Play Dynamics — Advanced Old School Revival

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Gamemastery in OSR+ is as much about running the game as it is about managing the dynamics of play and the social interactions between your players.

Chief among those dynamics are managing play expectations, social cohesion, the conversation itself, and safety and inclusion.

Play Expectations

You owe it to your players to deliver the play experience they signed up for. This is what the promise of the premise is all about. By developing a solid premise, reinforcing it with a setting overview, and presenting a pitch deck during session zero, you lay the groundwork for setting player expectations and a successful campaign.

Social Cohesion

While every player has a different reason for playing, there's overlap among their interests. Refer to the section on managing personalities to figure out what sort of players you're dealing with, so you can construct adventures that better serve their needs.

Respect for the Conversation

Ideally, campaigns will last exactly as long as they need to, but sometimes they meet a premature end. Many of these campaign deaths stem from one simple problem: failure of the table to meet and actually play.

We all have responsibilities in the real world that keep us from the conversation and make our time scarce. With this in mind, we designed OSR+ so that sessions take no more than three hours to play. When one person can't make it, oftentimes this means the game can't happen, so it's important to adopt a scheduling method that works for your group and respect everyone's time when it comes to cancellations and schedule changes.

Finally, players should commit to giving their full attention during a session. Put the phone away, close the other browser window, and lean in. The conversation is sacred.

Be Safe & Inclusive

You won't always know every player at your table intimately—and even if you do, it’s still a good idea to set boundaries in session zero about controversial content or vulnerable subject matter that might arise while playing. Use "flagging" to give players a way to identify things in the fiction that make them uncomfortable.

During session zero, discuss anything the table deems "off-limits," and stress the importance of keeping a writer's room mentality at the table, which means allowing everyone a wide berth to express themselves freely and openly. Remember that roleplay requires courage and improvisation, and as a result, people will make mistakes and say things they didn't mean in the moment. Consider their intent, and allow anyone at the table to reframe or retract their contributions, without condemnation. This includes you.

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