[UA] OOC Knowledge and Never saying No (was Players screwed over)

[Cassady Toles]

On Tue, 8 May 2001 22:55:55 -0700 (PDT), ua at lists.uchicago.edu wrote:

  > Depends. 
  > use of Out-Of-Character knowledge annoying, if not
  > actively
  > wrong.

I know exactly how Chad feels on this one.  I have a player in my 7th sea
game who reads every section of every book he can get his hands on, and now
that the surprise has been ruined, he'll make blanket statements to other
players about things like: the emperor can't teleport.  It really does
impair the fun.  Unfortunately, he's seen as one of the area patron saints
of gaming and it's a big political issue if you don't invite him to games
(one I usually take the rap for) but kicking him out would cause problems
with the other players.  One of whom worships the fat stupid jerk.

  That's one of the laws of improvisational anything. 
  Never say no.
  
I think this rule being passed into roleplaying games is one of the worst
things that White Wolf ever did to role-playing games.  The best game
masters (or referees or DM's or ST's or whathaveyou) are not the ones who
say yes to everything and scramble to make it make sense.  They're the ones
who think for a half-second and say will this make the game better?  If the
answer is no, they say No.  If the answer is yes, they say yes.  

Every time you make someone roll a madness check, test a skill, wait their
turn, or tell them how injured they are, you're saying No.  It's all a
matter of degrees.
  

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and
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