Tortanick said:
Really? Well Ok.
I have been a "GM" in my past, as clearly Kael has been. Kael was describing a moment in his experience in which he posed a problem to his players. His players were on a quest to destroy a Lich. These are very hard to destroy, and Kael was cleaver, in that the Lich's Phylactery(sp?) or (soul-wallet) wasnt a normal vessel. It was a Rune. Runes are magical symbols inscribed on surfaces, the writing itself is the magic, and is useful for multiple purposes. In this case the rune was a phylactory. Now, up until this point, the players learning this information are confident. They feel they can find the phylactery and destroy it, thereby preventing the lich from coming back from the dead when they destroy him. This would complete their quest, and make them all very happy. It is at this point they discover that the rune is inscribed upon a very large and mean forehead of a very large and mean dragon. In gaming terms, this is an "ah crap" moment. Becuase its going to be hard (for some enough to cry aloud and shamelessly). Players can lose their characters, characters can DIE. And there is a very real and tender relationship (for most) between a player and his character, therefore, while they are usually high adventuers, they dont like unncessesary risk to their characters. WHen you tell your players that they are going to have to destroy the forehead of a dragon....and they know dragons are mean and powerful, they are going to be worried.
This is what i meant by the paradigm shift. A paradigm shift is when everything you assumed about a situation simultaniously turns out to be quite the opposite, and is usually a terrifying experience. LIke if your at a dance party, haveing a great time with some friends you just met. They're bying you drinks, a cute girl or guy is flirting with you, and everyone just seems great. Then the ceeling sprinklers turn on, and you see their pooring out blood, and suddenly realize EVERYONE except you at the party is a vampire. That is a paradigm shift.
The "sinking" feeling this creates is often much-sought after by more ruthless, (or 'playful' in my book) and sadistic GM's. I personally love it, which is why i sent that post. This is not to say im going to kill my players for fun, on the contrary, they usually thwart whatever evil plans i throw in their direction, and their deaths are often not because i will them. But that moment of "ah crap..." with the sinking feeling i know their feeling, is what we call a "cinimatic" moment. And i love those.
My players joke that im cruel...but ive never had any of them say I wasnt fun.
-Qes