Run the Rules You Know

I think about games a lot, and I have quite a bit to say. I will share some of it here (if not here, where?) and you can take it with a grain of salt. Quick disclaimer: if I say something is good for me, or state a preference, it is not necessarily an attack or judgment on anyone who doesn't do it my way. If this isn't the way you do things, I'm not saying I won't enjoy your game. These musings are for my own benefit and reflect my own idiosyncrasies and abilities. If they serve as food for thought for anyone out there, great. If not, they at least help me organize my thoughts! 

With that out of the way, I'll get to it. No GM has asked for my guidance, but I'm offering it anyway. My best piece of advice is simple: choose a system you can completely wrap your head around without frequent need of the book. 

My approach to running a game is based on my limitations. I am often charmed by the clever mechanics of a new system; but I've learned that hard way that being interested in a game and being able to run it effectively are not the same thing. After 40+ years of gaming, I know what I'm good at and what I'm not. What I'm not good at is remembering rules of even moderate complexity. 

I choose systems that are simple enough to run smoothly without obliging me to check rules. If I do run a more complex system, I try to prepare my materials so thoroughly that they function that way in play (though I don't always succeed). Because momentum matters. Frequent pauses to search for rules or flip through books (or decipher my own handwritten notes!) break the game's immersion and bore players. When I'm doing things right, I organize what I need in advance so that information is always in front of me--but if I can't fit that material onto, say, three sheets of paper, then it's too much for me to handle. So when something unexpected arises, I make a quick ruling and move forward. The game’s flow takes priority over perfect accuracy in the moment. 

This preference obviously has to do with system choice itself. Over the years I have come to favor rulesets with a small number of widely applicable mechanics over large systems with many exceptions, subsystems, or procedures for special conditions. A simpler framework (such as Into the Odd, Knave, Black Hack, Troika! or MÖRK BORG) is not only easier to run, but easier to fully internalize. Since I cannot realistically hold a complex system in complete working memory during play, I would rather choose one I can genuinely know well than one I can only reference partially. Mastery of a simple system produces an objectively "better" experience than fragmented understanding of a complex one. In practice, this leads to smoother play, fewer interruptions, and decisions that are made quickly and (hopefully) fairly. 

Again, I don't condemn complex games or the people who like them. I envy people who can run them smoothly. I love to read them and geek out on them. Burning Wheel is a dear favorite. But I am not good at running it at the table. It's worth saying again: mastery of a simple system makes a better game than partial mastery of a complex one. 

But hey, that's just me. There's room for all of us at the table.