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How much should 5e aim at balance?
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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 6011650" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>I'm not sure what you mean by "stuff that's supposed to happen". I talked about using published adventures for maps, story elements (eg towns, NPCs) and situations. None of that is "stuff that's supposed to happen". It's background, plus ideas on how to frame scene/encounters that draw on that background.</p><p></p><p>What happens is generally determined via play, isn't it?</p><p></p><p>In the creative medium in question - namely, the comic - there are authors, none of whom is also exercising protagonism in the course of authoring the fiction. </p><p></p><p>RPGs are, in my view, quite different in this respect. There are <em>players</em> of <em>player characters</em> who, as part of playing the game and adopting the PC's role, have a definite interest in their PCs <em>doing stuff</em> - although what exactly the stuff is can differ markedly from game to game.</p><p></p><p>And there is a GM, who has a very different role: s/he is not an advocate for any particular character in the adventure, and nor is s/he any sort of protagonist. But s/he is in charge of providing antagonim for the PCs.</p><p></p><p>Hence their are conflicting interests: if player A pushes hard for his/her PC, s/he might overshadow player B and player B's PC; if the GM pushes hard with antagonism for the PCs, s/he is naturally going to clash with the desires of A and B that their PCs do their stuff, etc.</p><p></p><p>I look to the a range of techniques and systems to handle these clashes of interest: PC build rules that guide the players in building their PCs; encounter build guidelines that give the GM a good and reliable idea of what it means to push this hard or that hard; action resolution mechanics that mean once the GM starts pushing, and each of the players starts pushing back, the conflicting interests combine to produce a satisfying experience.</p><p></p><p>For me, that's what makes it a game, rather than a co-authorship.</p><p></p><p>My own feeling, based on my own experience, is that this tends to require at least one participant, perhaps more than one, holding back in some fashion or other. One or more of the players ceases to play his/her PC hard; the GM ceases to push the antagonism hard; etc.</p><p></p><p>Or, conversely, the GM not only frames scenes aggressively but exercises force in their resolution, in order to maintain the balance. For example, s/he adjudicates certain action declarations from Hawkeye's player more sympathetically than the same sort of action declared by Thor's player.</p><p></p><p>For me, neither approach is as satisfying as one in which the various clashes of interest are mediated via the mechanical systems of the game.</p><p></p><p>Does my discussion of the ways that that might work - and what I personally see as some of the distinctive features of such play - make any sense to you?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 6011650, member: 42582"] I'm not sure what you mean by "stuff that's supposed to happen". I talked about using published adventures for maps, story elements (eg towns, NPCs) and situations. None of that is "stuff that's supposed to happen". It's background, plus ideas on how to frame scene/encounters that draw on that background. What happens is generally determined via play, isn't it? In the creative medium in question - namely, the comic - there are authors, none of whom is also exercising protagonism in the course of authoring the fiction. RPGs are, in my view, quite different in this respect. There are [I]players[/I] of [I]player characters[/I] who, as part of playing the game and adopting the PC's role, have a definite interest in their PCs [I]doing stuff[/I] - although what exactly the stuff is can differ markedly from game to game. And there is a GM, who has a very different role: s/he is not an advocate for any particular character in the adventure, and nor is s/he any sort of protagonist. But s/he is in charge of providing antagonim for the PCs. Hence their are conflicting interests: if player A pushes hard for his/her PC, s/he might overshadow player B and player B's PC; if the GM pushes hard with antagonism for the PCs, s/he is naturally going to clash with the desires of A and B that their PCs do their stuff, etc. I look to the a range of techniques and systems to handle these clashes of interest: PC build rules that guide the players in building their PCs; encounter build guidelines that give the GM a good and reliable idea of what it means to push this hard or that hard; action resolution mechanics that mean once the GM starts pushing, and each of the players starts pushing back, the conflicting interests combine to produce a satisfying experience. For me, that's what makes it a game, rather than a co-authorship. My own feeling, based on my own experience, is that this tends to require at least one participant, perhaps more than one, holding back in some fashion or other. One or more of the players ceases to play his/her PC hard; the GM ceases to push the antagonism hard; etc. Or, conversely, the GM not only frames scenes aggressively but exercises force in their resolution, in order to maintain the balance. For example, s/he adjudicates certain action declarations from Hawkeye's player more sympathetically than the same sort of action declared by Thor's player. For me, neither approach is as satisfying as one in which the various clashes of interest are mediated via the mechanical systems of the game. Does my discussion of the ways that that might work - and what I personally see as some of the distinctive features of such play - make any sense to you? [/QUOTE]
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