Seizing the Day

This post has been rewritten to align with my present feelings on the subject, though in reality what I wrote then and what I believe now are almost perfectly aligned. I was just able to phrase it better. The present version is available for a nominal $3 fee on Patreon.

The original post argues that D&D players should determine their own purposes within the game world rather than wait for the DM to provide an adventure. It begins with a party standing on a rain-flooded street in Paris, surrounded by artists, teamsters and urban activity. Presented with the freedom to act, a player may fall back upon D&D conventions: a thief searches for a conveniently exposed purse, while the party heads to a tavern and asks where an adventure can be found.

The post rejects the assumption that providing an adventure is the DM's responsibility. The DM creates and runs the world, but the players must decide what they want and devise their means of obtaining it. Their freedom does not protect them from consequences. Random violence may bring guards, imprisonment and execution, while intelligent action may allow them to succeed in ways the DM anticipated.

To illustrate this principle, the post imagines a character named Jack investigating the price of mustard in Paris. By learning about taxes, merchants, shipments and delivery routes, Jack and his companions could intercept twenty or thirty kegs arriving from Dijon. They might steal the mustard or acquire it on account while intimidating the merchant into silence, then offer continued deliveries to the merchant's customers at reduced prices.

Moving the contraband into Paris could require a stolen rowboat, a horse and cart, fog, evasion of river defences and violence against a guard. The result would be an adventure suitable for first-level characters, created from the players' chosen objective. Success could lead to a smuggling operation, bribed officials, commercial rivals, intimidated suppliers and struggles with competing criminals.

The DM's task is to judge whether the players' schemes can work, introduce logical difficulties and accept unexpected solutions. The DM should neither compete against the party nor protect planned material from being overturned. Foolish choices deserve the world's natural response; clever choices deserve recognition and success. The post concludes that a planned adventure becomes destructive when treated as sacred, because the world should offer opportunities that players can seize for themselves.