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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Nameless1" data-source="post: 5297650" data-attributes="member: 83379">I get the impression here that you really have no experience with games that are run on tight situations. There is no plot. There is no predetermined order, no predetermined events, and in most games that are run in this way, every encounter is created exactly in accordance with what you cite as the definition of an encounter. Namely, that they are not planned out in advance, they are unexpected, even for the GM in those games that still insist on having such traditional structure. When you prep a situation, it is all about the motivations of the characters, both PC and NPC. When you create motivations at the outset for a bunch of characters, all ponted at each other and including many motivations that are in direct or tangential opposition, it creates an unstable situation. This is where the game starts. Any action undertaken by any of the characters will provoke a response by many other characters. Some will support the action, some will want to oppose it. The game starts with a scene that interests the GM/players. Characters interact. Conflict ensues. The aftermath of this encounter prompts other action by other characters, and suggests new scenes to be framed. It is this evolution of the goals, motivations, relationships, and advantages/disadvantages that drives a situation dependent game. There is no overall goal for the resolution of the situation, and there certainly is no "plot" or order of encounters. It is somewhat like a sandbox in that way, except by its very nature, the situation is not static as compared to most sandboxes.The true beauty of a situation based game is that the whole thing is unstable. It is dynamic in that any action by any character will create conflict with other characters, will demand a response by other characters, and will ultimately create an evolving situation driving the story forward. This drive forward is not a plot because it is not predetermined. It evolves during play, just like the vaunted sandbox play is supposed to. But it demands action by the PCs by it's very nature, and creates a story like we think of them, all in the absence of a predetermined plot. The only requirement, as pemerton has stated upthread, is a little preparatory metagaming to create the situation, one that will interest the players and involve the PCs. Create your game not with a geographic map but with a relationship map, and include significant amounts of conflicting interests, and you get all the benefits of a sandbox, with all the benefits of a railroaded plot, but in essence no more prep than a sandbox, and different if not significantly less prep than a plot. Depending on game system of course. D&D is definitely possible to run this way, even if it will take a little getting used to in order to figure out how to properly prep encounters in a situation based game.</blockquote>

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