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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Desdichado" data-source="post: 5998864" data-attributes="member: 2205">These tips very closely match my own style of GMing, so to me they seem really intuitive, and it's exciting to see them articulated so well.Let me add a few thoughts of my own.1) You can go beyond refluffing stats.  I play with "Schrödinger's stats"--they literally don't exist at all until you open the box and start combat.  You don't need an AC until someone rolls a To Hit roll.  Make up a reasonable one on the fly.  You don't need To Hit or damage modifiers until someone gets hit in combat.  Again, make up a reasonable one on the fly.  You don't need hitpoints at all; if a foe is meant to be a minion, anything other than a totally whiffed damage roll will drop him.  If not, gauge the feel of combat, and keep the monster or NPC antagonist up right up until the point where it'll start being tedious and frustrating that he hasn't gone down yet.Stats are over-rated.  They aren't needed at all in many cases, except for real showcase battles against "star" antagonists.2) There's still a place for random encounters, especially of the kind described above.  Raymond Chandler famously said something to the effect of, "when in doubt, have two guys come through the door with guns."  I've done this many times; when the players seem confused, directionless, or unsure where to go or what to do, have some thugs attack them.  Use Schrödinger's stats as detailed above.  It's surprising how often that gets them to refocus.  And if it doesn't, it's also a great way for the players to find some kind of clue planted by you on the bodies of the thugs/bandits/ninjas/whatever.3) Tools, not rules.  Although this was the motto back in the early days of 3e, it's surprising to me how often it's been overlooked and/or forgotten.  I'd always run the game this way, and thought that doing so was common in "Ye Olde Days" of the hobby, so I was actually surprised that it even needed to be said in the first place.  Rules are there to be a support to you.  If they are the right tool for the job, use them. If not, keep them in your toolbox until such time as they are.  Don't ever feel beholden to the rules just because they're the rules.  If you think of them instead as the tools, it's a very freeing paradigm shift.4) Character backgrounds, as you point out, can be a great thing that drives the game, if done correctly.  But, as you say, some players find the job onerous.  One thing I've done with great success in the past is to borrow a concept from Spirit of the Century.  Rather than asking anyone to create detailed backgrounds (although they still can, if desired) have everyone create a very quick and dirty summary of what their character's been doing for the last few weeks or so.  This shouldn't be more than a paragraph or two; similar in scope to the blurb on the back of a paperback book.  Then, write each player's name twice on little chits of paper, throw them in a coffee mug or something, and pull them out at random and give them to other players.  Once every player has the names of two other PCs, have them in turn add a sentence or two on how their character had some kind of minor involvement in the past adventures described for each character. This is kind of a fun little end of chargen mini-game in its own right.  It gives you tons of hooks to potentially use, and since it comes from the players, they're pretty invested in them.  Most importantly, if creates ties between the various PCs in their backstories, so that they're not just a bunch of random folks who are together against all reason because the structure of the game demands them to be.  This exercise has generated so many roleplaying opportunities and great character moments and potential hooks in ongoing games every time that I've used it, that I now consider it mandatory for every campaign I ever run from now until the end of the time.</blockquote>

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