You are not the Director
- Thread starter Raven Crowking
- Start date
I will drop in as many Tanks, zombie swarms, and Witches in narrow corridors as I damn well please and they will bloody well like it.
...
Oh wait, that kind of director....
ahem
nm
(I really did think that was what this was about
)
Heh... I think he's right in that DM's aren't really much like directors at all. They don't direct the actors. Or, at least, they shouldn't...
However, I still prefer to think of DM's as authors, albeit ones who aren't in control of their main characters and, in fact, spend most of the time desperately trying to keep up with them as they blunder around like bulls in a world-sized china shop.
However, I still prefer to think of DM's as authors, albeit ones who aren't in control of their main characters and, in fact, spend most of the time desperately trying to keep up with them as they blunder around like bulls in a world-sized china shop.
collaborative story-lines: PC control
Guide never direct or force PC actions.
RPGs more like a collaborative or shared story where the DM sets the stage, the lights, the antagonists, and the general plotlines. When it comes to PC action, the acting and motivations are improvisational.
That said I think if the DM spent lots of time on adventure and preparation players should respect that. Sandbox games could work, I suppose, but I haven't seen them. When I don't "railroad" my players, they tend to fart around.
Guide never direct or force PC actions.
RPGs more like a collaborative or shared story where the DM sets the stage, the lights, the antagonists, and the general plotlines. When it comes to PC action, the acting and motivations are improvisational.
That said I think if the DM spent lots of time on adventure and preparation players should respect that. Sandbox games could work, I suppose, but I haven't seen them. When I don't "railroad" my players, they tend to fart around.
malraux
First Post
(I really did think that was what this was about
That was my first thought as well. And its not a bad comparison. The DM should make something interesting happen when the players seem bored, scale the difficulty if they are doing really well, and occasionally force the team to startle the witch just to be a rat bastard.
The analogy is seriously flawed - D&D games are not movies. The GM is, in part, a direector (he does direct some of the action - just not the PC's actions). He's also producer,writer, key grip, best boy in some cases the caterer.
The roles simply aren't analogous, is all.
The roles simply aren't analogous, is all.
ExploderWizard
Hero
Heh. Funny stuff. I like the producer angle. I think most DM's are producers with multiple personality disorder.
PC's about to stir up a hornets nest? This session produced by Jerry Bruckheimer.
PC's delving into a twisted mystery rife with oddball NPC's? This session produced by Ethan Coen.
PC's get too wrapped up in themselves to care what's happening? This session produced by Kevin Costner.
weem
First Post
I always imagined myself as the bumpers in a bowling lane you could have dropped in, keeping my players from falling into the gutter (in this case, boredom, frustration, etc). Most of the time, they head straight ahead (doing what they want), but every once in a while I give nudges or make sure they have what they need to keep going in the direction they want to go.
Is that odd? I don't know.
Saying it "outloud" here makes it sound like railroading (which I avoid). I think of it more as observing them while providing prompts and responses to things as they go, and keeping things moving forward.
/shrug
Is that odd? I don't know.
Saying it "outloud" here makes it sound like railroading (which I avoid). I think of it more as observing them while providing prompts and responses to things as they go, and keeping things moving forward.
/shrug
Raven Crowking
First Post
Thanks for this deep insight; the author agrees that the analogy isn't perfect.
However, if D&D games were movies, it wouldn't be analogy, would it? An analogy need not have a 1 to 1 correspondance to be valuable. Although, of course, it may be seriously flawed, saying A is not B does not indicate that an analogy likening A to B is "seriously flawed".
Similarly, weem's analogy (the post before this one) is not "seriously flawed" because D&D games are not bowling.
RC
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