> Gareth Martin wrote:
>
> >I was just wondering what folks might think of a
> >GM being VERY proactive and aggressive in framing
> >extended contests.
Michael Richard Schwartz wrote:
> Some players react poorly to what they perceive as "railroading",
> especially those who lack experience with a more story-oriented style of
> play. Explain to them that dramatic needs may overshadow other concerns
> when interpreting the results of an exchange or contest, in order to
> enhance its overall outcome for everyone involved. The Narrator's
> foremost responsibility is, after all, to tell a good story. There is no
> malice in providing the players and heroes with the sense and
> satisfaction of a hard-won victory. Give the players time to adjust, and
> the concept will grow on them eventually.
The first thing that can go out the window is your plan, 'the best laid
plans of mice and men'.
It is good to plan your sessions and have pre-prepared results of encounters
but sometimes serendipitous results can happen that are better (or just as
good) as any you have come up with. Remember that your players are
partaking in this active story creating and can have better or different
ideas to what happens.
Also chance and fate play a hand as well. I have had a RQ scenario planned
where the PC's had to end up chasing the villain off but ended up captured
by the villain's cronies. The PC's had to escape without recourse to their
magical weapons and gear. We had some great sesions from that unexpected
result and I felt good making lots of stuff up on the cuff.
Cheers
DARRAN
'What song the Syrens sang, or what name
Achilles assumed when he hid himself among
the women, although puzzling questions,
are not beyond *all* conjecture.
Sir Thomas Browne
>
> I see nothing wrong with it, as long as the Narrator does not completely
> dismiss the results of the players' actions. It's always appropriate to
> have an outcome in mind for any contest, even several outcomes based on
> the degree of victory or defeat achieved. That is considered preparation,
> in most circles.
>
> >The concern I see with this is that players might
> >object to such aggressive framing. It implies...
> >that the GM is being less than totally honest as
> >far as the contest goes;
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> | Language is my playground,
> mschwartz_at_... | and words, its slides and
> Ann Arbor, Michigan USA | swingsets. -- yours truly
>
>
>
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