Recent content by pemerton

In the abstract, I might respond maybe it's no different. But to me it seems that whenever this topic come up, a lot of people who regard themselves as good GMs of reasonably conventional D&D find example of play from (say) Apocalypse World or Burning Wheel pretty outrageous. Which therefore...

I don't think so. And I know this isn't true. Upthread I linked to five examples of actual play. At least one of them actually provides examples of significant character change. "Canned" just seems like a synonym for "prepared", which is true. Like, if I decide - as per one of the examples I...

Don't worry about that! I don't think you are. And I always find your posts pretty interesting, although I don't know if always grasp them right away - sometimes it takes a little bit of back-and-forth. OK, I see what you mean here and I agree that the book doesn't give advice on this sort of...

I think this might be related to your problem in the OP. What I mean by that is that, if the GM does their setting and situation work on their own, and then the players come up with motivations on their own, you're basically relying on good luck/coincidence for things to actually work out...

I'll accept there have to be some assumptions. A card game often assumes that the players know what it means, for instance, to shuffle the cards and deal hands. The analogue in a RPG might be assuming that participants know how to roll and read dice. Perhaps even that they have an idea of the...

Here are some examples - actual play reports - of player-driven RPGing: * Burning Wheel, where I'm the player; you can see how the GM follows player-generated cues <Burning Wheel actual play> * Burning Wheel, where me and my friend are both players and GMs (roughly, each frames the scenes and...

I'd go so far as to say that that is probably bad advice.

The idea that GMing principles for a RPG are "training wheels" or for "beginner GMs" is one of the more bizarre, yet recurrent, ideas out there.

Prince Valiant probably doesn't count as breakout, but it has rotating GM responsibilities as part of its rules, back in 1989. Burning Wheel has clear procedures and agenda, and has the whole table vote for Mouldbreaker awards, the Trait Vote, etc.

I don't think I'm in "hot demand" as a GM. I'm certainly not part of a "service industry"! I just have a thing I like doing - RPGing, including GMing RPGs - and I have friends who like RPGing too, and who mostly prefer the player to the GM role. So we play games together. It doesn't seem like...

Torchbearer 2e uses random events that index things that matter to the PCs, like friends and family. It's a different approach from Mythic Bastionland, but is definitely something that is shaping how I think about the latter. EDIT: Just read @zakael19's reply mentioning AW, DW etc. I fully...

In my case, I read out to my players the brief account of the people of the Realm, which includes this: SEERS • Those who understand the nature of Myth enough to glimpse into our future. • Their visions grant legitimacy and direction to a Knight’s quest. • They know when a Squire is ready to...

Yeah, things can be "ahead of their time".

I think "B" more than "X", to be honest. Expert is streamlined compared to the DMG; but I don't think has the same coherence and clarity as Basic.

If the players can't see past the need to obtain and act on information, then when the time comes to resolve a myth, there's the risk of the players looking for the "right" answer, rather than injecting their own thoughts as to what resolution means. I think the GM needs to somehow make clear...