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<blockquote data-quote="Hella_Tellah" data-source="post: 4564864" data-attributes="member: 52669">Paranoia XP has a nice section on conditioning players, and their philosophy is similar.&nbsp; I think GMing techniques have evolved (which is not the same as improved) and branched off over the years, and there are now many methods employed to condition players to play the game well.&nbsp; Killing their PCs is a good way to teach them caution, but it doesn't, by itself, teach players to narrate their characters' actions well, or to come up with creative plans, or to play along with genre conventions, or any other positive behaviors you want to encourage.Mean-spirited as it sounds, conditioning humans is much like conditioning a dog: you have to reward or punish a behavior within 2 or 3 seconds, or the connection between behavior and punishment/reward doesn't register.&nbsp; Immediately after a player comes up with a brilliant plan, or gives a stirring description for a run-of-the-mill attack roll, reward that player with experience, a Mountain Dew, or just say, &quot;that's awesome!&quot;&nbsp; As soon as a player breaks character, metagames, or tramples on another player's fun, give them some form of discouragement: a roll of the eyes, a kind but firm statement of displeasure, or exclusion from the action for a couple of minutes--focus on another character for a bit.The old-school model of killing your players' characters until they get it right is just one tool in a GM's toolbox.&nbsp; By itself, all you'll get are cautious gamers who explicitly state everything their character does.&nbsp; If you want other results, other techniques apply.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Hella_Tellah, post: 4564864, member: 52669"] [I]Paranoia XP[/I] has a nice section on conditioning players, and their philosophy is similar. I think GMing techniques have evolved (which is [I]not[/I] the same as improved) and branched off over the years, and there are now many methods employed to condition players to play the game well. Killing their PCs is a good way to teach them caution, but it doesn't, by itself, teach players to narrate their characters' actions well, or to come up with creative plans, or to play along with genre conventions, or any other positive behaviors you want to encourage. Mean-spirited as it sounds, conditioning humans is much like conditioning a dog: you have to reward or punish a behavior within 2 or 3 seconds, or the connection between behavior and punishment/reward doesn't register. Immediately after a player comes up with a brilliant plan, or gives a stirring description for a run-of-the-mill attack roll, reward that player with experience, a Mountain Dew, or just say, "that's awesome!" As soon as a player breaks character, metagames, or tramples on another player's fun, give them some form of discouragement: a roll of the eyes, a kind but firm statement of displeasure, or exclusion from the action for a couple of minutes--focus on another character for a bit. The old-school model of killing your players' characters until they get it right is just one tool in a GM's toolbox. By itself, all you'll get are cautious gamers who explicitly state everything their character does. If you want other results, other techniques apply. [/QUOTE]

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