Soviet
07-19-1999, 10:10 PM
Well what are the sort of Adventures most of you take your players in?
Dungeon Crawls? Sieges and Battlegrounds?
Haunted Ruins?
James Ruhland wrote:
> >
> > > Well, I guess this is where you and I differ on the role of the DM.
> > > I personally think the DM should provide the adventure hook,
> > > outline and motivation and then guide the players through it.
> >
> Hook, line, and sinker.
> Setting asside the degree to which that is appropriate in a "normal"
> (party/adventure based) AD&D campaign, IMO DMing in a Birthright game
> should be far different.
>
> IMO, players should be given far more latitude to come up with their own
> motivations, their own "hooks" (in the form of goals for their realm(s)),
> and their own "outlines" (policies/timetables for how to achieve those
> goals). The game should be more free-flowing, based upon that and not the
> DM's "Grand Vision".
> Now, certainly, NPCs should have their own goals, motivations, plots and
> schemes, just like the players do. And no doubt those will affect the
> players, the players will respond/react to NPC initiated events. . .but
> will also and importantly initiate and respond to plots & schemes of their
> own devising. And this may not fit into any DM inspired "Grand Vision"
> anymore than the NPC's activities will fit into the player character's
> visions, and indeed may throw wrenches into those plans.
> But IMO, the idea that players should be the passive receptical for
> whatever plot the DM has in mind, and that they should be driven by the
> motivations he devises for them rather than ones they come up with on their
> own, is wrongheaded for Birthright (even if it is - and I'm far from saying
> it is - appropriate for a regular AD&D game). This means the DM of a
> Birthright game has to be on his toes. He doesn't know which path the
> players might go down ("well, since the adventure involves the Fortress of
> Silence, I'll detail the Fortress of Silence and I can ignore the Castle of
> Solitude for now, since they won't be going there"). In Birthright the
> players have a bit (I hope a lot) more discretion about what direction they
> take, what "paths" they go down, which means the DM needs to be prepaired
> for anything and everything. Some DMs respond to this challenge by
> hammering down any player who goes down an unwelcomed, "inappropriate"
> path. Others are better at adapting to unexpected situations (many of these
> DMs have long been players themselves - players must often adapt to the
> unexpected, because, unlike the DM, they don't know the "plotline" in
> advance until the Directer. . .er, Storyteller. . .er, DM. . .lets them see
> the script as it unfolds before them.)
> IMO, BR games are better when dozens of people, rather than one or two
> overworked people, are busy comming up with schemes and plots which won't
> be slapped down because they don't fit within the proscribed "Story Arc"
> that someone has decided will govern the game. But that's just my opinion.
> I could be wrong.
>
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Dungeon Crawls? Sieges and Battlegrounds?
Haunted Ruins?
James Ruhland wrote:
> >
> > > Well, I guess this is where you and I differ on the role of the DM.
> > > I personally think the DM should provide the adventure hook,
> > > outline and motivation and then guide the players through it.
> >
> Hook, line, and sinker.
> Setting asside the degree to which that is appropriate in a "normal"
> (party/adventure based) AD&D campaign, IMO DMing in a Birthright game
> should be far different.
>
> IMO, players should be given far more latitude to come up with their own
> motivations, their own "hooks" (in the form of goals for their realm(s)),
> and their own "outlines" (policies/timetables for how to achieve those
> goals). The game should be more free-flowing, based upon that and not the
> DM's "Grand Vision".
> Now, certainly, NPCs should have their own goals, motivations, plots and
> schemes, just like the players do. And no doubt those will affect the
> players, the players will respond/react to NPC initiated events. . .but
> will also and importantly initiate and respond to plots & schemes of their
> own devising. And this may not fit into any DM inspired "Grand Vision"
> anymore than the NPC's activities will fit into the player character's
> visions, and indeed may throw wrenches into those plans.
> But IMO, the idea that players should be the passive receptical for
> whatever plot the DM has in mind, and that they should be driven by the
> motivations he devises for them rather than ones they come up with on their
> own, is wrongheaded for Birthright (even if it is - and I'm far from saying
> it is - appropriate for a regular AD&D game). This means the DM of a
> Birthright game has to be on his toes. He doesn't know which path the
> players might go down ("well, since the adventure involves the Fortress of
> Silence, I'll detail the Fortress of Silence and I can ignore the Castle of
> Solitude for now, since they won't be going there"). In Birthright the
> players have a bit (I hope a lot) more discretion about what direction they
> take, what "paths" they go down, which means the DM needs to be prepaired
> for anything and everything. Some DMs respond to this challenge by
> hammering down any player who goes down an unwelcomed, "inappropriate"
> path. Others are better at adapting to unexpected situations (many of these
> DMs have long been players themselves - players must often adapt to the
> unexpected, because, unlike the DM, they don't know the "plotline" in
> advance until the Directer. . .er, Storyteller. . .er, DM. . .lets them see
> the script as it unfolds before them.)
> IMO, BR games are better when dozens of people, rather than one or two
> overworked people, are busy comming up with schemes and plots which won't
> be slapped down because they don't fit within the proscribed "Story Arc"
> that someone has decided will govern the game. But that's just my opinion.
> I could be wrong.
>
> ************************************************** *************************
> To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.imagiconline.com
> with the line 'unsubscribe birthright' as the body of the message.
To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.imagiconline.com
with the line