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General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
A discussion of metagame concepts in game design
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<blockquote data-quote="chaochou" data-source="post: 7465317" data-attributes="member: 99817"><p>Not really. You said that hitpoints are abstract. Which is a pretty worthless statement. Stats, classes, armour class, spell slots, hit points, fate points, stress levels, moves, aspects - they're all abstract. RPG mechanics used for resolution purposes are always abstract.</p><p></p><p>Since all game mechanics used for resolution are abstract, it follows that your argument ('You're confusing abstract with meta') is worthless. It falls apart as a false dichotomy. Otherwise, describe a game mechanic used for in-game resolution which is not abstract.</p><p></p><p>So now we've got that error out the way, what's left that you actually said? An assertion that HP are not metagame. If that's true, then this test will be easy:</p><p></p><p>We've just sat down at the table and I've given you a character to play, but not handed over the character sheet - and I describe your situation like this:</p><p></p><p><em>You're standing on a bridge leaning on your spear. You're tired and got a sore back from having slept badly on rough ground. You've got a vivid bruise on your right arm and scraped knuckles on that hand.</em></p><p></p><p>How many hit points do you have?</p><p></p><p>For that matter... what class are you?</p><p></p><p>Your in-character knowledge should be more than enough to realise those things instinctively and immediately... assuming, of course, that they're not metagame...</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="chaochou, post: 7465317, member: 99817"] Not really. You said that hitpoints are abstract. Which is a pretty worthless statement. Stats, classes, armour class, spell slots, hit points, fate points, stress levels, moves, aspects - they're all abstract. RPG mechanics used for resolution purposes are always abstract. Since all game mechanics used for resolution are abstract, it follows that your argument ('You're confusing abstract with meta') is worthless. It falls apart as a false dichotomy. Otherwise, describe a game mechanic used for in-game resolution which is not abstract. So now we've got that error out the way, what's left that you actually said? An assertion that HP are not metagame. If that's true, then this test will be easy: We've just sat down at the table and I've given you a character to play, but not handed over the character sheet - and I describe your situation like this: [I]You're standing on a bridge leaning on your spear. You're tired and got a sore back from having slept badly on rough ground. You've got a vivid bruise on your right arm and scraped knuckles on that hand.[/I] How many hit points do you have? For that matter... what class are you? Your in-character knowledge should be more than enough to realise those things instinctively and immediately... assuming, of course, that they're not metagame... [/QUOTE]
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