The role of the GM

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

Similarly, shared, consensus-oriented narrative control can be used to help fill the gaps and avoid biases of the GM. A GM tends to already have so much on the plot that some possibilities are just never explored due to lack of think-hours.

I have to say I'm finding this idea of "the biases of the GM" dubious. It rather seems to me that what I'm using to sell my campaigns to prospective players, and what has gotten my more interested players than I currently have time to run campaigns for, is precisely my personal tastes and perspectives.

I'm thinking about the narrative and dramatic arts over the course of history. And it seems to me that the overwhelming majority of successful works have had single authors. We read the Odyssey, or A Midsummer Night's Dream, or The Island of Dr. Moreau, or watch Metropolis or The Incredibles, precisely because we want to encounter the worlds that their creators show us. We're not looking for a statistically validated consensus truth but for a personal statement. There have been examples of successful collaborations of two creators; there haven't been nearly as many of multiple creators producing anything that works. And gaming is a narrative or dramatic art.

It's possible to have a primary creator who shapes the overall setting and situations, and secondary creators who build smaller domains within the world. But even then it's the primary's job to weave the secondaries' contributions into something coherent.