how do i hunker down and stop bending the rules for my PCs just for the sake of an interesting narrative
>>46180288
you are supposed to be bending rules for the sake of narrative.
It is the entire reason multiple games from dungeons and dragons to shadowrun to gurps give you some form of DM screen.
>>46180288
Write stories instead of GMing.
>>46180288
......be boring?
>>46180288
Why would you want to stop bending the rules if you're playing for the narrative anyways?
>>46180288
For what sake would you be hunkering down?
Stop being a ninny and let one of them die.
Shit will fly and you will see who is worth your time.
>>46180288
You are having fun with your narrative? Your player are?
Then, in the words of wise people everywhere:
If it ain't broken, don't fix it.
Dont, you're doing it right now.
>>46180288
if people are enjoying it, stop being stupid, you are doing fine
>>46181565
What if OP isn't enjoying it?
>>46183832
Given the situation, I don't see OP finding an idea of enjoyment from following rules, or he'd already be doing it.
I'm willing to bet it's a few players that are complaining that they want a challenge, and OP wants to appease them.
>>46180288
Bending the rules is the whole fucking point. It seperates tabletop from vidya.
Run a high-lethality sandbox game. Zombie apocalypse or madmax type setting. Make the players have a backup character ready to roll out.
It's -really- refreshing to blow out the cobwebs like that. Let the dice decide and dont do anything to fight it.
It's not something you should do for every campaign, mind. Talk with your players, agree on how lethal and how narrative-driven you want to the game. Make it clear that if you're going to fudge rolls that this is the case before the game starts.
It's all about communication and agreement breh. Games have problems when people are on different pages.
>>46180288
Would not bending the rules result in an inferior narrative ?
If yes, don't change anything. If not, try playing by the rules for once, and come abck to your old ways if it doesn't work.
>>46180288
Well, considering that your instinct here is to "hunker down" - a distinctly defensive, insecure posture - I think you might need to accept the fact that you'll always be a spineless welcome mat, and just roll with it.
>>46187519
>>46180314
Might sound crazy, but a GM can set rules for when and how they bend the rules.
Fast forward through a boring combat so you don't waste the night rolling dice at a blob of HP?
>ok
Handwave some crafting rules to allow a character to forge a sword with the breath of a dragon?
>sure, probably
Have a troupe of sparkly elves ride in on unicorns and rescue the PC's any time they get in over their head?
>nah
>>46189817
those sound more like guidelines than rules.
>>46180288
Rule 0 is the rule of fun/cool, so technically you didn't bend the rules. You just applied the rule that had the highest priority in that specific instance.
Literal rules lawyering.
>>46180288
By realizing that in the rules you're bending, there's a different narrative which you couldn't access
>>46180314
Should the GM create/shape the narrative, or should he allow the dice and the players to do that on their own?
I tend to find the latter more aesthetically attractive; it's organic, where the other smacks of artificiality.
I don't know about anyone else, but to me a game where I am simply not allowed to lose because the story depends on me and thus I'll just be coddled through every not-failure to save the plot.... sounds incredibly boring and pointless.
>>46193879
Organic creation is NOT all it's cracked up to be.
A procedurally, organically created dungeon or adventure always pales in comparison that had planning put into it.
>>46193994
I'm not advocating that, by any means. What I am suggesting is that the players should suffer the consequences of their decisions -- of which the dice are the ultimate arbiters.
From those consequences comes the drama of the narrative and gives weight to the actions which the characters perform.
>>46180288
In Mouseguard, you don't even make people roll if you can't think of a way to make the story keep moving if the players fail.
>>46193994
>>46194062
obligatory
>>46180288
Don't bend the rules to create an interesting narrative, follow the rules to discover an interesting emergent narrative.
Sometimes the dice will lead you in direction you would not have expected. Use that to create drama.
