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Unwritten: System Reference Document/The Art of Gamemastering
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==Principles of Gamemastering== ===K.I.S.S.=== K.I.S.S. stands for Keep It Simple, Storyteller (of course). There are lots of rules in this book; don’t get caught up in them. They are just a means. If you find yourself spending more time trying to figure out how something fits into the rules than actually playing it out, then you need to stop and rethink. When you strip it down to its basics, the rules just boil down to roll the dice, add skill level, and subtract opposition. If the player fumbles, it went badly. If they tie, it barely worked. If they succeed, then it worked. If they excel, then they did really well. That’s it. The rest is icing. Apply it when it makes sense and makes things more interesting. ===Drama is Better than Realism=== Don’t get too bogged down trying to maintain absolute consistency in the world or adhere to a draconian sense of realism. The game operates by the rules of drama and fiction; use that to your advantage. There should be few moments in the game where the PCs are free of conflicts or problems to deal with, even if it’d be more “realistic” for them to get a long breather. When you’re trying to decide what happens, and the answer that makes the most sense is also kind of boring, go with something that’s more exciting than sensible! You can always find a way later on to justify something that doesn’t make immediate sense. ===“Mentor” is better than “Master”=== Approach your position as arbiter of the rules by thinking of yourself as “first among equals” in a committee, rather than as an absolute authority. If there’s a disagreement on the use of the rules, try encouraging a brief discussion and let everyone talk freely, rather than making a unilateral decision. A lot of times, you’ll find that the group is self-policing—if someone tries to throw out a compel that’s a real stretch, it’s just as likely that another player will bring it up before you do. Don’t be afraid to direct the conversation honestly if you need to. If you see a potential problem with a player’s choice, bring it up earlier rather than later. Do so honestly and openly. Explaining the issue ahead of time is better than springing unexpected consequences later. Your job is really to have the “last word” on any rules-related subject, rather than to dictate from your chair. Keep that in mind. ===Let the players help you=== You don’t have to shoulder the whole burden of making up world details yourself. The more collaborative you get, the more emotional investment the players are going to have in the result, because they shared in its creation. If a character has an aspect that connects them to someone or something in the world, make that player your resident “expert” on whatever the aspect refers to. So if someone has Wrote the Book on Spelunking, poll that player for information whenever exploring caves comes up in conversation. Some players will defer back to you, and that’s fine, but it’s important that you keep making the offer so as to foster a collaborative atmosphere. A main use of the Advantage action is precisely to give players a way to add details to the world through their characters. Use that when you draw a blank or simply want to delegate more control. One good way to do this during play is to answer the player’s question with a question if they ask for information. Ask “What do you think it is?” and consider running with the answer. Deductions fit nicely into this role as well. Finally, when a player makes a suggestion (or even an interesting off-hand remark), you may want to roll with it. Instead of saying “yes” or “no”, try saying “yes, but...” or “yes, and....” Then, add your own twist. You can slip in something that you have been wanting to bring forward as part of going along. That makes transitioning plot elements smoother than just springing it on them. Or you can use a twist that gives the player a hard decision by making it one that could have unpleasant results. Make sure you let them know ahead of time, and give them the option to take it or leave it. ===Fit the rules to the situation=== Unlike most D’ni construction, the rules in Unwritten are not set in stone. You can represent a situation in many different ways using the rules you have; it’s okay to be creative in how you apply them. Base what rules you use off of the needs of the moment, not the other way around. For example, if a character is trying to deal with an angry crowd, you could represent the situation in several ways: * Use the crowd as background description. * Represent the angry crowd with a situation aspect; compel and invoke as appropriate. * Represent the crowd as a passive opposition for actions (Overcome action to convince them to calm down, for instance). * Describe the crowd as if they were an NPC: give them a few aspects and maybe a skill or two and attempt actions with them. * Use a Contest to model the attempt to sway the crowd in one way or another (if someone else is trying to sway the crowd in a different direction, they would be your opposition, or the crowd itself might be). Any of the above options can work, and they all have their strengths and weaknesses. You don’t even have to use the same option for the crowd every time; let the needs of the fiction decide which you use at any given time. Focus on what the situation actually needs, even if that changes how you would normally handle it. As long as everyone at the table agrees, it should be fine.
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