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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Xetheral" data-source="post: 8596639" data-attributes="member: 6802765">I discuss my DMing style (either together or individually) with every new player before a campaign. I occasionally experiment with other styles, but in the usual case I'm discussing how I run improv-heavy sandboxes where the game rules are flexible and my notes are just potential material--until a detail has been introduced into play it isn't fixed, and even then things may not turn out to be what they seem. I explain that sometimes this flexibility will be visible to the players (e.g. I decide to resolve a player action declaration by some method other than the rules might suggest, and I explain why at the time) and sometimes it won't be (e.g. revising my notes in favor of a new idea, ignoring or changing dice rolls that I think would make the game less fun). I explain that after the fact I'm happy to discuss how things were done at my end, but I ask people to be sure they want to know before they ask.Admittedly I'm sure I'm a lot less concise about the discussion when it's done in person, particularly because there are more details about my style that I communicate in advance (such as, for D&D, not using CR or balancing encounters to the party's level). But I do make sure that everyone is onboard before the game, and as far as I can remember I've never had an actual player express reservations or objections beyond something like "that's not my usual style, but I'm interested in trying it out!" That isn't chance though: I invite people who I think would enjoy the type of game I run, and I don't volunteer to run for a pre-existing group if I don't think everyone there would enjoy my style.</blockquote>

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