On 5 February 2018 at 18:59, Catherine Berry <xxxxxx@gmail.com> wrote:

This sort of thing is what broadly divides role-playing into two styles or approaches: treating it more as a game that the players are trying to win, and treating it more as collaborative storytelling in which the players and the GM are trying to create a compelling narrative. Nothing but sorrow comes from a mismatch between players and GM in this regard. There's nothing better or worse about either; they're just very different experiences.

yes, I entirely agree.

Fortunately, none of us are particularly interested in absolute realism and simulation and much more down the story-telling end of the spectrum. (Although my one non-newbie player occasionally throws a spanner in the works [1]).

Still, where I can add details that help with the role playing, I'm for it. I like your Squad Leader example. In Ashfall, the PCs have just a few moments to grab gear before their base is enveloped by a volcano and as I think I've described in Freelance Traveller, it was fun - having given them actual physical equipment cards for all the gear they'd brought with them - making them pick up what they wanted to grab in real time.

Joss Whedon once said that spacecraft in "Firefly" travel at the speed of plot. That to me captures perfectly

Yes, I liked that quote. I should frame it.

[1] I'll get my revenge. In thinking about getting to Bannerji's ship and making their escape from Aramanx that way, said player mused on surface-to-air missiles. "They're TL6 aren't they?" I hadn't thought of them. Now I am... <mwah, mwah, mwah>