"divorcing mental and social procedures from any rules elements, because they shouldn't be necessary."
I was about to ask "isn't that just
larping?" but the wikipedia page for that starts out like this:
- A live action role-playing game (LARP) is a form of role-playing game where the participants physically portray their characters.[1] The players pursue goals within a fictional settingrepresented by the real world while interacting with each other in character.
- Ok... so far pretty smilar to d&d and most other ttrpgs
- The outcome of player actions may be mediated by game rules or determined by consensus among players. Event arrangers called gamemastersdecide the setting and rules to be used and facilitate play.
- Oops... even larping(!!!!!!) has game rules and game masters
You seem to be describing freeform roleplay or a time honored tradition frequently known as "writing a work of fiction".. how is this hypothetical thing you are talking about different from those when even
larping seems to be too heavy on rules & the control of a GM for it?
edit: are you really suggesting that social interactions should be treated like calvinball in a ttrpg?