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I posited this idea because when Rule Zero + hidden backstory are both in effect, ultimately it is the GM's job to eliminate standstill. The players can only guess for so long at the hidden backstory elements that are preventing them from achieving their goals. A Rule Zero GM must at some...

So I've been thinking a bit more about the need/prerogative to have an assumed Rule Zero. It feels like we've generally uncovered at least 3 core purposes to include a Rule Zero. (A) to always have a backstop such that a scene can/must move forward. This seems to be necessary in circumstances...

"Who gets to say what" is slightly different from "who or what decides if what was just said is now true in the fictional game state." Consider a game where other players were authorized to make action declarations for your character. (Not saying it's a game you or I would play, but that it's...

So here's the thing --- if there was a foolproof, guaranteed way to get strong, ongoing deep character immersion through sim priorities, I'd go back to it in a heartbeat. I love sim and immersion at heart. I love the idea of slowly letting the real world fade into a misty blend of the real and...

How is it impoverished? I think it clearly spells out the authority of GM intervention when secret backstory conflicts with rolled outcome or player declaration. The GM has full authority to veto any outcome state and introduce an acceptable one.

Couple of notes. 1) My over exaggerated snark from posts earlier was largely for comic effect, and in some ways self deprecating, because prior to late 2017, those were views I would have held myself. I would have unquestionably held sim and immersion as apex priorities in play, and derided any...

I think it's closer to say that "Yes Myth" play of this sort is indicative of an assumed rule, "The result or outcome of any application of any other rule, including evaluation of basic state declaration by players, is solely contingent on GM acceptance. The GM may, at any time, veto any assumed...

Of course, @hawkeyefan ! All you have to do is justify/rationalize every decision you make, ever, upon valid causal grounds, as per Micah Sweet's comment, and you can stay on the "simulating a living world" high ground, which as everyone knows, is the only place to be if you're a "real"...

Whereas the opposing view would be, you've been pulling nearly all the strings, all the time. I don't want to dismiss the emotional payoff, because that really is rewarding. But I think @hawkeyefan points out pretty astutely with his dragon behavior example that the GM isn't just...

The question for the OP is, what kind of innovation are you looking for? Every system that operates under discrete task process resolution ultimately is an abstraction of inherent character trait plus training/skill. Whether that's flat d20 roll over (D&D), flat d100 roll under (BRP / Mythras...

I would phrase it in relation to the R0! power holder rule more generally. It's not simply negating a game state proposition, it's constituting the ability to declare any game state at a given moment as a valid one, and other participants must accept the R0! game state. But obviously this...

For many years, this has been one of the underlying hopes and desires for my RPG gaming.

Ironsworn's vow mechanic. You literally do not gain XP unless you are completing quests to which your character has staked his/her personal honor. Core game PDF is completely free. https://www.ironswornrpg.com/downloads

Was referring to Stonetop, not Ironsworn. Stonetop isn't available on DTRPG yet. My Ironsworn needs are well taken care of. :) 😄

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...