Things seem to be going in a nice direction

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Post originally by Sergio Mascarenhas at 2005-07-13 21:35:36
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First, a good deal of your problems result from the fact that you had an hidden script to the players decisions. You didn't consider that he could follow a different direction. One may not like what the player made his character do, but it takes things in a very interesting direction. In any case, I suppose you will not be able to pre-script things for the future. I also suppose it will be very interesting to gamemaster from a neutral position where the players decide and have to live with their decisions.

Go for it and keep us informed.

Sergio

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Post originally by Rob Carriere at 2005-07-14 01:47:52
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What you did is free the player. The difficult decision is now really his (his character's--whatever phrasing you prefer) rather than being predetermined by your plot. In your terms, the players now have full control of the color of their hats.

If you want to do what Sergio says, keep throwing difficult choices at the players/characters, but never assume you know what they're going to do; never make a plot that depends on a particular choice being made. Just drive home the consequences of their choices, both the good consequences and the bad.

The good news is that this can lead to very intense, exciting play, with the character-players much more invested in their characters.
The bad news is that it only works if everybody is on-board. This requires a much more active participation on the part of the character players than most GMing styles. No more hiding behind "I'm just following the plot"--the players now _make_ the plot and it is the GM who follows with the consequences. It also makes the atmosphere of the campaign a shared responsibility--it would be good to openly discuss and agree on just how dark you and your players want the grey.

To stick with the example you gave, what does the player of the witness-PC think of all this? "Great story, we'll see where we end up going" versus "Man, what did you do to my game?". The PC can be mad as all get-out, as long as the player is enjoying the action.

And if that player--or any of the others--is not on-board: this is a style of GMing, not A Better Way to Play (TM). It works for some people, it falls flat for others. If you and your players are in the fall-flat category, you need to talk to the player of the "murderer-PC" and discuss how to get him back on the track of your plot. From the way you write, my guess would be that neither you nor that one player are in the fall-flat category, but that's nothing but a SWAG and I know absolutely nothing about the rest of the players.

SR
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Post originally by walt c at 2005-07-14 06:34:51
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Thanks for your responses, Rob and Sergio!

My article was posted a day after I sent it, so I actually haven't gotten to the next session yet.

I can't wait to see how it pans out.

Walt

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Post originally by committed hero at 2005-07-14 11:24:20
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Er, neither can I, now.