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As soon as its finished and available on full PDF, it's definitely on the purchase short list. I thought about paying for the pre-order PDFs, but I don't want to have to chase the author on discord to actually get my hands on a copy. Send me a link when it's on DTRPG, and I'm there. :)

Now go read Ironsworn for comparison. There's additional mechanical weight compared to DW (though not much), and I think its explanation of how a "narrative first" / PbtA style game actually works may be some of the strongest I've ever read. I recently read DW again, thinking I might run again...

The act of choosing the rules is not in and of itself a choice of how the rules are negotiated in play. But once chosen, they obviously should be enforced.

I mean, it probably sounds more . . . mentally intensive than it actually is at the table, but yes. Anything that modifies anything about anything in the fiction is, ultimately, a negotiation. It's just that 95-99% of the time, there's no particular emphasis needed for the negotiation, because...

I think if you analyze your own play, you'd probably find there's significantly more negotiation happening between participants than you imagine. But even regardless of that, the principle holds true. Play cannot continue until all parties agree upon the current game state. A player who...

This, right here, is the crux of @pemerton 's thesis. The problem is that "GM narrates results" is NOT ACTUALLY WHAT HAPPENS. What actually happens is, "The GM makes a follow on proposal upon which the group must either agree or negotiate the resolution before play can continue." The fact...

I don't think this is true. At all. Rules only exist in gaming contexts to serve a purpose. In the arena of sport, it prevents one side from unilaterally declaring they won a contest that was never played. If I can declare I won a game of pick up basketball when I lost by six points, what's the...

Of course it is. By selecting the Rogue class at level 1 in D&D, I am explicitly agreeing that until I gain at least 1 and possibly multiple additional levels, I can no longer declare as valid fiction, "I lay my hands on the injured warrior and divinely heal his wounds," "I cast magic missle,"...

Character generation is nothing more than a player declaration, "Based on previously agreed constraints of rules, genre, and GM preference, I declare that my character now has these explicit ways to interact with the fictional game state."

The selection of a rules system at all is a declaration by the GM. "World building" is a set of declarations by the GM. "Because I, the GM, have no wish to redesign or re-create this set of codified rules, and because those rules generally engender an assumed game state and fiction with which...

GM, obviously. How many times have you played a game where GM states, "Banned PHB heritages are aasimar, tiefling, gnome, and dragonborn." The declared ban by the GM supersedes the rulebook. And by association, directly disallows the player from showing up and declaring, "My character is a...

So this got me thinking --- is something "unwanted" in the game's fiction a "fail state"? And if so, what actually constitutes a "fail state" in an RPG? Is it any state that any one of the players dislikes? Any two of the players? Three? Is it predicated on player participation continuing? Or...

But going back to @pemerton 's original question -- what ARE rules for? Some of Vincent Baker's thoughts only make sense in the context of a game where there's a need to carry over gamestate information across situational contexts, and where the conceptualization of the "rational actor" that...

You said it better than I did, for the record. The entire conception of the RPG "living world" essentially rests on the assumption that the GM is allowed broad power to "say things at the table" regarding "what is true" about the fictional space, and that the "things (s)he is allowed to say" can...

This, this right here? This is BY FAR the most difficult idea to shake coming from "trad" play styles. The notion of "the world the characters live in," that it somehow has its own independent existence outside the shared space of play. The fact that the GM can spout fountains of lore...

I imagine that the terms of most RPG licensing agreements have minimal revenue implications to the license holder after the initial agreement is signed and paid. Disney’s cut of royalties for copies sold is probably miniscule or possibly nonexistent. It would likely cost them more money to...

Even outside the discussion of illusionism, it's fascinating how often people inevitably live up to our expectations/projections of them. Go into a game believing and projecting that everyone is capable of sincere, earnest play in adherence to rules and the overall good humor and well being of...

I .... literally cannot make heads nor tails of this description of play, the reasoning behind it, nor what possible expected end result was satisfactory for the players involved. If this is your assumed manner of "handling" people as a GM ... and from your comments this is par for the course...

Very simple question - if I purchase the pdf pre-order from Backerkit, do I get access to the current beta material right away?

Even if you don't like the system, the Edge / FFG game books are great for lore. I happen to like the system and was playing it regularly until I moved last fall, but the lore is really well done. Every book is chock full of GM plot hooks, ideas, places. The Dawn of Rebellion source book has...