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What makes an TTRPG a "Narrative Game" (Daggerheart Discussion)
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<blockquote data-quote="innerdude" data-source="post: 9331912" data-attributes="member: 85870"><p>I don't own <em>Blades in the Dark, </em>but I do own a hack of it called <em>Court of Blades, </em>so if the answer isn't one-to-one with BitD, bear with me. </p><p></p><p>But when I look at the <em>Court of Blades</em> character sheet, I see stats, a spot for gear, the name of a general profession/playbook, a list of possible bonds, and a list of special abilities. </p><p></p><p>But none of that establishes <em>thematic character intent and stakes</em>, at least not directly. </p><p></p><p>All of that raw material translates into <em>thematic character intent and stakes</em> when you, the player, begin to examine how that plays out in your character's personality, approaches to authority and law, approaches to virtue and vice, law and chaos, etc. </p><p></p><p>Character intent is the driving psychological force that weaves its way into the how and why your character acts. </p><p></p><p>It doesn't have to be super philosophical (though I find it more enjoyable if it is), but it takes that next step. </p><p></p><p>And then you have to put that psychological force to the test by acting on it in the game world----and often acting on it in the gameworld to the detriment of the character. </p><p></p><p>You're <em>playing to find out</em> if your character's thematic intentions and stakes are truly important to him/her----or perhaps through play, some other unknown aspects of your character are revealed along the way. </p><p></p><p>And the whole point of narrative-style play is about uncovering those hidden revelations, or forcefully validating that yes, I really did grasp the essence of this character. </p><p></p><p>And your GM has to play along with the fact that for the system to work, these character elements take precedence over his/her control over the "living world". The GM has to HONOR those intentions and stakes <em>when you've proven through play through taking actions and risks, using the mechanics, and living with the consequences. </em></p><p></p><p>If failure happens, then that's something to be parsed through character analysis, much as you would a protagonist in a book.</p><p></p><p>If you don't WANT any of that---it's of no importance to you or the GM---then get the hell out. It's doing none of you any good and you're probably wasting your time. </p><p></p><p>If you're happening to have fun playing Blades in the Dark anyway, then more power to you, but to me it's sort of like playing Catan with my in-laws. They have so many houserules to make the game less competitive and more "happy friendly" that I hardly see it as the same game. </p><p></p><p>Same thing with BitD. No reason, as [USER=6696971]@Manbearcat[/USER] so ably stated, to play the game while actually <em>not playing the game</em>.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="innerdude, post: 9331912, member: 85870"] I don't own [I]Blades in the Dark, [/I]but I do own a hack of it called [I]Court of Blades, [/I]so if the answer isn't one-to-one with[I] [/I]BitD, bear with me. But when I look at the [I]Court of Blades[/I] character sheet, I see stats, a spot for gear, the name of a general profession/playbook, a list of possible bonds, and a list of special abilities. But none of that establishes [I]thematic character intent and stakes[/I], at least not directly. All of that raw material translates into [I]thematic character intent and stakes[/I] when you, the player, begin to examine how that plays out in your character's personality, approaches to authority and law, approaches to virtue and vice, law and chaos, etc. Character intent is the driving psychological force that weaves its way into the how and why your character acts. It doesn't have to be super philosophical (though I find it more enjoyable if it is), but it takes that next step. And then you have to put that psychological force to the test by acting on it in the game world----and often acting on it in the gameworld to the detriment of the character. You're [I]playing to find out[/I] if your character's thematic intentions and stakes are truly important to him/her----or perhaps through play, some other unknown aspects of your character are revealed along the way. And the whole point of narrative-style play is about uncovering those hidden revelations, or forcefully validating that yes, I really did grasp the essence of this character. And your GM has to play along with the fact that for the system to work, these character elements take precedence over his/her control over the "living world". The GM has to HONOR those intentions and stakes [I]when you've proven through play through taking actions and risks, using the mechanics, and living with the consequences. [/I] If failure happens, then that's something to be parsed through character analysis, much as you would a protagonist in a book. If you don't WANT any of that---it's of no importance to you or the GM---then get the hell out. It's doing none of you any good and you're probably wasting your time. If you're happening to have fun playing Blades in the Dark anyway, then more power to you, but to me it's sort of like playing Catan with my in-laws. They have so many houserules to make the game less competitive and more "happy friendly" that I hardly see it as the same game. Same thing with BitD. No reason, as [USER=6696971]@Manbearcat[/USER] so ably stated, to play the game while actually [I]not playing the game[/I]. [/QUOTE]
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