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4th edition, The fantastic game that everyone hated.
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<blockquote data-quote="JustinAlexander" data-source="post: 6077680" data-attributes="member: 6700092"><p>We've been around this mulberry bush before and I doubt the outcome will be any different this time around. But this is probably the most direct I've seen you be in describing your creative process, so I'm going to take the opportunity to analyze it. To break it down into discrete steps:</p><p></p><p>(1) Ignore the flavor text that exists.</p><p>(2) Write new flavor text.</p><p>(3) Explore the themes created by the new flavor text.</p><p>(4) Claim that those themes are inherently and indelibly in the mechanics.</p><p></p><p>Nothing wrong with the first three steps, of course. But it's that fourth step which results in large numbers of ENWorld posters sighing exasperatedly in your direction in thread after thread after thread.</p><p></p><p>Because, of course, I could just as easily rewrite the flavor text of Come and Get It so that its mechanical effect is created by sneaking around the battlefield, throwing mud in people's eyes, tripping them, calling out false battle orders in the mimicked voice of their commander, and so forth. And then I could talk about the "fact" that Come and Get It -- via its mechanics -- plays a strong role in establishing and reinforcing the story of that fighter who is sneaky and dishonorable and opportunistic and cowardly. (Toss in Battle Awareness to represent the character's paranoia, Shift the Battlefield as another "mud in the eye" tactic, Get Over Here as the character grabbing allies and throwing them at opponents so they don't have to fight them, and Last Ditch Evasion without any changes at all.)</p><p></p><p>Which, ultimately, reveals that your "fact" isn't a fact at all. When you use the mechanics to model a dogged and unflappable warrior and I use the same process you describe to model the Joker, it becomes clear that the thematic reinforcement you're receiving is entirely derived from the flavor text you've imposed on the mechanic. And, as I say, there's nothing wrong with that. But you'd probably have even more success if you were more self-aware of what your process actually is.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="JustinAlexander, post: 6077680, member: 6700092"] We've been around this mulberry bush before and I doubt the outcome will be any different this time around. But this is probably the most direct I've seen you be in describing your creative process, so I'm going to take the opportunity to analyze it. To break it down into discrete steps: (1) Ignore the flavor text that exists. (2) Write new flavor text. (3) Explore the themes created by the new flavor text. (4) Claim that those themes are inherently and indelibly in the mechanics. Nothing wrong with the first three steps, of course. But it's that fourth step which results in large numbers of ENWorld posters sighing exasperatedly in your direction in thread after thread after thread. Because, of course, I could just as easily rewrite the flavor text of Come and Get It so that its mechanical effect is created by sneaking around the battlefield, throwing mud in people's eyes, tripping them, calling out false battle orders in the mimicked voice of their commander, and so forth. And then I could talk about the "fact" that Come and Get It -- via its mechanics -- plays a strong role in establishing and reinforcing the story of that fighter who is sneaky and dishonorable and opportunistic and cowardly. (Toss in Battle Awareness to represent the character's paranoia, Shift the Battlefield as another "mud in the eye" tactic, Get Over Here as the character grabbing allies and throwing them at opponents so they don't have to fight them, and Last Ditch Evasion without any changes at all.) Which, ultimately, reveals that your "fact" isn't a fact at all. When you use the mechanics to model a dogged and unflappable warrior and I use the same process you describe to model the Joker, it becomes clear that the thematic reinforcement you're receiving is entirely derived from the flavor text you've imposed on the mechanic. And, as I say, there's nothing wrong with that. But you'd probably have even more success if you were more self-aware of what your process actually is. [/QUOTE]
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