I’m glad you had such good experiences, but I just don’t have the trust with most people to be happy with that kind of unilateral “the dm goes by his gut”.
I do like Fate, which is very narrative, but I try to run it in a very consensus focused way. The players have a lot of input (partly because the rules say they do!), and I do a lot of “Jumping in the driver’s window and taking control of the car sounds like something an ‘Action Movie Hero’ could do with difficulty, how about try to beat a 5 on the dice to succeed free and clear?”. That is, explain my reasoning and get player buy-in. I don’t really like when the GM just decides everything.
Like, let’s say they fail the roll. One style is for the GM to just decide “you jump, but the car turns suddenly and instead land on the front of the car! You roll off the hood and land roughly, take some damage and add prone!” That’s a lot of decisions. I prefer instead “ooh you rolled a 2… Ok, do you wanna fail outright and like just miss, or succeed at a cost? The cost could be like, your backpack snags on the window and falls off, but you get inside.” The player could accept that, or be like “oh what if I get inside, but it freaks out the hellhound in the back of the van and it goes berserk”.
It’s more like writing a story together. The GM still has more power, but it’s more like a 60/40 split than 90/10
I agree, and I think that what may have also helped was that I was still basically a child when I was introduced to the dice-only RPGs. Also, it’s definitely way more difficult for the GM, which I was fortunate enough to have a really experienced and amazing one.
It’s true that if the whole group including the GM is starting out, going with something like Fate is better choice, which I also prefer nowadays. Or more experimental ones like Dread or the candles one.
I’m glad you had such good experiences, but I just don’t have the trust with most people to be happy with that kind of unilateral “the dm goes by his gut”.
I do like Fate, which is very narrative, but I try to run it in a very consensus focused way. The players have a lot of input (partly because the rules say they do!), and I do a lot of “Jumping in the driver’s window and taking control of the car sounds like something an ‘Action Movie Hero’ could do with difficulty, how about try to beat a 5 on the dice to succeed free and clear?”. That is, explain my reasoning and get player buy-in. I don’t really like when the GM just decides everything.
Like, let’s say they fail the roll. One style is for the GM to just decide “you jump, but the car turns suddenly and instead land on the front of the car! You roll off the hood and land roughly, take some damage and add prone!” That’s a lot of decisions. I prefer instead “ooh you rolled a 2… Ok, do you wanna fail outright and like just miss, or succeed at a cost? The cost could be like, your backpack snags on the window and falls off, but you get inside.” The player could accept that, or be like “oh what if I get inside, but it freaks out the hellhound in the back of the van and it goes berserk”.
It’s more like writing a story together. The GM still has more power, but it’s more like a 60/40 split than 90/10
I like the idea of the multiple choice. I’ll do that for my next campaign
I highly recommend giving fate core’s “four outcomes” section a skim: https://fate-srd.com/fate-core/four-outcomes
It’s short but it’s good ideas. I really like the whole system.
Good read. Thanks. Will bookmark this for sure!
I agree, and I think that what may have also helped was that I was still basically a child when I was introduced to the dice-only RPGs. Also, it’s definitely way more difficult for the GM, which I was fortunate enough to have a really experienced and amazing one.
It’s true that if the whole group including the GM is starting out, going with something like Fate is better choice, which I also prefer nowadays. Or more experimental ones like Dread or the candles one.