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<blockquote data-quote="JamesonCourage" data-source="post: 5653379" data-attributes="member: 6668292">We're using words differently, I think. What you call &quot;story&quot; I call &quot;setting&quot;. You say stuff happens whether or not &quot;they involve themselves in some sort of external &quot;plot&quot;.&quot; I say:The above, to me, is setting, not story. If a country declares war on another country and mobilizes its troops, I call that an &quot;evolving setting&quot; not &quot;story.&quot; Story implies a certain amount of plot, or outline, or somesuch that I don't partake in. An &quot;evolving setting&quot; implies a setting (countries with armies, in this case) that evolves over time (two countries going to war).&nbsp;In another thread I replied to recently, I wrote the following:With that in mind, I definitely have a defined setting with things for them to explore. They can go to the frozen wastes of the continent of Hyal and explore the Great Ruins there. They can travel from the elven nation of Nissalli through the hostile troll nation of Salik and into the Theyline Forest, hoping to make it to the Gates of Neecro where the Everlasting Song resides (the source of immortality for all the immortal races). They can take a short ferry ride led by preamesh (merfolk) from the coast to Drensara's abandoned keep, to see if they can find a lead on the pirates that visit it, or speak to the undead pniephrim (cat-like race) that inhabits it. They can go to Mount Malinthus during the three-way war between Voltonaire, the Empire of Jordana, and Sumein, and attempt to sell their sword to the highest bidder (probably the Empire of Jordana, but Sumein is less strict and the money is close). They can go off of the Mortal Realm to Sayreshi to take the fight to the demons (who are hurting after recently being driven off the Mortal Realm).There are any number of places for them to explore. I definitely have a setting. Depending on events, I let it evolve naturally. I have no end goal in mind, nor any outline. Like you, I proving &quot;a living, breathing world for them to explore.&quot; What I don't call it is a story, I call it an evolving setting (definition of &quot;evolving&quot;: &quot;Develop gradually, esp. from a simple to a more complex form&quot;; definition of &quot;setting&quot;: &quot;The place or type of surroundings where something is positioned or where an event takes place&quot;). I don't like calling it a &quot;story&quot; because of the implication that it has a destination in mind (&quot;story&quot; second definition: &quot;A plot or story line&quot;).&nbsp;I'm very much not a &quot;narrative&quot; GM. I strongly dislike that style of game for the fantasy genre. I don't like &quot;collaborative storytelling&quot; and I dislike the term &quot;storyteller&quot; for the GM. But, that's my personal preference. I think, really, that we're just using words differently.As always, play what you like <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile&nbsp; &nbsp; :)"&nbsp; data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

[QUOTE="JamesonCourage, post: 5653379, member: 6668292"] We're using words differently, I think. What you call "story" I call "setting". You say stuff happens whether or not "they involve themselves in some sort of external "plot"." I say: The above, to me, is setting, not story. If a country declares war on another country and mobilizes its troops, I call that an "evolving setting" not "story." Story implies a certain amount of plot, or outline, or somesuch that I don't partake in. An "evolving setting" implies a setting (countries with armies, in this case) that evolves over time (two countries going to war). In another thread I replied to recently, I wrote the following: With that in mind, I definitely have a defined setting with things for them to explore. They can go to the frozen wastes of the continent of Hyal and explore the Great Ruins there. They can travel from the elven nation of Nissalli through the hostile troll nation of Salik and into the Theyline Forest, hoping to make it to the Gates of Neecro where the Everlasting Song resides (the source of immortality for all the immortal races). They can take a short ferry ride led by preamesh (merfolk) from the coast to Drensara's abandoned keep, to see if they can find a lead on the pirates that visit it, or speak to the undead pniephrim (cat-like race) that inhabits it. They can go to Mount Malinthus during the three-way war between Voltonaire, the Empire of Jordana, and Sumein, and attempt to sell their sword to the highest bidder (probably the Empire of Jordana, but Sumein is less strict and the money is close). They can go off of the Mortal Realm to Sayreshi to take the fight to the demons (who are hurting after recently being driven off the Mortal Realm). There are any number of places for them to explore. I definitely have a setting. Depending on events, I let it evolve naturally. I have no end goal in mind, nor any outline. Like you, I proving "a living, breathing world for them to explore." What I don't call it is a story, I call it an evolving setting (definition of "evolving": "Develop gradually, esp. from a simple to a more complex form"; definition of "setting": "The place or type of surroundings where something is positioned or where an event takes place"). I don't like calling it a "story" because of the implication that it has a destination in mind ("story" second definition: "A plot or story line"). I'm very much not a "narrative" GM. I strongly dislike that style of game for the fantasy genre. I don't like "collaborative storytelling" and I dislike the term "storyteller" for the GM. But, that's my personal preference. I think, really, that we're just using words differently. As always, play what you like :) [/QUOTE]

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