Old School RPG Principles, part 1 - Choices (Real Choices, No Quantum Ogres, and No Fudging Dice Rolls)

 Old School RPG Principles, Part 1 - Choices

     As mentioned in my last post, I've been thinking a lot about my principles as a game master and game designer for old school RPG gaming. The first principle I wrote about in my notebook was "choices."

     RPGs are all about choices. "So . . . what do you want to do?" is one of the most iconic utterances of the game master. In most games, players make choices for their characters, and game masters adjudicate the outcomes of those choices, using dice to resolve elements of chance.

     So why is this a principle that even needs to be discussed?

     First of all, there is a difference between someone telling a story and somebody refereeing a TTRPG. Player choices have to be real choices. So I strongly opposed the concept of the "quantum ogre". If you haven't heard of the quantum ogre, it is this idea that if the GM wants the players to encounter an ogre, it will happen regardless of the players' choices. In the usual example, players have to choose between a door on the right and a door on the left. The players may or may not be aware there is an ogre in the dungeon they are trying to avoid. They choose the door on the left. The text says that the ogre is behind the door on the right. But because the GM has decided he wants the PCs to encounter the ogre, the GM decided that the ogre is actually behind the door on the left! Once this happens, you're no longer playing a game, the GM is just telling a story.

     But another consideration in this example - how did the players come to choose the door on the left in the first place? Is it even a real choice if it is simply a choice between two identical doors with nothing to distinguish them? If it can be resolved with a coin flip, it is not much of a choice! Real choices require context, which is another important component here. Players should be able to obtain context to make their choices. Imagine PCs examining the two doors, maybe listening at the doors. They can hear the ogre's heavy breathing, or muttering behind the door on the right. Based on the clues provided, they choose the door on the left. They made an informed choice. 

     Now, I'm not going to say that PCs don't draw the wrong conclusions from their clues. Context is rarely complete, and incomplete or misunderstood context leads to incorrect choices. Sometimes players are going to be surprised by the outcome of their choices - "WHAT?!? But we thought the ogre was somewhere else!" That can happen. BUT that is not the same as simply overriding the players' choice and making their efforts fail despite the fact that they made the correct choice! Again, once you do that, you're not really playing the game anymore! 

     Another factor in making real choices is abiding by the consequences of those decisions. Deciding that the room on the right is actually the room on the left "for the story" is an example of not abiding by the consequences of the players' choices. Another example is fudging dice rolls. Let the dice fall where they may! Imagine a player decides their character should search for clues. That's often a good decision! The outcome of this decision is uncertain, however. Dice help us adjudicate the outcome when there is uncertainty. So if the rules state that a player character is supposed to find a clue on any roll greater than a 3, and the GM rolls a 5, the consequence of the decision to search for clues is supposed to be finding a clue. If the GM then decides that giving the player the clue would "ruin the story," well, again, you're not playing a TTRPG anymore. You're just telling a story. The whole point of rolling dice is to adjudicate outcomes. If you're going to fudge the dice rolls, why even roll the dice? Why ever roll dice? Just decide what happens (which is what you're going to do anyway) and skip the die roll . . . but understand you're no longer playing the game. You're just storytelling. And people who signed up to play a game may not be happy that they're not actually being allowed to play. 

     Roll dice in the open, and let the dice fall where they may. The characters win a huge victory you didn't foresee? Cool! They characters are all killed in a TPK? OK! What happens, happens. That is the point of playing a game. A game that can't be lost - or can't be won - isn't much fun! So let the choices - informed choices, real choices - be real choices, with real consequences . . . and if the dice dictate a certain outcome where there is an element of chance, allow chance to have its place. The GM's role is a referee, adjudicate, judge - not to tell the story they want to tell!