So apparently it's not the same Relationship Chart used by people to track genealogies.
Not strictly, no. It's a chart that shows how individuals or groups affect one another, which goes beyond a strict lineage chart. They're used in both literature/writing studies and in sociology, and can be very useful for organising complex cause-and-effect relationships. But, as the saying goes, "The map is not the territory," and getting too wrapped up in a relationship chart can be just as detrimental to a GM as, say, getting too wrapped up in writing NPCs or drawing dungeon maps instead of actually running the game and letting the other players determine the flow of events.
While I don't strictly disagree with you, this still doesn't tell me what an "empowered player" is.
Oh, one who doesn't feel dis-empowered. :deflated: No, seriously, I think it really boils down to a player who doesn't feel that he's playing a game he doesn't really want to play. Sometimes it means the GM giving the players a little more control over contributing to the setting, and sometimes it just means not playing with a set of rules that they don't enjoy. Oh, hell, to be honest, I'm just really not sure myself.
!i!
[Edit: "
...and hear a cut off Kurt Cobain's latest solo album on the radio (he went all dance-techno )"
A propos of virtually nothing, a few months back I heard a dance-remix that Bob Mould did of Nirvana's "Heart Shaped Box". It was...troubling.
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