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<blockquote data-quote="Snarf Zagyg" data-source="post: 8843954" data-attributes="member: 7023840"><p>I have addressed this generally in the past in multiple ways, so I will try and be brief (for me).</p><p></p><p>Game systems (arguably, systems) start simple, and then move toward complexity. This push/pull was seen with Kriegsspiel; as the system gradually accumulated more and more rules to handle more and more specialized situations, it become calcified and unwieldy, eventually leading to Free Kriegsspiel (a game with few rules and mostly referee adjudications "FK").</p><p></p><p>The original role playing games (Arneson) were derived from Braunstein, which was FK (technically, Strategos-based, but close enough for forum discussion). Arneson continued to run games in an FK-inspired manner, with codifications of some rules as necessary.</p><p></p><p>When Gygax became involved, he attempted to translate this looser style of play into a more codified system. Over time (supplements, articles in Dragon Magazine, eventually AD&D) the game acquired more and more rules- things to handle specialized scenarios. Whether it was tables for different people tunneling in the earth, or weapon v. armor class adjustment, or what have you- it was the accumulation of rules to handle specific situations- instead of a specific DM having to make a ruling on the fly, you could look to a specific rule.</p><p></p><p>Of course, this become unwieldy with time. The accumulation of rules always does this.</p><p></p><p>The use of specialized rules is generally unwieldy, and in my opinion only works for highly-focused games. Essentially, people can (and do!) argue about the "fitness" of the rules (how applicable the rules are to the fiction) in modern games like BiTD, but the reason that the fitness exists is because these are incredibly focused games; the more focused the game, the more easy it is to have bespoke rules for the situation that are not unwieldy.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Snarf Zagyg, post: 8843954, member: 7023840"] I have addressed this generally in the past in multiple ways, so I will try and be brief (for me). Game systems (arguably, systems) start simple, and then move toward complexity. This push/pull was seen with Kriegsspiel; as the system gradually accumulated more and more rules to handle more and more specialized situations, it become calcified and unwieldy, eventually leading to Free Kriegsspiel (a game with few rules and mostly referee adjudications "FK"). The original role playing games (Arneson) were derived from Braunstein, which was FK (technically, Strategos-based, but close enough for forum discussion). Arneson continued to run games in an FK-inspired manner, with codifications of some rules as necessary. When Gygax became involved, he attempted to translate this looser style of play into a more codified system. Over time (supplements, articles in Dragon Magazine, eventually AD&D) the game acquired more and more rules- things to handle specialized scenarios. Whether it was tables for different people tunneling in the earth, or weapon v. armor class adjustment, or what have you- it was the accumulation of rules to handle specific situations- instead of a specific DM having to make a ruling on the fly, you could look to a specific rule. Of course, this become unwieldy with time. The accumulation of rules always does this. The use of specialized rules is generally unwieldy, and in my opinion only works for highly-focused games. Essentially, people can (and do!) argue about the "fitness" of the rules (how applicable the rules are to the fiction) in modern games like BiTD, but the reason that the fitness exists is because these are incredibly focused games; the more focused the game, the more easy it is to have bespoke rules for the situation that are not unwieldy. [/QUOTE]
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