Tuesday, November 2, 2010  Democracy In Action: Gaming Groups
Like many Americans today, I am going to vote in the midterm
elections.  Unlike many other Americans, I realize you probably
have precisely zero interest in my political opinions,
especially on a gaming blog.  But it does make me think about
the democracy of the gaming group. I've made no bones of the
fact that my style as DM is more dictatorial than anything. That
doesn't mean I don't solicit feedback or anything, it just means
that I am the final arbiter/judge of all in-game decisions.
There's not a lot of shared narrative in our games, and they're
not exactly decentralized in terms of power.  That sounds harsh
to some people, but I think when we talk about our GMing styles
(and the trend and backlash against softer, group-consensus game
mastery), even the most dictatorial GM forgets that without the
democracy and populism of group social formation and cohesion,
nothing is sustainable. Quite frankly, you can be a tyrant GM
directly up to the poi