Been thinking about Trad, OSR, and Storygaming differences.

This is a huge oversimplification, but Trad tends to put authority in the Rules, OSR games put authority in the GM to deliver Rulings, and Storygames split authority evenly between GM and Players.

They all have uses.

OSR games, by loading all the authority into the GM, can get away with incredibly simple rule systems, and are actually rather easy to play once everyone gets it.

But it requires a lot of trust in the GM to be fair, and if this trust is broken it falls apart.

Story games avoid this by giving players narrative authority, sometimes even mechanical authority, sometimes even getting rid of the GM role!

This is exciting and fun but has a big potential drawback- it requires players to be exceptionally engaged.

This has been the achilles heel with my groups so far, we play at the end of the day and everyone is tired and really would rather just react to the situations the GM throws at them.

Coming up with ideas requires a different sort of energy. Hopefully we can get past this stage.

Trad games, putting authority in rules, are easy for the players - once they've learned those rules, at least. And don't ask much from the players in game. And there's at least a reassuring perception of the GM being limited by rules, though i feel this is mostly illusionary.

(A GM that wants authority will find a way no matter how what the rules say- and trad games make it really easy for the story structure to be railroaded.)

I'm not saying anything new here, and I probably got some things wrong- especially on the storygames side, I'm still new to them.

I do think this is why my home group is stuck with 5E. They trust it, and it doesn't ask much out of them. It's too bad, I can't stand 5E or WotC.

This is also part of why I personally find OSR gameplay still fun to GM, even if I'm somewhat disillusioned with the community and the philosophy.

It's really easy to GM. I don't have to deal with excess rules, and I don't have to try to drag reluctant players into the spotlight

(Tangent: I also enjoy OSR games as a player- the entire default gameplay loop is around exploration, and I love exploration. Opening up a door or entering a hex and discovering what's inside it, is it treasure, is it a trap, is it a monster? I love this basic loop.)

(which is not to say that other games don't do this. But OSR games focus so much energy on making this specific game loop crisp and satisfying)

Anyway, the point is, these philosophies are all more like... selecting the right tool for the job. One size doesn't fit all.

That's just talking about authority and ease of play, never mind genres they can handle and the stories that can be told! It's complicated stuff!