Shane H not Hensley
First Post
Theoreticians among us developed the Threefold Model (and its offshoots), which proposed that every RPG is composed of, or leans toward, one of three “corners”:
This was followed by years of flamewars based on whether one of the three is “better” than the other.
My post is not about that. Rather, I am voicing a completely different “threefold” aspect of RPGs. Namely, I propose that every RPG product is made of three things:
Which may not be earth-shattering news. But sometimes it’s good to state the obvious.
Here’s why it matters: if there really were such a thing as an “RPG scientist,” who really wanted to experience and understand what makes RPGs tick, there could hardly be any better exercise than to methodically go through every TRPG ever made, and strip it into its three components: system, setting, and aesthetic...and then recombine them in every possible combination. Doing so would reveal both the core essence and the nuanced details of all three components.
Since RPGs are not strictly physical things (unlike a billiard ball or water molecule), breaking an RPG into its three components would require not only a scientific mind in the narrow sense of the word, but also artistry, imagination, and even *empathy.* Empathy is needed because such a “artistic scientist” would need to practice putting themselves in the shoes of the original designers of each RPG product, so that the designer's way of thinking can be further elaborated; while at the same time, the scientist’s own biases and personal preferences are as transparent and unobtrusive as feasible.
Such a project and path are conceivable.
Since OD&D came out in 1974, there have only been so many TRPGs made. Maybe thousands. But still, only so many. Which means...
...there have only been so many TRPG rules systems published.
...there have only been so many TRPG worldbooks, genre books, and adventures published.
...and there have been only so many TRPG “trade dresses.” Namely, each RPG product line usually has a unified aesthetic.
For our purposes, the first two components (system and setting) are of primary concern. Since professional-quality visual art can be expensive and time-consuming to procure, the visual component could be set aside.
If there were enough “RPG scientists” among us, whose skill and artistic empathy had been honed by practicing this method, and if we had “all the time in the world,” and if we had a public or private platform wherein our scientific findings could be shared with each other (without receiving Cease and Desist Orders from IP lawyers)...then we could take every RPG system ever published, and use it to render every world and adventure ever published.
The goal of our RPG “science project” would be to produce an artistic-scientific product for each of these system-setting combinations, which as closely mimics the original, professional design parameters as humanly feasible. For this project, WE WOULD NOT SEEK TO IMPROVE THE ORIGINAL SYSTEMS...we would include all the quirks. For example, our OD&D project would keep THAC0; the AD&D1e project would keep time “segments”; and the AD&D2e project would keep its demented wrestling rules. Warts and all.
Here’s what I mean. Imagine taking OD&D, as it exists. By thoroughly studying the OD&D game and the historical circumstances surrounding it (e.g. Gygax’s comments on how he designed the game, etc.), we work ourselves as best as possible into Gygax’s way of thinking. And then, we ask the question: if destiny had somehow “impelled” TSR and WotC to stick with the OD&D system all the way to the present day, and to use it to render all the subsequent D&D worlds using only the OD&D system as written...with the strict caveat that each product must be 100% compatible system-wise with OD&D...what would be the result?
What would an OD&D Dragonlance, OD&D Forgotten Realms, and OD&D Eberron look like? What would all the 5E adventures look like if they had to use only OD&D rules?
Furthermore, what would every other TRPG setting and adventure look like in OD&D rules? Not only the close-to-D&D settings, such as Golarion and other d20 OGL fantasy settings such as Freeport...but also all other genres...sci-fi...modern...supers...everything: Star Wars...DC Universe...Middle-earth...Official Traveller Universe...World of Darkness...Call of Cthulhu...the Sixth World of Shadowrun...Pokemon Jr....Numenera...The Burning Wheel...World of Synnibarr...Dogs in the Vineyard...everything. It’s all OD&D. In this scientific exercise, it’s as if OD&D is the only RPG that was ever made.
Think about how many IPs have been rendered using the Monopoly rules or other Boardgame systems, or using Collectible Card Game systems (which are an even more "abstract", "meta-gamist" lense than OD&D). If those systems can be used to model fictive worlds, then it is likewise possible to conceive what an OD&D "gamist" rendering of any IP would look like.
I guarantee that the process of meshing all settings with OD&D would be revealing...not only about the systemic subtleties and potentialities within the OD&D system...but also about what is essential to each fictional setting. By the end, the scientist, or team of scientists, would be pretty insightful in these regards.
The RPG scientists would need to develop an overall, consistent policy in regard to how much a system can be modified with bolt-on rules and subsystems to represent other genres (e.g. new classes, new PC races, new magic systems, superhero power systems)...and still be considered to be 100% mechanically compatible. Basically, there would be bolt-on subsystems for each genre or world, coupled with guidelines for how to run cross-world adventures, with the "home genre" taking precedence. (Consider the Star Trek/X-Men cross-over comic...its "home setting" is the Star Trek Universe, and so a TRPG version of this story would keep the scifi subsystems even though a few superhero PCs or NPCs visited.) No matter what genre subsystems were in play, it would still need to be possible for a character from any other genre to cross over and be played on the same game table, using the same rules system.
After we had mastered OD&D, we would go on to the next RPG. Say, Tunnels & Trolls. It wouldn’t have to be done in strict chronological order, but the aim would be to cover every RPG system ever made.
Granted, it would take years and years. It would require almost religious devotion...a cadre of TRPG monks, mystics, and wayfarers. Given the legal landscape, our scientific-artistic research would need to either be presented in a way that didn’t threaten the IP holders, or would need to be shared only privately.
But either way, we would become TRPG masters.
We would have a Total RPG Corpus composed of all TRPG worlds ever published, available in every TRPG system ever published. An Omni-statted TRPG Omniverse.
For a glimpse of the magnitude of the TRPG Omniverse, see my (complete?) list of all the IPs from other media which have ever been rendered in a TRPG format.
https://sites.google.com/site/dndphilmont/ttrpgsettings
There’s 180+. Did I miss any?
Now imagine taking every single rules system which is represented in that list, and making a full conversion of all 180-some settings into each of those rules-sets. Of course there are somewhat fewer systems than settings, since some systems (such as GURPS) have been used to depict several licensed IPs.
The same would be done for the hundreds or thousands of other TRPG settings and systems.
An adventure worthy of the TRPG way of life.
- 1) Drama/Storytelling/Narrative: an RPG session as a novel-like or film-like experience
- 2) The Game Itself: for example, the elegance/balance/coherence of the rules; what it takes to “win” the game (as seen more obviously in boardgames and CCGs); and metagaming as part of the experience.
- 3) Simulation: modeling a virtual world (whether it be a “real world” genre or fictional setting)
This was followed by years of flamewars based on whether one of the three is “better” than the other.
My post is not about that. Rather, I am voicing a completely different “threefold” aspect of RPGs. Namely, I propose that every RPG product is made of three things:
- 1) A game system. Whether it be a generic, multi-genre system such as GURPS or Savage Worlds, or a one-product, custom system used in an Indie RPG.
- 2) A setting. Whether it be a worldbook, a genre (a genre is just a bundle of “setting tropes” without a named world), or an adventure. "Setting" encompasses what is usually referred to in the legalistic sense as an “intellectual property" (IP) or “product identity.”
- 3) An aesthetic. Both visually and textually/editoriallly/stylistically. Includes the trade dress, graphic design, illustrations, font, and logo; but also the style of writing, to the extent that's a distinct feature of the product line.
Which may not be earth-shattering news. But sometimes it’s good to state the obvious.
Here’s why it matters: if there really were such a thing as an “RPG scientist,” who really wanted to experience and understand what makes RPGs tick, there could hardly be any better exercise than to methodically go through every TRPG ever made, and strip it into its three components: system, setting, and aesthetic...and then recombine them in every possible combination. Doing so would reveal both the core essence and the nuanced details of all three components.
Since RPGs are not strictly physical things (unlike a billiard ball or water molecule), breaking an RPG into its three components would require not only a scientific mind in the narrow sense of the word, but also artistry, imagination, and even *empathy.* Empathy is needed because such a “artistic scientist” would need to practice putting themselves in the shoes of the original designers of each RPG product, so that the designer's way of thinking can be further elaborated; while at the same time, the scientist’s own biases and personal preferences are as transparent and unobtrusive as feasible.
Such a project and path are conceivable.
Since OD&D came out in 1974, there have only been so many TRPGs made. Maybe thousands. But still, only so many. Which means...
...there have only been so many TRPG rules systems published.
...there have only been so many TRPG worldbooks, genre books, and adventures published.
...and there have been only so many TRPG “trade dresses.” Namely, each RPG product line usually has a unified aesthetic.
For our purposes, the first two components (system and setting) are of primary concern. Since professional-quality visual art can be expensive and time-consuming to procure, the visual component could be set aside.
If there were enough “RPG scientists” among us, whose skill and artistic empathy had been honed by practicing this method, and if we had “all the time in the world,” and if we had a public or private platform wherein our scientific findings could be shared with each other (without receiving Cease and Desist Orders from IP lawyers)...then we could take every RPG system ever published, and use it to render every world and adventure ever published.
The goal of our RPG “science project” would be to produce an artistic-scientific product for each of these system-setting combinations, which as closely mimics the original, professional design parameters as humanly feasible. For this project, WE WOULD NOT SEEK TO IMPROVE THE ORIGINAL SYSTEMS...we would include all the quirks. For example, our OD&D project would keep THAC0; the AD&D1e project would keep time “segments”; and the AD&D2e project would keep its demented wrestling rules. Warts and all.
Here’s what I mean. Imagine taking OD&D, as it exists. By thoroughly studying the OD&D game and the historical circumstances surrounding it (e.g. Gygax’s comments on how he designed the game, etc.), we work ourselves as best as possible into Gygax’s way of thinking. And then, we ask the question: if destiny had somehow “impelled” TSR and WotC to stick with the OD&D system all the way to the present day, and to use it to render all the subsequent D&D worlds using only the OD&D system as written...with the strict caveat that each product must be 100% compatible system-wise with OD&D...what would be the result?
What would an OD&D Dragonlance, OD&D Forgotten Realms, and OD&D Eberron look like? What would all the 5E adventures look like if they had to use only OD&D rules?
Furthermore, what would every other TRPG setting and adventure look like in OD&D rules? Not only the close-to-D&D settings, such as Golarion and other d20 OGL fantasy settings such as Freeport...but also all other genres...sci-fi...modern...supers...everything: Star Wars...DC Universe...Middle-earth...Official Traveller Universe...World of Darkness...Call of Cthulhu...the Sixth World of Shadowrun...Pokemon Jr....Numenera...The Burning Wheel...World of Synnibarr...Dogs in the Vineyard...everything. It’s all OD&D. In this scientific exercise, it’s as if OD&D is the only RPG that was ever made.
Think about how many IPs have been rendered using the Monopoly rules or other Boardgame systems, or using Collectible Card Game systems (which are an even more "abstract", "meta-gamist" lense than OD&D). If those systems can be used to model fictive worlds, then it is likewise possible to conceive what an OD&D "gamist" rendering of any IP would look like.
I guarantee that the process of meshing all settings with OD&D would be revealing...not only about the systemic subtleties and potentialities within the OD&D system...but also about what is essential to each fictional setting. By the end, the scientist, or team of scientists, would be pretty insightful in these regards.
The RPG scientists would need to develop an overall, consistent policy in regard to how much a system can be modified with bolt-on rules and subsystems to represent other genres (e.g. new classes, new PC races, new magic systems, superhero power systems)...and still be considered to be 100% mechanically compatible. Basically, there would be bolt-on subsystems for each genre or world, coupled with guidelines for how to run cross-world adventures, with the "home genre" taking precedence. (Consider the Star Trek/X-Men cross-over comic...its "home setting" is the Star Trek Universe, and so a TRPG version of this story would keep the scifi subsystems even though a few superhero PCs or NPCs visited.) No matter what genre subsystems were in play, it would still need to be possible for a character from any other genre to cross over and be played on the same game table, using the same rules system.
After we had mastered OD&D, we would go on to the next RPG. Say, Tunnels & Trolls. It wouldn’t have to be done in strict chronological order, but the aim would be to cover every RPG system ever made.
Granted, it would take years and years. It would require almost religious devotion...a cadre of TRPG monks, mystics, and wayfarers. Given the legal landscape, our scientific-artistic research would need to either be presented in a way that didn’t threaten the IP holders, or would need to be shared only privately.
But either way, we would become TRPG masters.
We would have a Total RPG Corpus composed of all TRPG worlds ever published, available in every TRPG system ever published. An Omni-statted TRPG Omniverse.
For a glimpse of the magnitude of the TRPG Omniverse, see my (complete?) list of all the IPs from other media which have ever been rendered in a TRPG format.
https://sites.google.com/site/dndphilmont/ttrpgsettings
There’s 180+. Did I miss any?
Now imagine taking every single rules system which is represented in that list, and making a full conversion of all 180-some settings into each of those rules-sets. Of course there are somewhat fewer systems than settings, since some systems (such as GURPS) have been used to depict several licensed IPs.
The same would be done for the hundreds or thousands of other TRPG settings and systems.
An adventure worthy of the TRPG way of life.
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