Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
When (or can) the fiction overrides the DM?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="rmcoen" data-source="post: 8799258" data-attributes="member: 6692404"><p>In my current world, there is no contact with other planes (because backStory for the world). Therefore, I cannot (should not) suddenly decide to drop in "oh, except for this guy, because now I want a god in the story... ooh ooh, and the demon he's fighting... .and they summon elementals!" However, I <em>can</em> have a god-LIKE being battling a demon-LIKE being, who battle using pieces of the EXISTING WORLD that they empower which FUNCTIONALLY work like elementals.</p><p></p><p>Likewise, I would not allow a PC to take the demon-hunting Paladin Oath, because there are no demons and therefore no reason for that Oath to exist. Similarly, the PCs will never find a demon-slaying sword, as there are no demons to slay, and no reason for the sword to exist. (Unless this is a CLUE about the STORY's justification in the first place... but I'm not running <em>that</em> game in this particular scenario.)</p><p></p><p>On the other hand, I <em>can</em> change the ongoing story, despite the fiction. For example: </p><p>The story has Three Kingdoms at war with the rest of the Tribe- (goblinoid & giant) -controlled world. Would it make sense for one Kingdom to attack the others in this "if we don't stick together, we all die" situation? Well, humans are involved, so sure. Can I just throw that into the campaign without warning? I could - the PCs are all on the NW frontier, the war could start in the SE. And the PCs haven't spent much time in the Kingdoms, maybe they just missed the early signs. And as DM, I could retroactively write in some political manoeuvring and clues that happened where they didn't see. And for extra twists, put some nobles they like in support of the war, and some they don't like as being opposed, for some interesting RP choices.</p><p></p><p>So yes, the fiction can "override" the DM's impulses at times. But the DM controls the world, so sometimes big or abrupt changes can still occur. Also, MAGIC. Maybe a BBEG they didn't know about succeeded in his EVIL PLOT because the heroes local to him failed.</p><p></p><p>And then there's the least favourable option: throw a rock at it. A comet crashes into the world, and now this happens....</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="rmcoen, post: 8799258, member: 6692404"] In my current world, there is no contact with other planes (because backStory for the world). Therefore, I cannot (should not) suddenly decide to drop in "oh, except for this guy, because now I want a god in the story... ooh ooh, and the demon he's fighting... .and they summon elementals!" However, I [I]can[/I] have a god-LIKE being battling a demon-LIKE being, who battle using pieces of the EXISTING WORLD that they empower which FUNCTIONALLY work like elementals. Likewise, I would not allow a PC to take the demon-hunting Paladin Oath, because there are no demons and therefore no reason for that Oath to exist. Similarly, the PCs will never find a demon-slaying sword, as there are no demons to slay, and no reason for the sword to exist. (Unless this is a CLUE about the STORY's justification in the first place... but I'm not running [I]that[/I] game in this particular scenario.) On the other hand, I [I]can[/I] change the ongoing story, despite the fiction. For example: The story has Three Kingdoms at war with the rest of the Tribe- (goblinoid & giant) -controlled world. Would it make sense for one Kingdom to attack the others in this "if we don't stick together, we all die" situation? Well, humans are involved, so sure. Can I just throw that into the campaign without warning? I could - the PCs are all on the NW frontier, the war could start in the SE. And the PCs haven't spent much time in the Kingdoms, maybe they just missed the early signs. And as DM, I could retroactively write in some political manoeuvring and clues that happened where they didn't see. And for extra twists, put some nobles they like in support of the war, and some they don't like as being opposed, for some interesting RP choices. So yes, the fiction can "override" the DM's impulses at times. But the DM controls the world, so sometimes big or abrupt changes can still occur. Also, MAGIC. Maybe a BBEG they didn't know about succeeded in his EVIL PLOT because the heroes local to him failed. And then there's the least favourable option: throw a rock at it. A comet crashes into the world, and now this happens.... [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
When (or can) the fiction overrides the DM?
Top