GM leniency/strictness - plotlines/story

[zornwil]

Just curious - as a GM, how lenient or how strict are you? I admit, I'm really lenient typically. There's no right style of course, so this isn't intended to trigger any debate on a "better" style, just wondering what people have to say.

Yeah, I know this is a cut-and-paste job from my original poll that wasn't cutting it. If you want to see my views they're in that one, it's called just "GM leniency/strictness"

[Bartman]

Well I pretty much let the players go and do whatever they want to. There are plots going on but depending on player actions they may never actually intersect with a given plot. Not that the plots don't move forward. I generally have a couple dozen stories moving in the background, and then give clues and hooks to try to get the players interested. But if they choose to never interact with a particular plot it still advances. On more than one occasion players have gone back and dealt with the fallout of some plot that they let go at the time. Overthrowing the Duke rather than preventing him from coming to power in the first place.

[lemming]

I'm very lenient in my FtF games. If the players want to pursue another avenue, I let them. Sometimes it's because I've made a red herring a little too good and the players run off. However I've had some real good games come from that. While I do still have stuff going on in the background, I make sure the characters get a chance to stop any big things from going on. Mainly because it's what I had all prepared and don't want to toss it. So usually have the skipped over plot elements or whatever lying in wait for the next unsuspecting player. :D

In con games, I've found I have to be a bit more rail roady. It's hard enough to get the game to a good conclusion with the players cooperating I've found.

[Tim]

I run a very loose campaign. I only have a broad outline of where I want the story to go, and if teh PCs want to get sidetracked, I'll wing. it. I also listen closely to the theories/ paranoia the players expound on. hey give me better ideas than I had origonally, many times.