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Message: <blockquote data-quote="howandwhy99" data-source="post: 5397445" data-attributes="member: 3192">This thing called power doesn't exist. I think you are creating it by choosing to view interpersonal relationships through an imperfect lens.  Choose not to use that lens and the relationship is not about power, this abstract concept I can't point at in the real world.Defining personal relationships in terms of power almost always begins by defining other as enemy, so my instincts are "unequal power relationships are undesirable" is your point of view. The conclusion is in the premise.  But they aren't necessarily undesirable for you, okay.  But when you say, "You cannot get around the idea that there is a power relationship at the table.  It's always there.  It has to be there really." I think you are locking yourself in a box that isn't there.  Of course there is no power relationship at the table. It only exists if people choose to create it.A puzzle game isn't about power differences between individuals, but the deciphering of the underlying pattern of the puzzle.  It is an enabling exercise, not a controlling one. The player improvised the cult member, I did not.  It is added to the code as the game is designed to engage him or her in continual deciphering of the world they are in.  They all know about the "Irrelevant, so Yes" rule at start, so they know some of their conclusions drawn may be be accurate only because they were initially irrelevant.  But upon the asking they immediately become relevant and are incorporated within the entire web of the game.NPC knowledge maps can be explored through 1st person POV speech, but they are not improvised at the table. They are either generated during scenario creation, determined by players in backgrounds or at the table, or chosen by me at their initial configuration.  As in the GoL, I as referee get to choose that initial configuration of the puzzle, like purchasing a module, but it must stick to or be converted to the underling code.  I could write a module for any number of computer game engines, but it would still need to be converted to that engine to work.I get this style of game is not yet attractive to you.  It is appealing to people who play games to win, to decipher the code as in M:tG and demonstrate their own prowess.  Memory matters in my game.  Strongly attempting to imagine the related world, observe every detail, and retain for further reflection all of it leads to greater ability to perform within it.  It isn't necessary to do so, but it is rewarded.  My intention is not to turn the DM into a robot, but rather a referee.  As a language game they are always having to decipher communication by the players to their best judgment.  Clarification is key.</blockquote>

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