The Power of Player Agency
A Game Master (GM) is a storyteller and world architect, one who crafts a setting for players that is filled with opportunities for adventure. However, crafting an adventure is not the sole responsibility of the GM. For a game to be exceptional, it requires the involvement of both the players and the Game Master to create the story.
Creating a fun experience can be challenging. There is a lot of time and effort that goes into creating an adventure, and because of that, a GM can become attached to the outcome. If the players thwart a vision for a dramatic encounter or critical story moment, you are bound to feel frustrated. It’s okay to feel that way, but GMs should remember that table-top role-playing games are about collaborative storytelling.
The question of agency in storytelling is as old as stories themselves. In tabletop roleplaying games, we face a unique paradox: the tension between structured narrative and free will. A Game Master might spend hours crafting an intricate plot about a stolen artifact, only to watch their players become fascinated by a minor merchant character and pursue an entirely different story thread. This is not a failure of the game or the players—it is its triumph.
Failure is an option
Trust your players. Trust their creativity, their investment, their ability to surprise you.
Consider the difference between a railroad track and a garden. The track leads to a predetermined destination, smooth and efficient, but allowing for no deviation. The garden, however, offers paths that wind and intersect, with spots to rest, to explore, to discover. A skilled GM tends their garden, pruning here, enriching the soil there, but always allowing for the wild and unexpected to flourish.
The true art of Game Mastering lies not in controlling the narrative, but in cultivating it. When players feel their choices matter—when they can meaningfully impact the world around them—they become invested in ways no predetermined plot could achieve.
This does not mean abandoning preparation or structure. Rather, it means preparing with flexibility in mind. Instead of plotting specific scenes, create dynamic situations. Rather than scripting dialogue, develop characters with clear motivations who can react authentically to unexpected player choices. The goal is not to anticipate every possible decision, but to create a world rich enough to respond organically to whatever path the players choose to explore.
Trust your players. Trust their creativity, their investment, their ability to surprise you. For in those surprises, in those moments when the story veers wildly from your expectations, you may find something far more valuable than the tale you originally set out to tell.
