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<blockquote data-quote="Manbearcat" data-source="post: 7446866" data-attributes="member: 6696971">@<a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/member.php?u=5142" target="_blank">Aldarc</a> and&nbsp; @<a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/member.php?u=996" target="_blank">Tony Vargas</a>Just read the last page or so right quick (anymore my reading of EnWorld is extremely sporadic, quick, and bouncing around) and I just wanted to add something to clarify your discussion.I'm not a big fan of the term &quot;fiat&quot; to describe GMing in games like BitD, DW, etc.&nbsp; When we deploy the term &quot;fiat&quot; with respect to GMing in RPGs, we're typically talking about a game that affords a GM basically (or nearly) a full mandate, extraordinary latitude to make decisions about the mechanics and the fiction under the auspices of some very zoomed-out agenda like &quot;whatever (the GM thinks) provides the most fun/tells the best story.&quot;&nbsp; So these decisions can either be somewhat arbitrary (under scrutiny) or feel arbitrary in the moment.Contrast this with games like the aforementioned BitD and DW where GMing is extremely (transparent and explicit) principle-and-premise-constrained.&nbsp;&nbsp; GMs who enjoy the former latitude will often struggle under the enforced discipline and directives of the latter (until they either toggle their mental framework or get used to it).&nbsp;&nbsp; As such, I don't think &quot;fiat&quot; is a particularly good descriptor here.&nbsp; I think people who aren't familiar with these games (and what running them is like) will be confused and unable to distinguish the significant difference because they associate the word &quot;fiat&quot; with a very particular GMing paradigm.So I don't use that term when I describe what you're doing when running those games.&nbsp; I think even using the language &quot;principled and disciplined fiat&quot; is fraught because folks are still going to focus on the word &quot;fiat&quot; and let that guide their understanding.&nbsp; I typically just describe it with terms like &quot;principles&quot; and &quot;discipline&quot; and depict those constraints.Anyway, carry on!</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Manbearcat, post: 7446866, member: 6696971"] @[I][B][U][URL="http://www.enworld.org/forum/member.php?u=5142"]Aldarc[/URL][/U][/B][/I] and @[I][B][U][URL="http://www.enworld.org/forum/member.php?u=996"]Tony Vargas[/URL][/U][/B][/I] Just read the last page or so right quick (anymore my reading of EnWorld is extremely sporadic, quick, and bouncing around) and I just wanted to add something to clarify your discussion. I'm not a big fan of the term "fiat" to describe GMing in games like BitD, DW, etc. When we deploy the term "fiat" with respect to GMing in RPGs, we're typically talking about a game that affords a GM basically (or nearly) a full mandate, extraordinary latitude to make decisions about the mechanics and the fiction under the auspices of some very zoomed-out agenda like "whatever (the GM thinks) provides the most fun/tells the best story." So these decisions can either be somewhat arbitrary (under scrutiny) or feel arbitrary in the moment. Contrast this with games like the aforementioned BitD and DW where GMing is extremely (transparent and explicit) principle-and-premise-constrained. GMs who enjoy the former latitude will often struggle under the enforced discipline and directives of the latter (until they either toggle their mental framework or get used to it). As such, I don't think "fiat" is a particularly good descriptor here. I think people who aren't familiar with these games (and what running them is like) will be confused and unable to distinguish the significant difference because they associate the word "fiat" with a very particular GMing paradigm. So I don't use that term when I describe what you're doing when running those games. I think even using the language "principled and disciplined fiat" is fraught because folks are still going to focus on the word "fiat" and let that guide their understanding. I typically just describe it with terms like "principles" and "discipline" and depict those constraints. Anyway, carry on! [/QUOTE]

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