Provide useful information about the game world as the characters explore it.
Players do not need to roll dice to learn about their circumstances.
Be helpful and direct with your answers to their questions.
Respond honestly, describe consistently, and always let them know they can keep asking questions.
Difficulty
Default to context and realism rather than numbers and mechanics.
If something the players want to do is sincerely impossible, no roll will allow them to do it.
Is what the player describes and how they leverage the situation sensible? Let it happen.
Saves cover a great deal of uncertain situations and are often all that is necessary for risky actions.
Preparation
The game world is organic, malleable and random. It intuits and makes sharp turns.
Use random tables and generators to develop situations, not stories or plots.
NPCs remember what the PCs say and do, and how they affect the world.
NPCs don’t want to die. Infuse their own self-interest and will to live into every personality.
Narrative Focus
Emergent experience of play is what matters, not math or character abilities. Give the players weapon trainers and personal quests to facilitate improvement and specialization.
Pay attention to the needs and wants of the players, then put realistic opportunities in their path.
A dagger to your throat will kill you, regardless of your expensive armor and impressive training.
Danger
The game world produces real risk of pain and death for the player characters.
Telegraph serious danger to players when it is present. The more dangerous, the more obvious.
Put traps in plain sight and let the players take time to figure out a solution.
Give players opportunities to solve problems and interact with the world.
Treasure
A Treasure is specific to the environment from where it is recovered. It tells a story.
Treasure is highly valuable, almost always bulky, and rarely useful beyond its worth and prestige.
Relics are not Treasure, though they are useful and interesting.
Use Treasure as a lure to exotic locations or dangerous jobs under the protection of intimidating foes.
Choice
Give players a solid choice to force outcomes when the situation lulls.
Use binary “so, A or B?” responses when their intentions are vague.
Work together using this conversational method to keep the game moving.
Ensure that the player character’s actions leave their mark on the game world.
Die of Fate
Occasionally you will want an element of randomness (e.g. the weather, unique character knowledge, etc.).
In these situations, roll 1d6. A roll of 4 or more generally favors the players.
A roll of 3 or under tends to mean bad luck for the PCs or their allies.