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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Rel" data-source="post: 5214986" data-attributes="member: 99">Perhaps this is something that you very clearly know already but I find that it is very important to understand your player's "player type".  Knowing this may specifically suggest or rule out certain genres of game or certain methods of implementing a given genre.  I'll use my group along with the Robin Laws player type categories from his Laws of Good Gamemastering book (similar concepts by the same author using different names can be found in the modern D&D DMG's):Buttkicker/Powergamer - This guy likes it when there is a lot of combat and he likes his character to be good at combat.  He doesn't ignore the roleplaying aspects completely in favor of those but they are his primary focus.Storyteller - This guy is the other major GM in our group and he loves a good story that feels like something from a movie or novel above all else.Super Coolness - This guy wants his character to be acknowledged as very good within his specialty.  I note this as being different from a powergamer because he has a roleplay focus on this desire rather than a mechanical one.  He likes it when NPC's observe his character as being important or highly competent at their job.Casual Gamer/Tactician - This guy is a fairly brilliant tactician and usually grasps the rules very well.  But he also doesn't like to be the center of attention in the group at all.  He never ever plays leader type characters and doesn't want the main plot points to center on his character.I could (and have) run a wide variety of successful games for this group of players.  But I've also run a few flops, typically because I ignored (or was unaware of) their player types.  And I can see a few right off the bat that would be non-starters.For example the idea of a game centered on courtly intrigue and the various machinations between a group of nobles where each player was a minor noble and they had to ally themselves with the other players while maintaining a secret agenda of their own is cool...and would be a terrible idea for these guys.  The Storyteller would probably love it.  And the Super Coolness guy would like it a lot.  But the Buttkicker/Powergamer would probably feel like there wasn't enough action and the Casual Gamer would HATE being forced to be the head of his faction and make all the attendant decisions.I could potentially modify such an idea where the PC's were all part of a single faction and suggest certain roles to some of the players like having the Super Coolness guy be the head of the faction, the Storyteller be his trusted advisor/chief schemer, the Buttkicker/Powergamer could be their royal assassin and the Casual Gamer might be the bodyguard.  That's a much better fit but I still think it would be a tough game to run and keep everybody interested for most of every session.  And I don't like to work that hard when I'm GMing.Instead I'd want a system/setting combo where I could imagine all of their desires being met during most sessions and most adventures without having to reach too far for ideas.  I'm currently running a Deadlands:  Reloaded game for this group and they seem to be really enjoying it.  It's easy to come up with stories that appeal to the Storyteller, which also have plenty of combat for the Buttkicker, a few chances for the Super Coolness guy to do High Noon showdowns with his gunslinger (kind of the ultimate expression of his preferred playstyle) and the Casual Gamer/Tactician is sussing out some of the neat combat rules from Savage Worlds and otherwise sitting back, plinking away at bad guys with his rifle.Anyway, long story short is consider your player types when selecting a system/setting combo and choose one that makes it easy to come up with adventure ideas for your particular group.</blockquote>

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