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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Eric V" data-source="post: 8658956" data-attributes="member: 6779717">So, first of all, thanks to everyone who has answered.  [TedLasso]Appreciate y'all.[/TedLasso]I hate being vague, but one of the reasons I was interested in a GNS-type description of the game is because I otherwise can't quite put my finger on why it doesn't seem to be working (or working at 75%, let's say); it's why I wondered if it was a matter of approach vis-a-vis the game design that I might be missing.So, I have been playing RPGs since 1e, and mostly DMing.  Very traditional stuff (buy a mod, players run characters through it, etc.); fun, for what it's worth, for sure.  Our group got a little disillusioned with 5e, and was looking to try something else (or at least, I was looking to GM something else).  It's very difficult to get them to learn another game, even one as similar as 13th Age.  Eventually, we did though.It went well at first, as new games tend to do, and then...I don't know.  It started to feel like the "traditional way" of doing things wasn't the best "fit."  A lot of what [USER=20564]@Blue[/USER] mentions above rings true to me; the idea of unique backgrounds, One Unique Things, and use of Icon dice seem to lend themselves to what (I believe) [USER=42582]@pemerton[/USER] refers to as "player-authored quests."  I expected a more shared worldbuilding type of experience...but it may be that decades of playing a particular way have left my players less than able to do this sort of thing (is this what Edwards meant when he referred to "brain damage?"), and I was hoping the GNS theory also had some applications to make each of the G, N, and S really "pop" when playing...and maybe that would help me out which elements I should lean into in a game of 13thAge.I do know that I feel like running it like "standard" D&D doesn't feel quite right...but I am also not sure what the alternative is.  The mechanics behind freeform backgrounds, OUTs, and Icon Relationships seem to have few limits, which is good in theory, but, sort of like how companies that give unlimited vacation tend to have employees actually take less vacation time, the open-ness of things may end up being constraining somehow?I mean, it could just be my players.  I just want to know that I gave it my best go, and am open to the idea that GNS theory might open my mind to a different approach if my current one isn't a best fit for the way the game is designed.</blockquote>

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