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World of Design: The Lost Art of Making Things Up
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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 8126334" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>Good RPG resolution mechanics do not impede imagination. They facilitate it. Think about PbtA, for instance - consider <strong>Read A Charged Situation</strong> in Apocalypse World:</p><p></p><p style="margin-left: 20px">When you <strong><em>read a charged situation</em></strong>, roll+sharp. On a hit, you can ask the MC questions. Whenever you act on one of the MC’s</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">answers, take +1. On a 10+, ask 3. On a 7–9, ask 1:</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">• where’s my best escape route / way in / way past?</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">• which enemy is most vulnerable to me?</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">• which enemy is the biggest threat?</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">• what should I be on the lookout for?</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">• what’s my enemy’s true position?</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">• who’s in control here?</p><p></p><p>And on a miss (ie 6 down), the GM is permitted to make as hard and direct a move as s/he likes.</p><p></p><p>Here's an example of this move in play (from the rulebook, pp 152-53):</p><p></p><p style="margin-left: 20px">Marie the brainer goes looking for Isle, to visit grief upon her, and finds her eating canned peaches on the roof of the car shed with her brother Mill and her lover Plover (all NPCs).</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">“I read the situation,” her player says.</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">“You do? It’s charged?” I say.</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">“It is now.”</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">“Ahh,” I say. I understand perfectly: the three NPCs don’t realize it, but Marie’s arrival charges the situation. If it were a movie, the sound track would be picking up, getting sinister.</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">She rolls+sharp and hits with a 7–9, so she gets to ask me one question from that move’s list. “Which of my enemies is the biggest threat?” she says.</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">“Plover,” I say. “No doubt. He’s out of his armor, but he has a little gun in his boot and he’s a hard f*****. Mill’s just 12 and he’s not a violent kid. Isle’s tougher, but not like Plover.” (See me <strong>misdirect</strong>! I just chose one capriciously, then pointed to fictional details as though they’d made the decision. We’ve never even seen Mill onscreen before, I just now made up that he’s 12 and not violent.)</p><p></p><p>To my mind, there's no shortage of imagining here. And it's being driven by the mechanics.</p><p></p><p>And this is not a modern thing. Consider the rules for using a vacc suit in Classic Traveller (Book 1, 1977, p 16):</p><p></p><p style="margin-left: 20px">A basic throw of 10+ to avoid dangerous situation applies whenever any non-ordinary maneuver is attempted by an individual while wearing a vacc suit (such as running, jumping, hiding, jumping untethered from one ship to another, etc).</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">DM: +4 per level of expertise.</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">When such an incident occurs, it may be remedied by any character with vacc suit expertise (including the character in danger himself) on a throw of 7+.</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">DM: +2 per level of expertise. No expertise DM: −4.</p><p></p><p>There is no play example provided in the Traveller rulebook, but I know from my own play experience that this mechanics drives imagining: if the first check fails the referee has to imagine and then narrate the dangerous incident that has resulted, and then the attempt to remedy it has to be narrated by the player(s), because - if that attempt fails - the GM then has to narrated the further, serious consequence that results from the dangerous incident not being remedied.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 8126334, member: 42582"] Good RPG resolution mechanics do not impede imagination. They facilitate it. Think about PbtA, for instance - consider [B]Read A Charged Situation[/B] in Apocalypse World: [INDENT]When you [B][I]read a charged situation[/I][/B], roll+sharp. On a hit, you can ask the MC questions. Whenever you act on one of the MC’s[/INDENT] [INDENT]answers, take +1. On a 10+, ask 3. On a 7–9, ask 1:[/INDENT] [INDENT]• where’s my best escape route / way in / way past?[/INDENT] [INDENT]• which enemy is most vulnerable to me?[/INDENT] [INDENT]• which enemy is the biggest threat?[/INDENT] [INDENT]• what should I be on the lookout for?[/INDENT] [INDENT]• what’s my enemy’s true position?[/INDENT] [INDENT]• who’s in control here?[/INDENT] And on a miss (ie 6 down), the GM is permitted to make as hard and direct a move as s/he likes. Here's an example of this move in play (from the rulebook, pp 152-53): [INDENT]Marie the brainer goes looking for Isle, to visit grief upon her, and finds her eating canned peaches on the roof of the car shed with her brother Mill and her lover Plover (all NPCs).[/INDENT] [INDENT][/INDENT] [INDENT]“I read the situation,” her player says.[/INDENT] [INDENT][/INDENT] [INDENT]“You do? It’s charged?” I say.[/INDENT] [INDENT][/INDENT] [INDENT]“It is now.”[/INDENT] [INDENT][/INDENT] [INDENT]“Ahh,” I say. I understand perfectly: the three NPCs don’t realize it, but Marie’s arrival charges the situation. If it were a movie, the sound track would be picking up, getting sinister.[/INDENT] [INDENT][/INDENT] [INDENT]She rolls+sharp and hits with a 7–9, so she gets to ask me one question from that move’s list. “Which of my enemies is the biggest threat?” she says.[/INDENT] [INDENT][/INDENT] [INDENT]“Plover,” I say. “No doubt. He’s out of his armor, but he has a little gun in his boot and he’s a hard f*****. Mill’s just 12 and he’s not a violent kid. Isle’s tougher, but not like Plover.” (See me [B]misdirect[/B]! I just chose one capriciously, then pointed to fictional details as though they’d made the decision. We’ve never even seen Mill onscreen before, I just now made up that he’s 12 and not violent.)[/INDENT] To my mind, there's no shortage of imagining here. And it's being driven by the mechanics. And this is not a modern thing. Consider the rules for using a vacc suit in Classic Traveller (Book 1, 1977, p 16): [INDENT]A basic throw of 10+ to avoid dangerous situation applies whenever any non-ordinary maneuver is attempted by an individual while wearing a vacc suit (such as running, jumping, hiding, jumping untethered from one ship to another, etc).[/INDENT] [INDENT]DM: +4 per level of expertise.[/INDENT] [INDENT][/INDENT] [INDENT]When such an incident occurs, it may be remedied by any character with vacc suit expertise (including the character in danger himself) on a throw of 7+.[/INDENT] [INDENT]DM: +2 per level of expertise. No expertise DM: −4.[/INDENT] There is no play example provided in the Traveller rulebook, but I know from my own play experience that this mechanics drives imagining: if the first check fails the referee has to imagine and then narrate the dangerous incident that has resulted, and then the attempt to remedy it has to be narrated by the player(s), because - if that attempt fails - the GM then has to narrated the further, serious consequence that results from the dangerous incident not being remedied. [/QUOTE]
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