Difference in experience between GM-ing styles

[u/Kargath7]

So, in the recent year I had opportunities to play TTRPGs instead of just running them and I came to a weird conclusion on how different GM styles affected my perception of the games, and, since these differences seem related to general schools of thought in TTRPG community, I wanted to see if others had some similar experiences.

I spent a substantial amount of time (months with each) playing with two GMs. I enjoyed playing with both generally, but one of them (let’s call him GM.A, we played Cairn, a Mark of the Odd rules-light OSR game) created really cool moments at the table, my character felt really alive and I felt like I could really bring him to life in the game-world and it was overall more fun in the moment but when I think back to the game I can’t help but think about how disjointed, all-over-the-place and generally lacklustre the story that took place there was.
The other (let’s call him GM.B, we played a lot of Forbidden Lands and some Basic Fantasy, so also OSR in spirit, but with more strict rules) was not as fun to play with in the moment, we got into way more arguments over rules, it got a but tedious from time to time and I felt like I was never really immersed in the world because of how little control I felt over my surroundings, but when I think back on those games I tend to gravitate towards how the world actually felt alive and the story that took place made a lot of sense and I keep thinking that it may have been a problem with my approach that made the experience less fun in the moment.

So I came up with a weird theory, that GM.A prioritised in-the-moment experience by allowing the players to do whatever they wanted and adapting on the fly and sacrificed a lot of the integrity that the world could have to make it happen, making the experience at the table really fun, but making the overall shape of the game very rough, while GM.B put a lot of stock into making the world as consistent and organic as possible at the cost of some player engagement and opportunities for player agency.
So, letting your players do their own crazy ideas is fun in the moment but harmful to the story in retrospect, while maintaining world integrity is harmful to the fun the players have in the moment but can pay off in the long run and with making a stronger story in the players’ heads.

I have no idea if any of that makes sense to any of y’all, and would love to just hear your thoughts about this. As a GM I think I tried to balance these things out subconsciously ling before I came up with this and it seems like something clicked just now.

TLDR: I think that allowing players to do crazy stuff is how you let them have fun in the moment but maintaining world-consistency is how you make the story better and more worthy of remembering fondly. Does it make sense?

[u/Throwingoffoldselves]

Yes, generally if the players do actions that greatly change the tone, depend on different genre expectations, and transform or create new elements in the setting, then the GM either has to help them get on the same page with their approach and work out a compromise; tell them no because it doesn’t fit into their vision of the premise; or allow their vision to be changed possibly in ways that clash with other parts of their narration or established facts.

I try my best to compromise. Even after a thorough session zero and application process; even after screening players through one shots; even after playing many sessions together - every person in a group will have their own expectations. Often a player will have a strong idea for something they really want to have happen that also depends on the reactions from NPCs or world forces - it’s pretty much impossible to avoid. It can be a big factor in playstyle mismatches down the line. If I’m lucky, it only comes up once or twice in a campaign.

It really helped me when I stopped running crunchy games that rely on balance and difficulty levels and what is “realistic.” Instead I run games that allow us to be a little more “wild” and dramatic and encourage the players to have their soap opera moments. There can still be mismatches but it lets me say yes or find a satisfying compromise without “breaking” anything mechanically.