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<h2>DURING PLAY</h2>

<p>During each session, adhere to the following principles:</p>

<ul>
  <li>
    Portray a wondrous world. Give your NPCs unique quirks and add memorable
    touches to every location, but don't get bogged down by details. Keep the
    descriptions short and then let everyone ask questions.
  </li>
  <li>
    Manage information. A big part of your job during each session has to do
    with information — you will be asked plenty of questions, from the shape of
    a room to a person's behavior. You decide whether the characters know such
    information (based on simple observation or on who they are) or if a Check
    is required — the dice will determine how much the character knows about
    someone or something, or if they at least know where they could find that
    information.
  </li>
  <li>
    Seek input from others. If something is relevant to a character's role in
    the story (especially their Classes and Identities), you should ask for the
    Player's input — let them establish facts about the shared game world.
  </li>
  <li>
    React to the heroes' choices. Be ready to adapt to the heroes' actions and
    goals; leave them free to adopt whatever strategy they choose, but apply the
    consequences of those strategies and don't pull your punches.
  </li>
  <li>
    Enforce transparency. Make sure everyone at the table knows what's at stake
    when they perform Checks or choose a specific course of action.
  </li>
  <li>
    Keep the pressure high. Whatever the Player Characters want to achieve,
    someone or something will block their path. Heroes should never have enough
    time to do everything — put them in front of hard choices. Use Clocks to
    show impending threats and make sure Villains play an active role in the
    story.
  </li>
  <li>
    Think cinematically. Describe situations and actions as if they were
    cutscenes from a videogame — keep things moving and make sure everything
    feels vivid and dynamic. This is especially important during conflict
    scenes, when the strategic aspect of the game is at its peak: mechanics and
    descriptions go hand in hand.
  </li>
  <li>
    Start and end scenes. When you feel like a scene has been resolved, propose
    to end it. If anyone still wants to do something, they should tell you —
    otherwise, move on with the story.
  </li>
  <li>
    Design interesting battles. Avoid "filler battles" and focus on intense and
    dramatic confrontations with powerful antagonists. See page 292 for more.
  </li>
</ul>