Comments on: Fudging the Dice http://www.gamecrafters.net/archives/250 Advice on making your game great. Wed, 18 Jan 2012 22:31:48 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Brian http://www.gamecrafters.net/archives/250/comment-page-1#comment-12724 Brian Sat, 12 May 2007 13:57:53 +0000 http://www.gamecrafters.net/archives/250#comment-12724 No problem; it's what I do. I honestly don't think there's any way to bring this topic up without it degenerating into a flame-war; it's just one of those topics. And again, I can't figure out why. Arguing that either side is inherently "right" assumes that there is some sort of meta-law that governs all role-playing games, and that simply isn't the case. Hell, some role-playing games (Fudge, Deliria) actually <i>advocate</i> ignoring the rules when it suits the story and the fun that everyone's having. Personally, I think that the GM's job is to make sure everyone's having fun at the table. If the dice will prevent that, then I'll change the results, but if they make things more fun, then I'll go with that. Similarly, if the dice present a result that seems to be more fun than what I have planned, I'll scrap my plans in favor of overall enjoyment. I personally think that you're right; the majority of gamers probably fall into this area on the spectrum, and those who argue in favor of one extreme or the other are vocal minorities. Thanks for the comment, and for the Treasure Tables post. No problem; it’s what I do. I honestly don’t think there’s any way to bring this topic up without it degenerating into a flame-war; it’s just one of those topics. And again, I can’t figure out why. Arguing that either side is inherently “right” assumes that there is some sort of meta-law that governs all role-playing games, and that simply isn’t the case. Hell, some role-playing games (Fudge, Deliria) actually advocate ignoring the rules when it suits the story and the fun that everyone’s having. Personally, I think that the GM’s job is to make sure everyone’s having fun at the table. If the dice will prevent that, then I’ll change the results, but if they make things more fun, then I’ll go with that. Similarly, if the dice present a result that seems to be more fun than what I have planned, I’ll scrap my plans in favor of overall enjoyment. I personally think that you’re right; the majority of gamers probably fall into this area on the spectrum, and those who argue in favor of one extreme or the other are vocal minorities. Thanks for the comment, and for the Treasure Tables post.

]]> By: VV_GM http://www.gamecrafters.net/archives/250/comment-page-1#comment-12707 VV_GM Sat, 12 May 2007 01:58:22 +0000 http://www.gamecrafters.net/archives/250#comment-12707 Thanks for mentioning the article here. I'm the author of it, and when I approached Martin about writing the post I was hoping that it would provide a nice common ground for both camps to agree to disagree. Instead it seems to have just sparked another heated debate. What annoys me the most is what you already commented on - there is no right way to game! Every work that I have read on being a GM, whether it be a book or magazine article, written by the established experts and designers in the RPG industry has alwasy included a section that declared soemthing akin to "If your group is having fun, then you are doing it right." and that is spirit in which the article was written. I also think that it is a minority of gamers who are making the most noise over this matter. Most just don't care and are really only concerned with whether or not the game is enjoyable from what I can tell. Regardless, thanks again for your blog entry! Thanks for mentioning the article here. I’m the author of it, and when I approached Martin about writing the post I was hoping that it would provide a nice common ground for both camps to agree to disagree. Instead it seems to have just sparked another heated debate.

What annoys me the most is what you already commented on – there is no right way to game! Every work that I have read on being a GM, whether it be a book or magazine article, written by the established experts and designers in the RPG industry has alwasy included a section that declared soemthing akin to “If your group is having fun, then you are doing it right.” and that is spirit in which the article was written.

I also think that it is a minority of gamers who are making the most noise over this matter. Most just don’t care and are really only concerned with whether or not the game is enjoyable from what I can tell.

Regardless, thanks again for your blog entry!

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