--- _tmp/ccsrd.md 2025-07-21 14:17:32.441992956 -0500 +++ _tmp/ccsrd.new.md 2025-07-21 14:19:03.337574123 -0500 @@ -76476,63 +76476,6 @@ PCs' stories move through time, ask yourself: \"What is going on everywhere else that matters?\" ::: -##### Making Rulings and Pacing the Game [#](#making-rulings-and-pacing){.og-h-anchor aria-hidden="true"} {#making-rulings-and-pacing .og-h-small} - -[(OG-CSRD Editorial Addition)]{.og-ref .og-ref-og} - -In many systems, the GM is given power---and responsibility---to choose ways or times the rules can be applied, bent, or -broken---that's still the case in the Cypher System. It\'s a good idea to be judicious about these powers. Here are -some good ways to think about your role in making meaning during the game: - -::: {.alert .ps-4 .pb-0} -- **Maintain belief and make meaning:** As I mentioned previously, meaningfulness is like gravity, - and that gravity must be respected. It grounds the story, and helps define what's at stake in the story. - Contradicting yourself for arbitrary reasons will sabotage players' belief in the story and in you, and this kind - of mistrust is corrosive to the game of *Make-Believe*. That isn't to say you have to be rigid and make the same - rulings all the time---in fact, quite the opposite. Instead, try to make your rulings for the specific situation you - are in based on what is meaningful about that specific situation. - -- **Describe phenomena:** Without you, the PCs don't really have senses. You must provide their sight, sound, smell, - touch, taste, temperature, and humidity. To a certain extent also control what PCs know about the world, what they - would immediately recognize, or might infer given their experiences. This is tricky---generally, you want to avoid - dictating what a player thinks, believes, or feels. You also don't want to produce a feeling of betrayal by lying - to a player about the nature of their experiences. That kind of mistrust is corrosive to belief. You can avoid lying - to players by describing not what things *are*, but what things *are like*. For example, if the party enters a dark - cavern, you might tell the PCS that they notice an uptick in the humidity, a downtick in the temperature, and a - gentle white noise far off in the distance. Whether the source of those phenomena end up being a completely natural - waterfall, a raging [water elemental](#creature-elemental-water), or something else entirely, you have avoided lying - to the players by equipping them to make their own assumptions about nature of their experiences, and encouraged - them to make discoveries as a result of their own choices and actions. - -- **Call for fewer, more meaningful dice rolls:** When PCs are making relatively inconsequential actions---especially - those that are in their character's wheelhouse---into [routine actions](#routine-actions) that require no roll. - This requires you to know something about the PC and what's on their character sheet, but you will learn those - things in a longer-form game. Only call for a roll when the outcomes would be interesting. Allowing players to - proceed confidently with their PC and abilities helps them take more bold or decisive actions rooted in their - character, rather than second-guessing each course of action they might Take. - -- **Let players try things:** Do not fear player actions or dice! If players are being creative with their abilities, - that's a good thing---it means they\'ve decided they are meaningful. If you have an outcome you\'d like to see in - the game, don't call for a roll and then force it even if the outcome wasn\'t what you wanted. Don\'t call for roll - at all, and propose a [GM intrusion](#gm-intrusion) instead. - -- **Keep the story moving forward:** One trap GMs fall into too frequently is to assume that a failed roll results in - nothing happening. \"Nothing happens\" can provide a great occasional dramatic (or comedic) beat---but if you use - this as a device too often, the game will slow down to a crawl. Creating meaningful consequences for the results of - a roll is usually more interesting than \"nothing happens\", because it prompts the PCs to take additional action - rather than wallow in any negative feelings that came from a \"bad roll\". If things have slowed down too much, - devise and propose a [GM intrusion](#gm-intrusion) that revitalizes the game's pace or direction. - -- **Let encounters resolve:** Sometimes players will use a [cypher](#choose-cyphers) or [special - ability](#choose-abilities) that causes an encounter to end too quickly for your taste. Take heart---even a foe who - has been knocked off a cliff might later claw their way back to the top, reappearing as a [GM - intrusion](#gm-intrusion). But it is wise to for the moment that doing this will be most meaningful in the story. - -- **Be a team player:** While you are usually playing the role of a creature or situation that is antagonistic to the - PCs, be sure you make some time to also be their head cheerleader---and a fellow player. Don't make yourself an - adversary---celebrate their victories, and agonize in their defeats, too. When they have good ideas, tell them so! -::: - ##### Handling Players and PCs [#](#handling-players-and-pcs){.og-h-anchor aria-hidden="true"} {#handling-players-and-pcs .og-h-small} [(OG-CSRD Editorial Addition)]{.og-ref .og-ref-og} @@ -78057,7 +78000,7 @@ - The Rest of the Rules [(412)]{.og-ref} - Adjudicating [(412)]{.og-ref} - Logic [(413)]{.og-ref} -- [Dice Rolling](#making-rulings-and-pacing) [(414)]{.og-ref} +- Dice Rolling [(414)]{.og-ref} - [The Flow of Information](#passive-difficulty) [(416)]{.og-ref} - [Failure to Notice](#passive-difficulty) [(417)]{.og-ref} - [Graduated Success](#graduated-difficulty) [(417)]{.og-ref} @@ -78077,15 +78020,15 @@ - The First Few Sessions [(427)]{.og-ref} - Running Cypher System Combats [(427)]{.og-ref} - Crafting Stories [(428)]{.og-ref} -- [Pacing](#making-rulings-and-pacing) [(428)]{.og-ref} -- [Description](#making-rulings-and-pacing) [(430)]{.og-ref} +- Pacing [(428)]{.og-ref} +- Description [(430)]{.og-ref} - [Preparing for the Game Session](#session-preparation) [(431)]{.og-ref} - [Handling the Players](#handling-players-and-pcs) [(433)]{.og-ref} - [Mature Themes](#horror-rules-consent) [(434)]{.og-ref} - Designing Encounters [(434)]{.og-ref} - Complex Encounters [(434)]{.og-ref} - [Balancing Encounters](#balancing-encounters) [(434)]{.og-ref} -- [Resolving Encounters](#making-rulings-and-pacing) [(435)]{.og-ref} +- Resolving Encounters [(435)]{.og-ref} - [Challenging Characters](#creating-challenging-encounters) [(435)]{.og-ref} - Higher-Tier Characters [(436)]{.og-ref} - Character Death [(436)]{.og-ref}