Psion said:
Well whether or not it is, it's certainly a nice stripped-down and succinct advisory. Did you just come up with that?
Pretty much; the principles were already there (I'm a relatively recent disciple of Mr. Laws myself
and somehow just seemed to map well to LEAD.
I do have that book (actually, I just reached out and snatched it from my bookshelf), and find his analysis interesting, but I actually think that it is very difficult to peg most players into just one of his categories.
Absolutely agree - but most people seem to be mappable to two of those "kicks" most of the time. It's not about square pegs and holes, it's about recognizing what element someone comes to get out of playing, and without which they feel like the session was not as fun. I surprised myself by realizing I was more of a Casual Gamer by his description, with Story-teller as a secondary trait.
But so far as that goes, I think it would be fair to say that my current players are closest to 1 butt-kicker, 2 specialists (one sneaky/ninja specialist and one druid/fairy/shaman specialist), and an occasional casual gamer. But they have similar tastes to me in SF, including some shows and books with complex characters and relationships. So I feel they have it in them.
The Casual Gamer is without doubt your hardest "sell" because by his or her nature, they don't like the spotlight a lot, though they'll take it sometimes. The butt-kicker is second-hardest, but doable if you can find some way to reward social interaction with combat.
Didn't say it would be easy, just doable...
The 2 specialists, if you can find how interaction with the world can reward them with more opportunities to do what they do best, is the way to go. Because you know the players, and I don't, I'm afraid all I can speak in is generalities...
If it were my players, I'd say that the sneaky person is awarded by introducing them to people who need their services on a regular basis - the more they ingratiate themselves to the guildmaster/noble/kingpin of crime, the tougher and tougher jobs they get. The fairy/druid/shaman can be entreated by a superior or subordinate to save the Green in some fashion. If it were MY butt-kicker, I'd tell him that there are a few benevolent people who, if he can get in their good graces, he can point them to the servants of some nameless evil who need smiting.
And the casual - well, if he's 100% - Robin - Laws - Textbook casual, there's nothing to say, he'll participate in the game, but won't put a lot of effort into social interaction. More likely, he has other interests as well that you can play on.
That's where I'd start, anyway.