Gamemaster's Guidepost - Framing Your Preferences, Part I (Patreon)

My grandfather used to tell me war stories when I was a kid, from my great-great grandfather in the Civil War to my uncles and cousins who fought in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. I thought it was exciting and fascinating, but he mostly did it to occupy me (otherwise I'd get in a lot of trouble - I was a nosy and entirely too energetic child). 

One thing he used to tell me often was "We only have the weapons to fight the war we just fought once that war is over." Something he'd say after I asked why the hero of the story did or didn't something that wouldn't make sense to me. I eventually understood: You often don't have the means and methods to do something until after you'd done it.

While RPGs and wars are worlds apart, this axiom can be applied here as well. So I would posit that "You only have the tools to run a campaign after the campaign you've just run has ended" is equally valid. It's akin to "mistakes are how you learn," except you only realize you need something after you find out that you need it. I am in the process of wrapping up the first part of my year-long super's campaign, Aeon, and I've kept some pretty prodigious notes on where I failed, where I succeeded, and where I need work. 

One of the areas where I need work is the initial framing mechanism for the campaign in regards to players. My players need to know exactly what they are getting into and I need to know exactly what my players *want.* So I've come up with a methodology that will tell me exactly what my players want, tell my players exactly what I (the GM) want, and what the players should expect from the campaign. Today is part one of a three part series outlining those methods in the hope that other GMs might get some milage out of them. Today focuses on the player's expectations from the GM.