Your world is detailed down to its trade routes, with the rulebook as its physical laws. Careful players realize everything was indeed there and follows the rules. Mastery is the ultimate satisfaction.
World simulation is a branch of simulationism, with GURPS as its textbook case. It wants its settings to behave like a realistic location: rules equal physics, and consistency is the reward.
What you do well
- Players' plans rely on a world behaving consistently.
- Players can rely on the rules too, so a well-reasoned plan works as expected.
- Investigations do produce results, because whatever players discover was indeed there.
Where your style trips
Letter over spirit: adhering to the text when the table dislikes the result, or halting play to find a rule.
The fix: Limit rule searches to about 30 seconds, then make a call and keep going. Look it up properly after the session.
Things to practice
- Hand rules research to a player so you can focus on the table.
- Prepare what players need next session, and leave the map's far edges for later.
- Run a lighter system. A second one shows which habits belong to the game and which are yours.
Who you'll click with
Players who lean Tactician, Specialist tend to love your table. Casual Gamer, Method Actor players may need some conversation first. Most players span several of Robin D. Laws's player types.
How to prep
Do the thinking early: factions with agendas plus a one-page campaign concept shrink weekly prep to about 20 minutes. Next session gets detail, the rest a sketch.
Pitch your table with these
- On screen
- The Name of the Rose, Game of Thrones, The Matrix
- Actual play
- Long-running campaigns with a heavily documented setting, rules-as-written play and a lore wiki players actually read.
- Games
- GURPS, Traveller, RuneQuest, HârnMaster
A culture of play describes a table, so one 5e group could sit in two cultures on two Tuesdays. From John Bell's "Six Cultures of Play".