Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Morrus on... Races
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Andor" data-source="post: 5824928" data-attributes="member: 1879"><p>I actually am not really a fan of that approach. Narrativist game systems have their virtues, but ultimately they are a little too wishy-washy I think.</p><p></p><p>There is a school of game design which thinks you can treat mechanics and fluff as distinct and unrelated entities. 4e was a stong (although by no means the most extreme) example of this. And I disagree with the premise. There is always going to be some abstraction in the model of a game world, but strong, consistent representations of some event or trend at the rules level has to mean something in the world, or what conection is there between the story we are imagining and the one the dice are telling?</p><p></p><p>For example, take that classical game world, Glorantha. Glorantha is a mythic world where multiple contradictory things can nonetheless be true. Heros can alter the deeds of the Gods themselves and rewrite history or change the very laws of reality. </p><p></p><p>The first RPG set in Glorantha was written early in the days of RPGing and reflects it. The RuneQuest rules were precise, detailed, simulationist. Hit locations, critical hits and fumble charts. Experience in a skill was gained by practice at the table. It was it many ways a great system, but it was not ideal for a reality as fluid as Glorantha. Except for the magic system. Glorantha has 3 (main) competing magic systems. Animism, Divine Magic, and Mysticism. The Animist spirit magic was quick, convenient, easy to use and consistent. But it was also limited and required the aid of a Shaman to aquire. Divine Magic was costly, singular, but fail proof and very powerful. It was a magic used by communities as well as individuals and required either great devotion or a priests aid to gain. Mysticism was wizardy. Skill based, intricate, arcane and tricky. A Wizard was limited by his skill and imagination and little else, if he was ruthless enough, or had the backing of an order or church.</p><p></p><p>The second RPG for Glorantha was HeroQuest/HeroWars. This is a narrativist system developed by Robin Laws amoung others. It is fluid, evocative, flavorful and does a wonderful job of depicting the semi-mythic nature of day-to-day life in Glorantha. Except that now, with a simple and universal rules mechanic all three magic systems work in exactly the same manner. The differences are mere fluff. </p><p></p><p>My point is that there is always a tradeoff between mechanics that illustrate the world and reinforce it's flavor, and looser, less restrictive rules that allow more freedom, but end up grey and flavorless without a direction of their own.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Andor, post: 5824928, member: 1879"] I actually am not really a fan of that approach. Narrativist game systems have their virtues, but ultimately they are a little too wishy-washy I think. There is a school of game design which thinks you can treat mechanics and fluff as distinct and unrelated entities. 4e was a stong (although by no means the most extreme) example of this. And I disagree with the premise. There is always going to be some abstraction in the model of a game world, but strong, consistent representations of some event or trend at the rules level has to mean something in the world, or what conection is there between the story we are imagining and the one the dice are telling? For example, take that classical game world, Glorantha. Glorantha is a mythic world where multiple contradictory things can nonetheless be true. Heros can alter the deeds of the Gods themselves and rewrite history or change the very laws of reality. The first RPG set in Glorantha was written early in the days of RPGing and reflects it. The RuneQuest rules were precise, detailed, simulationist. Hit locations, critical hits and fumble charts. Experience in a skill was gained by practice at the table. It was it many ways a great system, but it was not ideal for a reality as fluid as Glorantha. Except for the magic system. Glorantha has 3 (main) competing magic systems. Animism, Divine Magic, and Mysticism. The Animist spirit magic was quick, convenient, easy to use and consistent. But it was also limited and required the aid of a Shaman to aquire. Divine Magic was costly, singular, but fail proof and very powerful. It was a magic used by communities as well as individuals and required either great devotion or a priests aid to gain. Mysticism was wizardy. Skill based, intricate, arcane and tricky. A Wizard was limited by his skill and imagination and little else, if he was ruthless enough, or had the backing of an order or church. The second RPG for Glorantha was HeroQuest/HeroWars. This is a narrativist system developed by Robin Laws amoung others. It is fluid, evocative, flavorful and does a wonderful job of depicting the semi-mythic nature of day-to-day life in Glorantha. Except that now, with a simple and universal rules mechanic all three magic systems work in exactly the same manner. The differences are mere fluff. My point is that there is always a tradeoff between mechanics that illustrate the world and reinforce it's flavor, and looser, less restrictive rules that allow more freedom, but end up grey and flavorless without a direction of their own. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Morrus on... Races
Top