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I say you described tersely how the character exist in the setting. I am not sure what you think the possible hinderances are? Either the NPCs life will intersect the PC's life in which case the prep is useful. If they never do then it wasn't useful except perhaps the enjoyment it brought you...

Sorry you feel that way but I can't see how a game author can write a better essay on small group dynamics than somebody who specializes in the subject. A poster asked to clarify what I meant . I did. If you are reading more into my use of mechanics versus rules then you will go nowhere...

Consider rules and mechanics to be synonymous in my reply.

My problem with social contract mechanics is that they are cast as mechanics. At least in western civilization it is heavily drilled into folks from a young age that you play a game by its rules or you are cheating. Transferring what should be part of Human Relationship 101 into game mechanics...

Had a while to think about it, write about it, obverse other and practice it since I started playing and refereeing in the late 70s. The exact mix in the end has to fit with an individual skills and more importantly interests. If one is not interested in other approach then you are stuck with...

Sounds like a Human Relationship 101 problem to me. The heart of the advice I give about sandbox campaigns rest on talking with the players to find out what it is they want to play and what they find interesting. If a individual is unable or unwilling to do that. Well my advice on Sandbox...

All good but what are the final steps you take to figure out to roleplay the magistrate who controls district near the border with Xian? He is his own person right? With his own personality and history. So with those notes how you add the final bits to make a character the PCs can roleplay with?

Except throughout the life of the campaigns the situation is not static. The best of all worlds is being able to tailor one's approach to the circumstances. Use the tools that be suited for what happening now in the campaign and don't try for a one size fits all approach. It all boil down to how...

I would be interested in seeing you pick out an element or elements of your living structures and how you use that to inform how to roleplay a character in your setting. For example a tax collector or another character in one of your setting's empires.

Sounds Great. What I outlined is a variant of how case law is formatted. What happens in a RPG campaign can be nuanced so following this type of format can be useful to see how people handled various things and learn from their experience.

@pemerton example about using Traveller World Stats is why I make sure I highlight the "Bag of Stuff" when I discuss my approach to running sandbox campaign. As referee we are not omniscience Gods just normal folks with normal abilities ranges of being able to remember stuff trying to have fun...

They are mnemonics. Any setting has the potential to have the detail and richness of own world. That quite a handful for an individual to keep track of especially for something that enjoyed as a hobby. And gets better, suppose one is interesting in creating a setting in general? For a novel...

While certainly contributed my share of being aggressive in a discussion or debate." Overall I had a lot of success with the format of. The problem I am trying to solve How I went about solving it The results of having tried the solution. Written with the attitude, here is some useful to try...

By summarizing the setting tersely. Outlining some of the possibilities. Have a discussion with each player individually and as a group over what they would like play. Or more accurately what they would like to pretend to be or pretend to be doing. Guide them towards choices that result in a...

Nominally it was about roleplaying in authentic medieval setting however I used a sandbox adventure that I am writing "Deceits of the Russet Lord" up so it serve and example of how I run adventures in a sandbox campaign. While it may have started out as a mission there is no particular way how...

Saying it looking a card is simplistic but the general gist is correct. Unless circumstances are such that their character would know the right answer. This step is incorrect 3) The players respond as if they are there as the character. It very may be they are trying to solve a puzzle but...

Simulationism is a preference. It there it exists people choose RPGs on how realistic it is but it is narrow niche. Also I think people do themselves a disservice that if emulating reality is involves detailed mechanics. Level of abstraction still come into play. You can be realistic at a high...

Sounds good to me. Well you can throw Dungeon into that mix, or a later boardgame that similar Tomb. You can include the CRPG Moria or later Diablo like games. All of these produce the same basic result when recounted as a narrative later. But the experience of play are vastly different between...

While it will always be an approximation it is a substantial niche in the hobby to create systems that simulate real world physics. Or more accurately the player has to weigh the same criteria, and do things in the same order as life and game mechanics will produce the same range of results as...

Movies, novels, and plays all have the same issue but yet they manage the immerse the viewer. And prior to tabletop roleplaying wargames managed to be pretty immersive. There is such a thing as good enough. Which means one doesn't have to throw up their hands and say "It too complex so it not a...