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<blockquote data-quote="Manbearcat" data-source="post: 5979091" data-attributes="member: 6696971">Collective Goal:&nbsp; To create interesting, dynamic, tension-inducing, genre-relevant fiction where my player's favored archetypes are more than adequately expressed both mechanically and narratively.&nbsp; If this aim or process simulation must give way, the latter will take a backseat.Genre Emulation:&nbsp; A Grim + High Fantasy equivalent of a menage e trois (+ 1) of Indiana Jones, The Empire Strikes Back, Sherlock Holmes, and Aliens.&nbsp; I abhor muddled themes so I will stick to a particular theme for a full session or a full &quot;arc&quot;.Table Feel:&nbsp; Hopefully either Bladerunner or Game of Thrones (depending on the content of the moment).Player Empowerment:&nbsp; I encourage player pro-activity in the composition of the narrative as much as possible, sometimes demanding it.&nbsp; I want my players to sculpt their favored archetypes and bring them alive both mechanically and through roleplaying.Story Focus:&nbsp; I run something of a hybrid of a sandbox (the players are moving parts in an organic system) and a scene-framed, action movie (the world falls away and only the players exist).&nbsp; The sandbox is the larger framework/backdrop but the &quot;camera will be panning in&quot; on the players (through the vehicle of closed system Skill Challenges) during relevant, tension-inducing, pace-required moments of our running, communal narrative.&nbsp; Combat Resolution:&nbsp; Mixture of Combat as War and Combat as Sport (1 of my 3 favorite all time threads on this board.&nbsp; Brilliant, illuminating stuff.).&nbsp; My players will always seek an advantage and look to wage any potential combat on their terms (Combat as War).&nbsp; I love the option of bringing tactical, resource-deployment decision-points to bear (both from my players and myself).&nbsp; I expect to go &quot;all-out&quot; so if I do not have proper encounter balancing tools, I am not happy.&nbsp; I want to know, with absolute precision, if I'm composing a TPK or a walkthrough (to let the characters flex their muscles or to pace) so I can worry about the parts that provide a combat depth.Other:&nbsp; My game is not run under the auspices of tight, attrition minutiae based accounting.&nbsp; This will come into play only when a very focused, closed system scene calls for it and it will be resolved via an extended Skill Challenge.&nbsp; I do, however, love leveraging hazards, environmental exposure, diseases, etc (Non-sentient threats in my DM Expectations thread) as their use is a wonderful, dynamic, tension/paranoia-inducing convention.&nbsp; Many portions of my game are investigation (whodunnit mystery solving and the like) and exploration intensive (thus my angst toward unconstrained spells that circumvent these tropes).</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Manbearcat, post: 5979091, member: 6696971"] Collective Goal: To create interesting, dynamic, tension-inducing, genre-relevant fiction where my player's favored archetypes are more than adequately expressed both mechanically and narratively. If this aim or process simulation must give way, the latter will take a backseat. Genre Emulation: A Grim + High Fantasy equivalent of a menage e trois (+ 1) of Indiana Jones, The Empire Strikes Back, Sherlock Holmes, and Aliens. I abhor muddled themes so I will stick to a particular theme for a full session or a full "arc". Table Feel: Hopefully either Bladerunner or Game of Thrones (depending on the content of the moment). Player Empowerment: I encourage player pro-activity in the composition of the narrative as much as possible, sometimes demanding it. I want my players to sculpt their favored archetypes and bring them alive both mechanically and through roleplaying. Story Focus: I run something of a hybrid of a sandbox (the players are moving parts in an organic system) and a scene-framed, action movie (the world falls away and only the players exist). The sandbox is the larger framework/backdrop but the "camera will be panning in" on the players (through the vehicle of closed system Skill Challenges) during relevant, tension-inducing, pace-required moments of our running, communal narrative. Combat Resolution: Mixture of Combat as War and Combat as Sport (1 of my 3 favorite all time threads on this board. Brilliant, illuminating stuff.). My players will always seek an advantage and look to wage any potential combat on their terms (Combat as War). I love the option of bringing tactical, resource-deployment decision-points to bear (both from my players and myself). I expect to go "all-out" so if I do not have proper encounter balancing tools, I am not happy. I want to know, with absolute precision, if I'm composing a TPK or a walkthrough (to let the characters flex their muscles or to pace) so I can worry about the parts that provide a combat depth. Other: My game is not run under the auspices of tight, attrition minutiae based accounting. This will come into play only when a very focused, closed system scene calls for it and it will be resolved via an extended Skill Challenge. I do, however, love leveraging hazards, environmental exposure, diseases, etc (Non-sentient threats in my DM Expectations thread) as their use is a wonderful, dynamic, tension/paranoia-inducing convention. Many portions of my game are investigation (whodunnit mystery solving and the like) and exploration intensive (thus my angst toward unconstrained spells that circumvent these tropes). [/QUOTE]

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