Fiction-First GMing

 After playing Blades in the Dark and struggling to operate using "Fiction First" mechanics, I did some reading in the text and finally read through the section covering GM Goals, Actions, and Principles. 

I felt pretty ignorant that I would try and just run the game without seeking advice from the designer on how to do so, as once I started to rewrite the section in my own words it felt like a lightbulb went off in my head. I realized the Actions were actually extremely similar to Chris McDowall's ICI Doctrine (or at least that's how it seems to me), so here goes my take on things:

• Ask establishing questions

Information is the field in which TTRPG gameplay takes place, so both the GM and the Players need to establish the scene and setting. These questions can be systemic, like what do you do with your downtime, personal, like what your goal or motives are, or colourful, asking a yes/no question about the character's story and then a follow-up about how their current situation reflects that. 

• Provide tempting opportunities

A key element of "Fiction-First" is that the PCs are the ones directing the campaign. If things are idle, or a session is beginning after a big resolution without the players knowing the obvious next step, question them until you find the Devil in the Details that you can hook them with. Once you have that hook, you just need to tempt them with a Devil's Bargain, and if they don't bite keep fishing for more Devilish Details and sweetening those Bargains until they can't resist.

• Follow open leads 

This goes for both emphasizing the impact of PC action, but also the consequences of leaving threats unaddressed. It pays to jot down impactful moments or create clocks for unresolved issues, and dialing up the pressure and power of these two as the narrative plows onwards. Here I find the Blades in the Dark system naturally shines, with clocks, actions, pushes, and stress, and where other systems likely stand to gain the most when borrowing from Blades.

Just in review, ICI stands for Information-Choice-Impact. Information comes as the answer to questions, which the GM needs to create an open channel for with the players by taking the initiative to ask and prompt follow-up details, which naturally leads to clarifying questions in return. Choice, as Chris McDowall elegantly puts it, is a meaningful choice facing some known dilemma - which is the mechanical function of a Devil's Bargain and the search for what I call the "Devil in the Details". Lastly, Impact is about elaborating and revisiting the way the sandbox terrain has been impacted and changed by the actions of the PCs and the response of the World.