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  1. kenada

    Vincent Baker on mechanics, system and fiction in RPGs

    I came across an interesting bit on emergent storytelling in a sidebar in chapter 11: Emergent storytelling, which we mentioned briefly in Chapter 10, is a research field that seeks to resolve the inconsistency between traditional gameplay experiences and traditional story experiences. A...
  2. kenada

    RPGing and imagination: a fundamental point

    I ended up picking up a copy tonight on Apple Books. I’m pretty busy with my nixpkgs work right now, so I don’t know when I’ll have time to really dig into it, but it’s been helpful for understanding things like what all those different symbols mean in the diagrams. (I moved this up top to help...
  3. kenada

    RPGing and imagination: a fundamental point

    My contention in post #9 was that having playing-style reinforcement was neither necessary nor sufficient. I thought there was agreement based on your response in post #11, but it seems like we don’t. I’m having trouble reconciling this with the text cited in post #5, which seemed to be about...
  4. kenada

    RPGing and imagination: a fundamental point

    That’s the part that’s delegated to the play culture (just like with newer editions where those practices are something one has to learn as part of acquiring the skills of DMing). The culture in question is the miniature wargaming culture that existed prior to the release of OD&D and informed...
  5. kenada

    RPGing and imagination: a fundamental point

    Thank you for the clarification. I assume that would be why OD&D refers to itself as a set of miniatures rules while also saying that the use of miniatures is optional. It’s not a miniatures game per se, but it came out of that culture, and they didn’t yet have the language to call it what it...
  6. kenada

    RPGing and imagination: a fundamental point

    He didn’t add it after the fact. OD&D developed out of the Braunstein play that Arneson had been doing. The addition of role-playing in those campaigns lead to Arneson’s Blackmoor campaign which eventually resulted in the creation of D&D. It didn’t happen the other way around. I disagree that...
  7. kenada

    RPGing and imagination: a fundamental point

    I don’t think the intent of OD&D was to be a complete text. From what I understand, the wargaming culture of the time left a lot up to the referee. You see that kind of play today in FKR games that likewise trust the referee to handle a lot of things “modern” games might codify in rules text...
  8. kenada

    RPGing and imagination: a fundamental point

    The thief class added in Supplement I advanced according to the table. That was also the case in Holmes Basic and B/X. AD&D 1e also had a static table for the thief class. NWPs, allocating thief skills, etc all came later. That seems to agree with what you’re saying, but I want to make sure I’m...
  9. kenada

    RPGing and imagination: a fundamental point

    According to the cited text, classic D&D lacks the playing-style reinforcement that is being treated as synonymous with RPG elements. Is there more to it, or is that all there is to RPGs according to that text? Because if it’s the latter, then a definition of RPG that doesn’t include D&D in all...
  10. kenada

    What's Your "Sweet Spot" for a Skill system?

    The process still works more or less as described in this post. When a player indicates they want something, the referee enumerates possible consequences. If you can’t do that, there’s nothing at stake, and the PC gets what they want. If you can, then the procedure continues. There may be some...
  11. kenada

    What's Your "Sweet Spot" for a Skill system?

    See below regarding how consequences are incorporated into the resolution process. Players can do a few thing to mitigate consequences. That’s currently WIP. In previous iterations, you could sacrifice or spend things to gain bonuses to the roll (e.g., extra dice). For an example, see post #275...
  12. kenada

    Pathfinder 2E By prohibiting ORC licensing on Pathfinder/Starfinder Infinite, Paizo is now a step closer to WotC's walled garden approach with dmsguild

    Here is the agreement. That doesn’t seem any better than the DM’s Guild. At least before, you could release your OGL content outside of the platform (because OGL). While that’s still an option, you can’t use any of the PF2 Remaster content.
  13. kenada

    What's Your "Sweet Spot" for a Skill system?

    I saw I got an XP on this post, so I thought I’d follow up. The current state of things is I’m looking at 2d6 again, which means I’m going to need to look at some method for using non-fixed target numbers if I want to use more than a tiny range of modifiers (which I do). I’m thinking a base...
  14. kenada

    D&D General Jaquaying the dungeon - a term to avoid

    The new term is terrible, self-aggrandizing crap. When I want to talk about maps that are designed for exploration, I’m just going to call them exploration-oriented maps. I like Justin’s series on the topic, but I’m not going to use the term. I thought the original term was a nice...
  15. kenada

    Kobold Press Releases Black Flag Reference Document

    It uses the CC-BY SRD 5.1.
  16. kenada

    Stars/Worlds Without Number (General Thread)

    Mine came recently as well. It’s nice though surprisingly small compared to SWN and WWN. This is the CC0 SRD for those who want to use any of the game’s mechanics.
  17. kenada

    Stars/Worlds Without Number (General Thread)

    The Cities Without Number SRD is up on DriveThruRPG.
  18. kenada

    Do Random Tables Reduce Player Agency?

    There are ways to communicate information without being mechanical if that’s what one prefers, but assuming (or preferring) one way or the other doesn’t affect the discussion that follows. I touch on this a bit in post #42.
  19. kenada

    Do Random Tables Reduce Player Agency?

    The situation given in the OP indicates the PCs have only the “barest information” about potential difficulties. I think what you say makes sense, and I’d want to obtain more information to make a better decision. Otherwise, I think one’s ability to make a good decision is pretty limited. The...
  20. kenada

    Do Random Tables Reduce Player Agency?

    Note that I haven’t said anything about “agency”, and that’s intentional. I find “agency” as it’s used in gaming to be a rather nebulously defined bit of jargon. I would rather focus on the decision space and what one can do in it. We seem to agree that the decision space when all one knows is...
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