mneme: (harp)
Joshua Kronengold ([personal profile] mneme) wrote in [community profile] labcats2007-01-22 06:58 pm

Three rules for Activist GMs

In every session, every PC should:

* Be challenged in something they're worst at.
* Have opportunity for movement in their personal plot.
* Be challenged in something they're best at.

Being challenged in something the character is bad at (or has a specific disadvantage with) maintains adversity and challenge -- and allows the player a chance to roleplay their character's response to same. Without this adversity, there's no crisis.

Advancing and hilighting the character's personal plot allows the player to focus on what he or she has said the character should be doing, and allows for the possibility of change of character or circumstance. Without this, there's no change.

Finally, bringing to the fore, and being challenged, in something the PC is best at allows the character to show how cool he or she is, and demonstrate the character's competence and ability. Without challenges for which the PC is suited (in addition to which the PC isn't suited for), the PC is never shown as competent.

There should be challenges the PC can lose or win, where either result is ok -- but these can be "strength" challenges, "weakness" challenges, or somewhere else entirely.