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General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
The nature of "realism" in the game world
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<blockquote data-quote="steenan" data-source="post: 4701789" data-attributes="member: 23240"><p>I agree, in gerenal, with the OP. Thus, I will give only a few additions.</p><p></p><p>I think there are three different types of realism that may be present in RPG:</p><p>1. Real-world realism ("how it works in reality"). Obviously cannot be applied to things that directly violate laws of our world (magic, for example).</p><p>2. Setting consistency ("how this fictional world works"). This is type of realism demands economy and society structure to take the existence of magic into account.</p><p>3. Style consistency ("which themes are present in this kind of stories and which are not"). This is why Star Wars ships and bases have bottomless pits, why D&D villains build dungeons etc. This type of realism is violated by "dirty water" rules in a swashbuckling system in OP's example.</p><p></p><p>As for rules-heavy and rules-light systems, the most important aspect, IMO, is players' perception of character creation and in-game actions. When using rules-light systems, most people take setting and style into account when deciding who they want to play and what they want to do. In rules-heavy, there is quite a strong tendency to think "whatever the rules allow is OK in game" - and this is the reason why rule artifacts break realism. It is possible to play in the same way as in rules-light game, but even very good players get caught in this "think by rules" trap.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="steenan, post: 4701789, member: 23240"] I agree, in gerenal, with the OP. Thus, I will give only a few additions. I think there are three different types of realism that may be present in RPG: 1. Real-world realism ("how it works in reality"). Obviously cannot be applied to things that directly violate laws of our world (magic, for example). 2. Setting consistency ("how this fictional world works"). This is type of realism demands economy and society structure to take the existence of magic into account. 3. Style consistency ("which themes are present in this kind of stories and which are not"). This is why Star Wars ships and bases have bottomless pits, why D&D villains build dungeons etc. This type of realism is violated by "dirty water" rules in a swashbuckling system in OP's example. As for rules-heavy and rules-light systems, the most important aspect, IMO, is players' perception of character creation and in-game actions. When using rules-light systems, most people take setting and style into account when deciding who they want to play and what they want to do. In rules-heavy, there is quite a strong tendency to think "whatever the rules allow is OK in game" - and this is the reason why rule artifacts break realism. It is possible to play in the same way as in rules-light game, but even very good players get caught in this "think by rules" trap. [/QUOTE]
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