Styles of Play (CSC)

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Once the DM has established his neutrality (or is at least aware of his shortcomings), he should work on his awareness of his own playing style and possibly determine what style of delivery he will use. Style encompasses a variety of features: the pace of game play (fast or slow), the way a DM interacts with his players, the ratio of com bat to puzzle-solving or role-play, how problems are solved, the humor level in the game, the ratio of dangers to rewards, and so on.
Play styles are as varied as the people who play the game, though most will fall into one of the styles listed below. Much as an author must choose the way he will present his story (be it a mystery, historical fiction, horror, or epic tale), a DM must choose a method he is comfortable with when presenting information to the group. While no style is inherently bad or good, right or wrong, it's important to match play style with the overall personality and desires of the group, otherwise one may not be able to say" ... and a good time was had by all."
==Hack-and-slash==
An important element of style selection is maintaining a balance between puzzle solving, roleplaying, and combat. The hackand- slash game ignores balance in favor of continuous violent heroics (fighting). At first most players love the thrill of battle. But all fighting eventually degenerates into boredom. An all hack-andslash galne has the effect of putting the players in a room with a revolving door which admits an endless line of monsters. This provides excitement for a while but gives little chance for non-muscle bound characters to operate at their full potential. After the characters have killed the kobolds, trashed the trolls, bashed the bugbears, decimated the doppelgangers, wailed on the were-rats. wasted the wraiths, trounced the trolodytes, obliterated the orgres, and creamed the carrion crawlers, even the most combat-crazed players may desire a change of pace.
==Thinker==
Sherlock Holmes, the Great Detective himself, would be comfortable with this style of play. It encourages the players to think their way out of situations (often to the exclusion of other play options). It is more a test of the players' puzzle and problem solving skills than of their character's abilities. Taken to the extreme, this style of play presents a constant stream of enigmatic riddles, convoluted logic puzzles, murky mysteries, and a countless collection of tricky, troublesome traps.
Remember, when designing problems and riddles, make them possible to solve. Fun quickly evaporates in an impossible situation. In every case, the clues needed to solve the problem must be accessible to the characters.
==Righteous Roleplayer==
The focus here is on successful role-play. Both the players and the DM subJuerge themselves into the personas of their characters. This is a unique style that presents all information to the characters as they see it or as nonplayer characters see it. To rabid role-players, the process of reserving a room for the night can be as involved as an encounter with the characters' arch foe. Character development is stressed over level advancement. Players will seek to overcome problems through the personas of their characters, not smashing, zappjng, or usjng brains that they do not have. This should be a preferred playing style, and is usually incorporated with other styles since it is essential that a fair amount of role-play take place in order to create a believable game.
==Historical Simulation==
These are usually serious games. Many are based on a particular historical period and stressing "real world" rules variations with very little supernatural involvement. However, more often than not, simulation play focuses on simulating adventuring activity with a goal to make them seem "real." Most variants focus on combat, producing multistep systems which can be time-consuming, tedious and often morbidly gruesome. Speed and elegance of play are often the first victims.
Successful simulation play focuses on making the players believe that their characters exist within the confines of the simulated period. 
==The Silly Game==
This style of play is purposefully laughable and unbelievable. Often the entire game is a single joke or an extended series of puns. NPCs act like denizens of situation comedies, monsters look and behave like cartoon characters, and the player characters find themselves faced with outrageously ludicrous scenarios. Most adventures are satirical parodies of contemporary culture, pompous personalities, and popular game systems. The player characters are the "straight men" for endless gags and punch lines. Though such games are undeniably popular Gust take a look at the offerings of many game conventions as examples), when presented to players as a steady diet, the hUinor quickly loses its appeal.
==Monty Haul==
The relationship between risk and reward can influence the style of play more powerfully than almost any other factor. In the "Monty Haul" giveaway campaign, the players gain treasures and experience points in a disproportionate ratio to the dangers overcome.
With little personal risk, the characters greedily accumulate magic items, gems, and gold. They quickly attain uncontrollably high experience levels, rapidly advancing beyond the DMs ability to handle them. To accommodate such characters, the DM may find himself hopelessly sacrificing armies of ores and dragons by the dozens, only to realize that this just gives these ridiculous characters even more ill-earned experience points! Treasure, even wondrous magical treasure, becomes meaningless and valueless. How can finding a magic wand have any meaning when the character already has more than he can carry?
Warning!: Once this style of play takes hold in a campaign, it is next to impossible to dislodge it without stripping the player characters of their experience levels and magical items.
==Novel Style Play==
The DM has a great idea for an adventure... and unfortunately... he often already knows the outcome. He uses the player characters to write the scenes for his great American fantasy novel. To its credit, this style of play often has great plot lines and a gripping theme for its adventures. The characters' actions feel as if they are part of a book. The danger with this style is that the DM may be tempted to manipulate the players in favor of a better story (or the DM's predetermined outcome). This style is usually most successful when the players are on the fringes of the story instead of the main focus. The DM can make the story line move as he desires, while the players are able to make their own choices, free of the DM's manipulation.
==Wargamer==
This style is named for the mass of military board game players and miniatures enthusiasts who have tried their hand at the AD&D® game. Because of their experience with games that require a great deal of strategy and tactics within a very tight framework of rules, they tend to need rules for everything. Nothing is free-form. If the rules don't say it, it can't be done. However, if the rules are vague, they are fair game for the type of player (or DM) known as the Rules Lawyer. The Rules Lawyer is an expert at bending the letter of the rules to his favor (though the spirit of the rules may be violated in so doing). Like the hack-and-slash style, wargaming stresses combat. Yet this is not battle for the sake of mere mayhem, but conflict that offers strategic challenge and opportunities for military problem-solving. While this style of play has a limited appeal, wargamer style players have contributed a heightened sense of competitiveness to the game.
==Political Play==
This style of play involves the characters in a web of intrigue as the players side with one or more rival factions in a political struggle. These factions can be rival guilds, politica] candidates, barons, towns, even countries. The goals of these factions (whether good, evil, or neutral) are to increase their own spheres of power to the exclusion of all others. Political factions within a town, dungeon or country can be a reservoir of potential problems for a group to solve.
Evetything the player characters do affects the politics of the area, maybe only locally or perhaps, worldwide. For example, the characters kill a sheep-eating dragon (or just convince it to change its diet), it might unbalance the tenuous relations of the sheepherders and the cattlemen. The townspeople may in return, eject one of the characters mayor, order the return of all the treasures found in the dragon's lair to the proper owners, or the dragon might have been the pet of a prominent wizard...
Commonly, political adventures focus on covert power struggles, spy missions, and one-upmanship. This group wants that done~ which in turn angers another group which retaliates. Perhaps the local citizenry want to overthrow the ruling power, or possibly an evil wizard has the king under his influence and his rival craves that privilege.
Wars are an aspect of political gaming, along with the diplomatic missions to avoid them. Politics give the DM a lot of latitude in the direction of an adventure.
To use this style successfully, great care must be taken to make the players influential in the political situations and not just pawns. There are often a mirage of subplots, and treachery is the ever present danger. Players and DMs are attracted to the mystery and intrigue created when characters enter the murky world of the quest for power. Players seldom know who they can trust or which side is the right side. When faced with an army, the choices are easy. When faced with diplomats and politicians grappling for more power, the choices are more difficult.
==Eclectic==
Eclectic games borrow elements from a number of diverse sources. In a sense, this is the best style of play since at various times it partakes of all the styles mentioned. Since any particular style can become tedious, the wise DM will constantly adapt and change his style to fit the needs of his adventuring group.
Regardless of which style a DM initially chooses, he may eventually find that his tastes and the tastes of his players will change. While change is normally good, the DM should occasionally check his style of play for the negative elements that have been mentioned. Chances are that any real problems in play style will become apparent to either the DM or the players before too much damage is done.