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<blockquote data-quote="John Dallman" data-source="post: 8227744" data-attributes="member: 6999616">OK, now I have a clearer idea of what you mean by &quot;solution space.&quot; To me, for the scenario I'm preparing for, the premise and setting of the game impose the limitations on PC actions, and my notes about them are about being able to respond to the players rapidly and consistently during play. The PC's only opponents in this scenario are the laws of nature within the setting, and the limits of the available resources and equipment. If they have thinking, planning opponents, then preparation is a bit different. Some examples: It's a somewhat realistic space game. The PCs can't just stop participating, get out of the ship and walk home. That's part of the premise. The PCs need to go into an area of very high radiation to do the mission. They set themselves that mission - it was a surprise to me when they decided to take it on - but since they are competent astronauts, I need to let them know what the risks are and how to minimise them. That's setting. I can imagine all sorts of sequences of events that might happen, in terms of who might do what, and what might go wrong. But doing detailed planning for those would be mistaken, in my view. I'd be tempted to steer the PCs down one of those routes, infringing the players' freedom of action. Instead, I need to understand the situation as well as I can, so that I can &quot;play the world&quot; in response to whatever the players do.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="John Dallman, post: 8227744, member: 6999616"] OK, now I have a clearer idea of what you mean by "solution space." To me, for the scenario I'm preparing for, the premise and setting of the game impose the limitations on PC actions, and my notes about them are about being able to respond to the players rapidly and consistently during play. The PC's only opponents in this scenario are the laws of nature within the setting, and the limits of the available resources and equipment. If they have thinking, planning opponents, then preparation is a bit different. Some examples: It's a somewhat realistic space game. The PCs can't just stop participating, get out of the ship and walk home. That's part of the premise. The PCs need to go into an area of very high radiation to do the mission. They set themselves that mission - it was a surprise to me when they decided to take it on - but since they are competent astronauts, I need to let them know what the risks are and how to minimise them. That's setting. I can imagine all sorts of sequences of events that might happen, in terms of who might do what, and what might go wrong. But doing detailed planning for those would be mistaken, in my view. I'd be tempted to steer the PCs down one of those routes, infringing the players' freedom of action. Instead, I need to understand the situation as well as I can, so that I can "play the world" in response to whatever the players do. [/QUOTE]

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