What’s your play style?

10 thoughts on “What’s your play style?”

1. I’m a “everything is cool” GM. So long as it doesn’t break the narrative or the world, I’m cool. Though as GM I still hold veto rights on anything I feel isn’t appropriate for the world or story.

2. Dark and light-hearted. I make jokes or quips periodically, especially when GMing because it gets dark quick.

3. I know that players and GMs sometimes prefer to run a more serious game versus one that all jokes and comedic antics. Do you guys find that you prefer to run one or the other or is it based on how you feel that day?

4. Mine are always dark and depressing. Many deaths. Characters never go out alone or even in pairs. Things get sacrificed if they’re lying around. The quips just break the tension when things get too bleak.

5. An ideal session for me is an even mix of both. If the situation is silly, there should be something more serious behind it. Maybe the goblins are goofballs, but they serve a dark lord with a dark purpose. Or if the situation is serious, there should be moments of comic relief so no one gets too caught up (especially if the players are doing poorly). I want the players to have the freedom to play it out however they want from moment to moment and not feel trapped by the mood I set.

6. I like to put my players into dilemmas. You can finally kill the bad guy, but it will mean you will never see your family again. You can catch the vase or the kitten, not both. Would you be willing to sacrifice your prized possession if it meant you had a chance to find your wife?

7. To give this a bit more context, we want to eventually help players matchmake their games and we debated using playstyles to do that. However, it seems that this changes from game to game and there might be better ways to go about doing that.

8. Andrew Huffaker I run games just like that. A lot of cause, effect and consequences. Their “downtime” happens after the Big Bad is finally beaten, and they paid the price. Relax for a session then it’s on to the next.

9. Damian Jankowski The tone of a game is different for every GM and game they’re running. My games are usually very grim, dark and filled with consequences. Sometimes, I’ll run something fun and filled with wuxia.

   I think, for match making purposes, it would be better to have, say, a setting one sheet or setting elevator pitch per game than, “This GM runs this way, and that player plays that way.”

10. James Carr You’re definitely on to something. If each game was tagged with certain styles, at least that would provide the player the ability to sort them by their preference for the game they want at that time.

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