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<blockquote data-quote="Enrahim" data-source="post: 9678242" data-attributes="member: 7025577">While sleeping on this I realise we do have the firefighter stance. That is most recognisable when I think we are on the edge of TPKs. I also think this is more commonly happening if I see that the game is about to stall because the group is stuck on some puzzle, or are obsessed with some dead end red herring.In such cases I find myself scrambling for idea for how I could help them out without overstepping the boundaries of &quot;propper GMing&quot;. It is in a way a interesting puzzle as taken out of a super-hero story. Yes I do have the power of deus-ex machina-ing them out of the situation, but I shouldn't. How can I save them without sacrificing any principles I hold dearly?I think this is somewhat cool, but I don't think I have seen much guidance on how to handle such a stance? I actually guess how a GM is handling this firefighter mode might have quite some impact on the feel and pacing of the game, so in that regard I find it a bit strange I of the bat can think of this being a phenomenom I have seen discussed in any particular detail beyond maybe some general &quot;avoid deus ex machinas&quot;, &quot;respect player agency&quot; and in certain circles &quot;don't go soft on the players&quot;. The advice for how to avoid stalling is also typically advocating an more adversarial stance like &quot;throw in some new complications that they need to adress here and now&quot;. In a few mystery game types I have seen putting a new clue in front of their noses as a technique, but that again is considered quite controversial.Curious to see if these concretisations are enough to spark more people's imagination regarding other potential stances, or how you might have developed good tools for the firefighter stance!</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Enrahim, post: 9678242, member: 7025577"] While sleeping on this I realise we do have the [I]firefighter[/I] stance. That is most recognisable when I think we are on the edge of TPKs. I also think this is more commonly happening if I see that the game is about to stall because the group is stuck on some puzzle, or are obsessed with some dead end red herring. In such cases I find myself scrambling for idea for how I could help them out without overstepping the boundaries of "propper GMing". It is in a way a interesting puzzle as taken out of a super-hero story. Yes I do have the power of deus-ex machina-ing them out of the situation, but I shouldn't. How can I save them without sacrificing any principles I hold dearly? I think this is somewhat cool, but I don't think I have seen much guidance on how to handle such a stance? I actually guess how a GM is handling this firefighter mode might have quite some impact on the feel and pacing of the game, so in that regard I find it a bit strange I of the bat can think of this being a phenomenom I have seen discussed in any particular detail beyond maybe some general "avoid deus ex machinas", "respect player agency" and in certain circles "don't go soft on the players". The advice for how to avoid stalling is also typically advocating an more adversarial stance like "throw in some new complications that they need to adress here and now". In a few mystery game types I have seen putting a new clue in front of their noses as a technique, but that again is considered quite controversial. Curious to see if these concretisations are enough to spark more people's imagination regarding other potential stances, or how you might have developed good tools for the firefighter stance! [/QUOTE]

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