We gave the subject a lot of space in 1st edition Adventure’s GMing chapter because we’d seen too many cases of people who genuinely wanted to have good pulp fun with Justice Inc and the like, but ran it exactly the way they’d run anything else. We wanted to get them realizing that pulp adventure includes characters and antagonists alike frequently doing ill-considered, unwise things in the face of sensible alternatives, and that Game therefore need to let it happen, to reward players going off impulsively rather than spending a half hour or more working out the minutiae of sensible, prudent plans. Players who zip into action are doing it right for pulp, and the GM needs to make it worth their while. And this is hard for people with habits built up through long experience, even when they really want to.
The overall environment is better now for genres that should reward anti-careful behavior, but it’s definitely not a solved problem.
Exactly!
Pulpy action is what some folks want. Gritty action is what other folks want. I dunno if those two truly lie on a single "spectrum" per se, but they're certainly opposites in a lot of ways. It reminds me of the four most common types of Shadowrun taste, which can (loosely) be placed on two spectra: Black Trenchcoat vs Pink Mohawk, and Brown Business Suit vs Mirrorshades.
"Black Trenchcoat" is the grim, gritty, dangerous,
mercenary perspective. You do your jobs, you don't ask any questions you don't need to, you keep your head down, you just make your nuyen and get out. You ice any bystanders that get in the way, you're a cold heartless bastard, etc., etc. "Pink Mohawk" is the loud, the colorful, the punk anarchist. It's about Sticking It To The Man, about having a loud and proud identity, because it's better to burn out than fade away, and hell, if you manage to make it far enough, maybe you can change the world, just a little.
"Brown Business Suit" is the slow, methodical, careful planning. It's the heister who wants to get in and get out without being noticed--unobtrusive and invisible, the subtle knife. That doesn't mean they can't get their hands dirty, but every civilian death is another
problem to resolve later. Whatever their causes, they pursue them with focus, discipline, and above all
untraceability--you live in the
shadows for a reason. "Mirrorshades" is the exact opposite, the Shadowrunner as
pop star, the glamorous fighter. You might walk down Main street with a Hellfire cannon, chromed to the nines; or maybe you're casting powerful and dangerous spells in the public square. You have a reputation for
style as well as success, and you prove that running the shadows can still be a hell of a good time--and looking good while you do it.
Most SR games will feature a blend of all four styles in different contexts, but the group will
tend toward some point in this loose space. I, personally, favor Pink Mohawk and slightly Mirrorshades. I'm all for feel-good runs and sticking it to the man, but I also kind of like the idea of semi-
celebrity Shadowrunners, which canonically
is a thing in some cases (e.g. one of the Princes of the Tir was a runner for a long time before he cleared his name, and he was quite famous in the shadows.) But I see the appeal of Brown Business Suit, and I understand why a setting as naturally grim and gritty as Shadowrun's would draw folks who like Black Trenchcoat even if it isn't my preference.
As it turns out, many folks like pulpy action stuff and don't find as much joy in slow, painstaking, methodical planning. I appreciate a good plan, but my experience with old-school play (limited, but nonzero!) is that you spend 30+ minutes hashing out a plan that then produces maybe 3 minutes of exciting gameplay thereafter. As an occasional sometimes food, I can get behind that. As the core, the beating heart that drives the play experience forward? No, too much talking, not enough action. That emphatically does not mean that I thus think ZERO talking, ALL action is better! Because in fact I don't, and I get very annoyed with folks who do approach things that way. You need a healthy balance.
