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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Tilla the Hun (work)" data-source="post: 1199746" data-attributes="member: 14214">This *is* my gaming style, or the next best thing to it <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />I run a very free-will game where my players are welcome to do whatever the h*ll they want to do, the world does not revolve around them.  Pros:  Players discover they have a whole world to play in and do as they will in.  Cons:  The encounters they run into may NOT be suitable for their level (an APL of 4 with 4 players is NOT a good party to go and try to kill a dragon! crazy paladin!), and unless or until they learn to retreat, TPK or near TPK can occur.To create this world, here's what I do.  I maintain a timeline in which I record the actions of the players, and world events.  I track about 6 different major political regions around the players in some detail (X sends diplomatic envoy to y, z is increasing army vs raiding threat from A, A is dealing with a poor economy creating more bandits, etc.) where I essentially am touching the highlights of each area as they happen.  The players almost never hear of these details, but they do hear about the fallouts from them later.  And of course, their own actions cause ripples that spread out into the larger arena.Beyond those 6 local regions, I handle about 4 major regions worldwide - there I don't hit the details so much, just enough to know where they are going in the short run, in case something happens (monarch assassinated, etc.) that the players might hear of.Again - it's just a constant maintenance of a timeline where no matter what the players do (I teleport to the other side of the world - can I recruit mercenaries here?) I have a good idea of the socio-political and economic environment and field almost anything the players do.Typically, I keep a running calendar of events that goes to about 2-4 weeks ahead of where the players are.  Any further, and i find myself re-writing too much.  Any shorter, and I'm having to wing too many things.Hope that helps!  It's a great gaming style and I haven't run into players that don't enjoy it a lot - though some of the ones used to GM's leading them by the hand grumble in the beginning.  Provided I keep it consistent and constant, the grumbling fades and some truly memorable games come about <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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