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You're doing what? Surprising the DM
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<blockquote data-quote="chaochou" data-source="post: 6109136" data-attributes="member: 99817"><p>Hi JC.</p><p></p><p>I've avoided this thread, but I guess I'll throw some thoughts out there because this seems reasonable and relevant.</p><p></p><p>I think scale is making this example more complicated than necessary. We could restate this example: You're trying to get to a barber's shop on the other sides of a busy street.</p><p></p><p>Well there's traffic. Okay, I wait until it is safe to cross.</p><p>Well, the police have stopped a motorist down the way. Okay, I wait to cross and go to the shop.</p><p>Well, there's this gang of youths outside a tattoo parlour. Well, I avoid them and go the the shop.</p><p></p><p>Are these the same complications as if we say:</p><p>The shop is boarded up?</p><p>The shop is on fire?</p><p>The shop has 'Police: Do Not Cross' tape all around it and chalk marks where the bullet casings fell on the pavement?</p><p></p><p>The street is 'place'. It's relation to the shop is purely one of proximity. It could be any street. It can have any cars, any pedestrians, any other shops, a postbox, street lighting. It's filled with all the things streets are filled with. None of which present any reason not to walk into the shop.</p><p></p><p>The shop is boarded up, on fire, a crime scene. This is a property of the shop and clearly changes how I'm going to interact with it. Now I can't walk into the shop.</p><p></p><p>What I think is interesting is that if I make my complication the police tape and bullet marks, or ablaze, or boarded up, now the player has an incentive to interact with the street... Call on neighbours to ask what happened, etc.</p><p></p><p>I could, possibly, do something like: "You see an old man on a bicycle get clipped by a car and knocked over. You see blood spilling onto the pavement." If in that situation the player had reason not to want to draw attention to their visit to the shop, then suddenly I've created a moral dilemma for the player - do they get involved? Give their name and number and location to the emergency services?</p><p></p><p>So it's not completely cut and dried. But I have to know the players very well and be very conscious of what pushes their buttons to go that route. Because they can refuse my moral dilemma and simply say 'Yeah, well, someone will call an ambulance - I go to the shop."</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="chaochou, post: 6109136, member: 99817"] Hi JC. I've avoided this thread, but I guess I'll throw some thoughts out there because this seems reasonable and relevant. I think scale is making this example more complicated than necessary. We could restate this example: You're trying to get to a barber's shop on the other sides of a busy street. Well there's traffic. Okay, I wait until it is safe to cross. Well, the police have stopped a motorist down the way. Okay, I wait to cross and go to the shop. Well, there's this gang of youths outside a tattoo parlour. Well, I avoid them and go the the shop. Are these the same complications as if we say: The shop is boarded up? The shop is on fire? The shop has 'Police: Do Not Cross' tape all around it and chalk marks where the bullet casings fell on the pavement? The street is 'place'. It's relation to the shop is purely one of proximity. It could be any street. It can have any cars, any pedestrians, any other shops, a postbox, street lighting. It's filled with all the things streets are filled with. None of which present any reason not to walk into the shop. The shop is boarded up, on fire, a crime scene. This is a property of the shop and clearly changes how I'm going to interact with it. Now I can't walk into the shop. What I think is interesting is that if I make my complication the police tape and bullet marks, or ablaze, or boarded up, now the player has an incentive to interact with the street... Call on neighbours to ask what happened, etc. I could, possibly, do something like: "You see an old man on a bicycle get clipped by a car and knocked over. You see blood spilling onto the pavement." If in that situation the player had reason not to want to draw attention to their visit to the shop, then suddenly I've created a moral dilemma for the player - do they get involved? Give their name and number and location to the emergency services? So it's not completely cut and dried. But I have to know the players very well and be very conscious of what pushes their buttons to go that route. Because they can refuse my moral dilemma and simply say 'Yeah, well, someone will call an ambulance - I go to the shop." [/QUOTE]
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