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I have a system agnostic OSR setting that I'm continually tinkering with. I've used it four or five times now, and with more than one system. I haven't built pervious campaigns into the setting lore but that's mostly because the setting itself is still a work in progress. I've used some of those...

You now speak Whingy Git, add it to your sheet.

I think the funniest thing about this is that languages in most D&D games are vastly underused to point of irrelevance. Perhaps yours is different, IDK.

I think the use in this thread of several different terms to talk about the same ideas is perhaps confusing the issue. If we change adiegetic there to narrative (as I defined it upstream as mechanics that aren't based on possible character decisions in the moment) then those BitD mechanics do...

I think that is this case (this thread) the adjective 'narrative' is being used to carry rather a lot of water. There's some regular conflation with another mushy adjective, 'meta' that shares some descriptive groud but isn't exactly the same either. One of the challenges is that the analysis...

This is entirely true - the nature of rewards does indeed steer the game. I just don't think your example counts as a narrative mechanic as such.

Sure, but they have no actual control over the mechanic. That matters.

Well, I guess I'll disagree in turn. That economy is entirely controlled by the DM. I don't think it's accurate to say that it's either triggered or spent by the player. Sure, the players kill stuff and collect treasure but they have no say in the XP that gets doled out in return (at all).

Even in game described as 'narrative' most of the 'agency' to be found at the table rests with the GM and is only grudgingly portioned out to players. I don't know that GM agency is a terribly useful term.

I love the Magnus Archives podcast, but I just can't back the KS. I already did that for Old Gods when Cypher system isn't my thing, I can't do it again. I wish people all the happiness of it though.

I have one serious expectation - don't be a dick. If everyone can manage that the game will mostly be just fine.

Yeah, so I tend to distinguish between in-game and end-game mechanics. Gold for XP is, at its base, very much narrtive in some ways, but it doesn't impact play at the table the same way that say, Fate points do.

The easiest definition I've come across is that a narrative mechanic is anything that works on or towards results that couldn't stem from something your character could do 'in character'. That casts a pretty wide net, but I'm also not using it pejoratively. That could probably stand to be...

Rargh!! More disappointment!! :D

Dammit, I thought there was a new Iron Gm on the horizon.

We live in Iqaluit on Baffin Island.

Fever Dreaming Marlinko is a really well done city setting with a ton of useful random goodies. Yoon-Suin is also excellent.

I think the important idea is how or to what extent that variability works against the information given to the players. It's probably generally true that certain kinds of variability certainly decrease the quality of the information. I'm less talking about the difference between 2 guards and 4...

I'm curious to see if there's anyone who doesn't think that answer to this question is obviously yes.

This. In most systems players declare intent, they don't decide outcomes. Having that intent adjudicated honestly is the bulk of player agency.