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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Campbell" data-source="post: 8022159" data-attributes="member: 16586">[USER=7016699]@prabe[/USER]I was mostly speaking to the additional discipline required to run preparation heavy games if your goal is to play to find out what happens.There are all sorts of constraints you need to impose on yourself:<ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">You have to be willing to let a vast amount of material go unused.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">You need to avoid investment in your prep.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Prep should be done in a purposeful way. You are a facilitator - not the main attraction.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Most importantly you have to fight against a whole host of unconscious biases that pervade the minds of players and GMs, particularly ones that have been part of the hobby for a long time.</li> </ol>When I am running a game my first priority is to be what John Harper calls a curious explorer of the fiction. A large part of that involves fighting against making assumptions or setting unconscious expectations of what actions the other players will declare for their characters. Another part involves using techniques that will help players focus on the situation and away from trying to find out what I want them to do. These techniques vary based on the type of game.If I start considering how the environment will respond based on what players may or may not do then I am opening up avenues for cognitive biases to step in. It also means (particularly in social scenes) that I am not really being a curious explorer of the fiction and really considering what a given NPC would do right here right now.Right now I am preparing for the first session / session 0 of a Lancer game. It is easy for me to get carried away creating rich inner lives for NPCs, elaborate factions, and world building. That would not serve my game well. I need to keep it purposeful and focused. Prep serves play. Not the other way around.</blockquote>

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