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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Wolf1066" data-source="post: 5186832" data-attributes="member: 88680">I occasionally will do that to set up an initial scenario - such as much of the preamble to getting the characters to Australia then their boss's office then esconced in their new lodgings (provided for them by their employer).  Along the way, there were opportunities for the players to do things but for the most part it was scripted and did run on "rollerskates" as they were whisked along by circumstance, then it eased up and the players were cut free to move as they desire.Rather than giving them a lengthier back story that included them being hired and sent to Australia and having the adventure/gaming sessions start off with their first day on the job, they had a session in which the players went through the stages of the shift - starting at their first meeting at the employment broker's office (where they were inexplicably measured up by tailors) to travelling by plane to Adelaide then by Maglev to Streaky Bay, spending their first night in town in a "Coffin Hotel" and meeting their boss.  The players were able to participate in the learning about the place - I didn't just give them screeds of info, I let them roll awareness etc and fed them what they observed based on the results etc - but for the most part it was a train trip to walk the players through the set up.In the process, I fed them a few references to things that may or may not pique their interest for later investigation and made part of their back story a bit more memorable and visual than a few paragraphs to the effect of "you were selected for a team and sent to Australia, where you are now staying in an apartment provided by your boss."They got to size up their boss, role play interacting with him, listen to his pitch and, most importantly, formulate their own opinions as to what he's like, rather being told.Now that it's over, I don't see any need for that level of "scene  framing" ever again.  The characters are now in place to wander around  and interact with the environment and other characters and find out  about the bits that interest them.  They have a smattering of local knowledge, having gone through the steps of arriving in town and travelling around it, and hopefully have an idea of what they personally want to learn more about.For the most part, I want to keep the stuff that they don't have a lot of control over whether they do it or not - like turning up at work, making pick-ups or drop-offs and such - as open to player interpretation as possible ("this is where you need to start and finish, this is what's in the way - now make it happen") and I want to leave their out-of-work hours as player-driven as possible.Sure, I'll throw out or dangle plot hooks and enticements, throw in curveballs and interesting NPCs, obstacles and unexpected tragedies etc - but how the players react to them and decide to progress should now be the game play.  I certainly don't feel the need to go down the "OK, you have to take this package from XYZ Corp so you ride there on your bikes, pick it up, ride into town, run across a gang..." route from here on in.I want the game to have its surprising twists and turns at the hands of the players - like when Mike took the incident with the juvenile mugger (which I would have bet money would have finished up with the mugger handed over to the authorities and Juvie Court at the very best) and twisted it into his own fiendish plot.The "scene" (in the context of the location/era/zeitgeist in which the action occurs) is now set and framed as scenes usually are, the characters are in their situation as people tend to be, things are going on around them as things often do - now the players can get on with running their characters' lives in accordance with what their goals are.They have a world to explore and a means of earning the income to do so.  They have their skills, attributes, talents, weaknesses and basic equipment - including some motorbikes.  Whatever else they decide they want, they'll have to go out and get it.They are currently in Sewth Ostrylia, but for all I know, they might want to wander off and buy some fesh 'n' cheps in Sedny - or feesh 'n' cheeps in Breesbin...</blockquote>

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