Show Me The Awesome

It really is true that a Game Master should from time to time change the position where he sits at the table and become a Player. Doing so allows for a change of perspective and you might notice a few things about the dynamics of the game that aren't obvious when you are a Game Master.

I noticed this when after two years of running games I decided to play games. After several gruesome moments of contemplation everything became clear. You see, when I was running a game, I had this idea for a story and all the possible things that would happen. I imagined how Non-Player Characters would act and what the Players would do in various situations. Yet there were times when I just couldn't understand why someone would take this sort of action rather than some other one. Don't get me wrong, I don't have a specific plot in mind nor do I prohibit Players from taking the course of action that they want to take... but there were moments where I just couldn't understand why this and not that... that's when I started playing.

Here's an example: in an Exalted game, I'm playing a Lunar who really doesn't like slavery so when he ends up on an island where he finds out there's a whole nation run by other Lunars who enslave people, he is not happy. Now I picture him going to the palace of the Wolfman-in-charge and telling him his name, what he stand for, what will be the result of his actions and that he, as the ruler, is free to try and stop him. After which point he would show off the speed with which he can run and hide in plain sight. Only to become a shadowy menace that can't be found but whose actions are not only known but seen all around them.

Then Alek tells me it is not the best course of action. That it would be far better to infiltrate the court and destroy their infrastructure from within while inspiring the populace to rebel against their slave masters. As usual, Alek is most certainly right. It is a better course of action and it is more reasonable... so why don't I like it? The answer is simple...

Going to the Big Bad Guy, telling him he sucks and that this is the face that will take him down and then make a run for it is Awesome. Then I imagine the story would revolve around inspiring the slaves to rebel and giving them a helping hand all while evading capture (and imagining how frustrated the Big Bad Guy must be)... and I find that incredibly awesome...

That's when it hit me. Looking at the campaign from the Game Master perspective, I tried to allow all Players to have a chance to shine and make sure it all fits in into the big picture. When playing, all I am looking at is the immediate story of my character and the group. Making wild things and showing off your speciality is very enjoyable. So now when the players go with something I didn't really expect, I do not question in my mind their reasons for taking this course of action, I just accept that Players want to be awesome :)