Post originally by Jim Bob at 2005-02-01 17:12:54
Converted from Phorums BB System

Paul Crege writes,

"Without getting explicit, Universalis disavows roleplaying's dirty secret, the notion that players will mill about and contribute ineffectively to story without the strong hand of a wise GM on the rudder."

But... the notion is pretty much correct.

You talk about someone telling a story around the campfire? Fair enough. But ONE person tells ONE story. No-one else has input on that story. If they did, the story would be pulled in several directions at once. Ug tells his story, finishes it, then maybe Og tells his story.

A story which everyone has input, that's a roleplaying game session. To avoid it being dragged in several different directions, we have a GM.

I mean, even with a GM, we get,

"I walk away from the party, leaving the dungeon. It's what my character would do."

Now, if all the players are intelligent, mature, imaginative, accomodating of one another's wishes, and equally committed to the joint story, then Universalis and other GM-less systems works wonderfully.

But I would say that if you have these Perfect Players, then you don't need _any game system at all_. You can just sit in the park on a sunny day without any books, and roleplay without a GM.