represent an increase or added challenge, and at best make it easier to accomplish.  It will still be the player driving the story where the player wants it to go, and I will still be reacting to the player.I still don't see it.  The player told you he wanted to find an item before he left the city that would allow him to free his brother from the Balrog.  That triggered you to say stuff, and the stuff you said was about the bazaar and an angel feather.  Then he said that he would check it with his arcana skill.  That triggered you to say stuff based on the roll, and the stuff you said was about it being cursed.Why is it okay for your players to trigger you to say stuff, but you speak like it's something to be avoided when discussing other playstyles?Probably that he's not going to say it like that for one.  The player is going to tell me "I want to find an item that will help free my brother from possession by a balrog!  So I am going to go to the bazaar to try and find something at one of the merchants there.", or "I want to find an item that will help free my brother from possession by a balrog! So I go to Easypeasyfreshandsqueezy Street to find a sage that specializes in possession/demons/magic items to find information.", or "I want to find an item that will help free my brother from possession by a balrog!  So I go see if there is a wizard guild in the city."  Those statements trigger me to say stuff in response, just as you player triggered you to say stuff in response.  How I respond to the player's statement will vary depending on the circumstances, prior game play, etc.  Usually there will be a roll involved.  Sometimes it will just automatically succeed, such as if the player had previously spoken to a sage that had the specialty in question.  Sometimes, very rarely, it will automatically fail, such as if the player wants to find a wizard guild in a city that hates arcane spellcasters.  Sometimes there will be success with a consequence, or failure with a consequence.  Outright failure is okay, since there are many avenues to success.  A failure isn't a failure at the goal, but just at that step in the process.  The important thing is that I am not dictating the process or how the process is to work.  I'm not going to the player and saying "Your brother is possessed by a Balrog.  If you want him to be free, you have to do A, B, C, D and E."  That my playstyle is nothing like a choose your own adventure book, or a railroad, or the other negative lights you have tried to shine on it.  The players can't author things into existence, but that lack does not hinder their agency.  They still drive the game through their choices and goals.One of the things that pre-authoring adds that your style doesn't have, is the ability for both the DM and the players to draw from that large pool of pre-authored content.  I have been running primarily the Forgotten Realms since 1e.  If the players are in Baldur's Gate, they know many of the pre-authored elements and can draw from those.  The player might tell me, "I go find some Flaming Fists to take this lost girl back to her parents."  He has drawn on the depth of the world as an aid to what he wants to do.  That's not something that's really available in your game.  Your game lacks that depth(though it adds in other areas).  Your game has a very limited amount of pre-authored content(just stuff that you guys authored prior to that moment), so the player is either forced to use that or come up with a name on the fly.</blockquote>

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