Latest podcast episode: thanks Caleb for bringing up my comment on the Bryson Springs about telling players how they feel. It sounds like we interpreted the subject differently - I was sort of lumping in the "you're terrified" thing with other forms of dictating that I've seen in games. In that sense I wasn't trying to break into the philosophical question of "what controls your emotions?", I was focusing more on GM practice within a game. I agree that generally people don't have control of their own emotions, but if you're effective at narrative (and boy are you ever), it seems unnecessary to tell players how their characters feel. If a game is scary, it's scary.
It's not a bad awful terrible monster GM thing to do (like refusing to let PCs take control of other PCs, ROSS PAYTON), just extraneous (kind of like the extra rolling thing). I could see telling players how they feel in some cases ruining the mood (it didn't in yours, mind you). Like if you spend a few minutes narrating a scene where an NPC is dying, and the players are visibly stricken by this, and you suddenly break out with, "you feel really depressed" - I somehow think that'd ruin the mood a little. In the case of a tense situation, it seems like it'd be more effective to narrate something purely involuntary, like a character's heart rate increasing or a bead of sweat running down their forehead.
Lastly, I hope you aren't taking any of this the wrong way. I just find this subject interesting and enjoy the discussion. I'm not the kind of guy that would sit in on one of your games and write every tiny flaw in a notebook and then give it to you at the end. I'd be super honored to play in one of your games, no foolin'.
