Limelight vs. table style

Something that's talked about frequently in tabletop RPG circles is style, and how in many RPGs the table's style affects the direction of the game. Limelight minimizes table style, instead relying on the game design to dictate how it plays, in three key ways:

• What Limelight is about
• Bio types
• Character issues

First, Limelight is about high school kids trying to be in a successful band while everyday life gets in their way. It asks players to remember coming of age entertainment such as The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and Freaks and Geeks, mix them with This Is Spinal Tap and Rock Star, and use the subject material of these dramas  as a model when crafting their characters' high school lives.

Second, the bio types themselves push action in a certain direction. If players choose The Activist and The Anarchist for their game, it will have a political bent. If they choose The Retro and The Spectacle, the game will lean more toward situations where peers play a major role in causing drama. And if The Songwriter and The Virtuoso are used, the game will certainly emphasize music itself as a foundation for the majority of the scenes' subject matter.

Finally, the subject matter of the characters' issues will push conflict in a unified direction. Note that at game start, the issues fall into three categories: peers, family, and inter-band. These three types are important, because when tackled by the characters, they will provide the exact experience that Limelight is designed for: a tale about growing up, with music driving these characters' lives forward as a unified force. Players will naturally gravitate toward some categories more than others as conflict escalates and is then resolved, but starting there ensures the game itself remains with the behavior it aims to model.

Questions and thoughts? Post them below!