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Message: <blockquote data-quote="The Shaman" data-source="post: 5183073" data-attributes="member: 26473">Great question, McC.My answer is, I hope it does. I try to pick a system which I think reflects the genre conceits; it's one of the reasons I moved away from generic systems toward games which are more purpose-built. I encourage the players to think in terms of the genre when they're creating their characters.But "swashbucklers" is also a pretty diverse genre. Peter Blood, Sakr-al-Bahr, D'Artagnan, the Scarlet Pimpernel, Captain Alatriste - similar milieu, different characters with very different life-histories, in my opinion.Gentleman-farmers with an estate, perhaps, but not tillers, no.That's one of the big differences between Flashing Blades and Maelstrom. Maelstrom characters may be cobblers and tinkers and swordsmiths and merchants; Flashing Blades characters may be bravos and pirates, but the system provides more support for soldiers or gentlemen or nobles.I'm willing to accept a bit of anachronism there. A female adventurer is quite exceptional, and that will be reflected in how the setting treats her, but exceptional women are found in all eras and all places, so while it may be genre-bending, it's not genre-breaking.Again, I hope so.But consider the goals of three different FB characters: one wants to succeed Richelieu, one wants to be the captain-lieutenant of the King's Musketeers, and one wants to be a masked avenger righting wrongs on behalf of the downtrodden.All may be "young, physically capable, independent men seeking fame and/or fortune and quite prepared to put their own life and liberty at risk," but that's pretty much the view from twenty-thousand feet; zoom in a bit and distinctions come into sharp relief.What I prefer to do is let the players sort out how these characters are going to merge their goals and act in concert to achieve them. I'll ply them with all the information they ask for, through their Contacts, their friends and allies, to help them achieve their aspirations. But I won't try to lead them there by weaving a daisy-chain for them. The players and their characters generate encounters more than I do.And if I've done my job the way I hope to, they are surrounded by adventure in every direction. All they have to do is push, and the world pushes back.That's how it should be, in my humble opinion. Some players seem to forget that from time to time.I agree that the overwhelming majority of roleplaying games are run with the referee providing a plot and the players hunting about for the plot hooks then buckling in for the ride.But what do you suppose would happen if those same characters, "prepared to take quite extraordinary physical risks in pursuit of glory, treasure and" personal advancement, found themselves in a world where a hooded stranger in a tavern didn't offer them a map one evening? What would they do then?That's the game I run right there.</blockquote>

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