Sometimes, You Also Have to Choose

I ask a lot of questions when I GM. I'm not talking about questions like "What do you do?" Or the like, but of the other type. A lot of times, when my players, for example ask me if there is something there, I ask them: "Is there?" For me, my players are there to create the story as much as I'm there, and because we don't have the same mind, and we think differently, I don't know what they're gonna do with what they are asking for. If it's cool, why say no beforehand?

That leads to a different kind of problems, of course, but it also enables the players to achieve cooler and greater things with their characters, and to enhance the game and the mood/tone/etc of the game. For me, as long as it isn't really not fitting (like having a swimsuit in the desert), I don't say no. I usually say yes, but sometimes I just let them decide, so they'll choose if it's cool enough.

What surprises me the most, though, when I use this method, is when the player looks at me like I'm supposed to be the judge, or that I'm supposed to say yes or no. But hey, being the GM means that I'm the leading storyteller, not that I'm the only one, or that I can't pass responsibilities...