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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 7405175" data-attributes="member: 42582">My own view is that &quot;logically&quot; designed worlds tend to have less verisimiltude - and far more symmetry and order - than the real world. Just confining this point to architecture and urban design - I've seen cities (eg Fez) that are as &quot;illogical&quot; as antyhing that the play of an RPG is going to throw up; and there is a public building not far from where I live that has enough &quot;staircases to nowhere&quot; (as a result of renovation and refitting over the years) that I would't be surprised if one of them did have a secret door at the top of it!You said that I insist that there can't be changes. But I don't insist that. I simply asssert that the GM having the power to rewrite his/her notes on the fly, or to make up new stuff which has the same status, for play purposes, as if it had been in his/her notes, doesn't change the distribution of agency that is my principal concern.That is not how that particular episode of play was resolved. The player asked &quot;Is there a bowl in the room.&quot; I could have said &quot;yes&quot;, but didn't - because the stakes here were meaningful for the PC, and a basic principle of &quot;say 'yes' or roll the dice&quot; is that when the stakes are meaningful then a check is called for. So I asked the player, &quot;Are you declaring as Assess action?&quot; (the particular nature of the action declared has implicaitons for action economy in that system). He answered yes, and then when it came time for the action to be resolved he rolled a Perception check against the difficulty I had set (pretty low, on the grounds that a bowl or were would be a likely thing to be in a room where an badly injured person is recovering).The player succeeded on the check, and hence saw a bowl. I, the GM, did not make the decision about that.I take it that you mean it's not relevant to you. It's relevant to me, for mcuh the same reason that the difference between a conversation and a script is relevant.I'm not sure what you mean by &quot;drama: here.A PC I am currently playing has Cooking skill and an Instinct to always keep a fire alight while camping. I would expect the GM to frame scenes that speak to those elements of the character. Such scenes may not be &quot;dramatic&quot; in the sense of &quot;exciting&quot; or &quot;action filled&quot;. But they would still be &quot;going where the action is&quot; ie speaking to the dramatic needs of the PC, and engaging with the thematic framework I have put forward for my PC.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 7405175, member: 42582"] My own view is that "logically" designed worlds tend to have less verisimiltude - and far more symmetry and order - than the real world. Just confining this point to architecture and urban design - I've seen cities (eg Fez) that are as "illogical" as antyhing that the play of an RPG is going to throw up; and there is a public building not far from where I live that has enough "staircases to nowhere" (as a result of renovation and refitting over the years) that I would't be surprised if one of them [I]did[/I] have a secret door at the top of it! You said that I insist that there can't be changes. But I don't insist that. I simply asssert that the GM having the power to rewrite his/her notes on the fly, or to make up new stuff which has the same status, for play purposes, as if it had been in his/her notes, doesn't change the distribution of agency that is my principal concern. That is not how that particular episode of play was resolved. The player asked "Is there a bowl in the room." I could have said "yes", but didn't - because the stakes here were meaningful for the PC, and a basic principle of "say 'yes' or roll the dice" is that when the stakes are meaningful then a check is called for. So I asked the player, "Are you declaring as Assess action?" (the particular nature of the action declared has implicaitons for action economy in that system). He answered yes, and then when it came time for the action to be resolved he rolled a Perception check against the difficulty I had set (pretty low, on the grounds that a bowl or were would be a likely thing to be in a room where an badly injured person is recovering). The player succeeded on the check, and hence saw a bowl. I, the GM, did not make the decision about that. I take it that you mean it's not relevant to you. It's relevant to me, for mcuh the same reason that the difference between a conversation and a script is relevant. I'm not sure what you mean by "drama: here. A PC I am currently playing has Cooking skill and an Instinct to always keep a fire alight while camping. I would expect the GM to frame scenes that speak to those elements of the character. Such scenes may not be "dramatic" in the sense of "exciting" or "action filled". But they would still be "going where the action is" ie speaking to the dramatic needs of the PC, and engaging with the thematic framework I have put forward for my PC. [/QUOTE]

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