James and I look at gaming differently. This is one reason why I value his opinion.
One of the reasons for these differing viewpoints is that James is primarily a player, and I’m primarily a referee. Related to that reason is the fact that James has played under a lot more referees (good and bad) than I have.
James and I were “talking”1 the other day. There was a lull in the conversation and I filled it with “What should I write about in the next blog post?”
This was his reply:
Write about a high person in the town. Write about the little things that made him the man he is: a sister, a brother, the time he broke a leg, or when his sister fall into a well, or that time that he killed someone but no one knows.
That last phrase caught my attention. If no one knows, why would I write it? No one is supposed to know.
That sparkled a conversation between us. In short, James felt that letting the players in on secrets that their characters wouldn’t know makes the players more immersed in the game. My opinion was that it would make the player fell less immersed; instead of seeing the world through their characters’ eyes, it would feel like they were reading a story.
That was the heart of the difference. James’s experience has taught him that most GM’s are trying to tell a story to the players. My opinion is that the players are supposed to be in a story about them. Not on the outside, listening to a story about someone else. The GM shouldn’t make a story. That’s the player’s job. The GM sets the stage and gives the players the props. Then the players make the story, and the dice get the final edit.
James ended the conversation with these words:
I did feel that with your games. Not many DMs do that. They’re just running a train on the rails. You can’t even look to the left or right, just straight ahead.
Thank you, James. Those words mean the world to me.
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We live over 300 miles apart, as the crow flies. When I say “talking,” I really mean that we were “typing” to each other.↩
Thanks for the insightful post. From talking/typing with you, and reading your posts, even though I haven't been in a game under your referee-ing I can very much recognize what James is saying. And I think both 'flavors' of game have their place, but in terms of immersion and just the thrill of discovery and agency, leaving things more open gives such great opportunity for the players. And then a player can also play the same campaign twice and have it feel fresh, since they can try out new things (other than just starting class and what gear they buy).
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