Captain Anorak's Guide to Gaming
GMing Techniques: Styles of Play
It is often said that there is no right way and no wrong way to do roleplaying, but that as long as you enjoy it then it's good. However, this ignores the fundamental truth that I am right and that anyone who disagrees with me is wrong. In this vein, I see it as my duty to tell people the right way to do it.

SETTING THE STYLE OF PLAY

Over my many years of roleplaying I've seen a lot of good and bad games, and I've seen a lot of people get pissed off with games because they don't like the way they're run. The conclusion that I've come to is that different people have different expectations of what a game should be like, but they rarely say out loud what they expect. Their differing opinions on how the game should run can lead to games falling apart and all the bitterness and acrimony in their twisted souls spewing out and poisoning the atmosphere. This can be avoided if the GM and players discuss before play the assumptions on which the game will run. I, dictatorial egomaniac that I am, used to have a sheet of paper which sets out my assumptions for running games. I would leave copies of this laying around on the table during play for the players to read, so they know where they were.

However you choose to play, it is terribly helpful if everyone knows what to expect of a game. When I'm a player I normally ask the GM questions on the style of play. It's remarkable how many GMs simply don't think about these questions: they're not clear in their own mind, for instance, whether motivations should be cinematic or realistic. So, if you're GMing, I urge you to consider these things and then tell your players. A game can be so much more enjoyable if everyone's playing to the same set of basic assumptions.

Here are some issues that should be considered:

Consistency
Forced Plots
Cinematic Motivations
Character Mortality