tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post3134576099246018771..comments2023-10-14T03:58:59.333-06:00Comments on The Tao of D&D: Structural BiasAlexis Smolenskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-74492402518761529012017-07-22T05:53:19.181-06:002017-07-22T05:53:19.181-06:00I've been catching up with these posts recentl...I've been catching up with these posts recently as I keep needing to put them down and come back later when I can fully appreciate their insights. This is a fantastic pointer, one which I think comes right down to the fundamentals of being a DM. When the community has so much myth-making and so many sacred cows in the forms of modules or even past campaigns, DMs are encouraged to become attached to their creations, asking "how can I make the players follow this path?" rather than "how do I improve on my flow when the path is not taken?"<br />I think you've highlighted some of the more unfortunate puerile behaviour (the egotistical reverence a DM has to their own ideas) quite nicely, and I wonder if it's all connected to the other process of D&D which is more often left to the DM's machinations: worldbuilding. Since that is a typically more accepted form of authorial control – the DM is trusted to created a functioning world without too much player input – the DM then comes to believe the microcosmic level of the player adventure must also be entirely preconstructed like a narrative video game. It's obviously a matter of self-awareness how much a DM conflates the two, but perhaps another route to encouraging DMs and players to be comfortable changing the story at any point (since there are plenty of players afraid of taking the DM's carefully-crafted adventure off the rails) is to keep in mind while playing that this is all a narrative composed for a small group which is not sacred or special but simply a communal process that everyone has a say in.Timhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03496502173819113887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-41833807462635607612017-07-18T15:42:59.729-06:002017-07-18T15:42:59.729-06:00100% agree. I started a campaign with the assumpti...100% agree. I started a campaign with the assumption that the players had agreed to a premise I had pitched. Nothing in that original premise seemed to stick with them once play actually started so I threw out all of it after the first session, focused on where they wanted to go and was able to do exactly what you described: have a pretty solid idea of each step of the adventure based on how I would present the next situation. "Led by the nose" and they ate it up with glee.<br /><br />As opposed to the last game I was a player in that resulted in my character's death because of "the story" the DM wanted to tell.J. Cormierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06775658681126093604noreply@blogger.com