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it's a really pithy way to point to the difference. I like it.

Well the question is, how does the event change him? I need to know how he’s changed before I make any subsequent moves. The way I would do it is as follows. I’d think about his background and who he is given what’s been revealed in the game so far and then just be inspired. I may or may not...

There are generic narrativist principles that Apocalypse World doesn’t spell out that are far more important than most of the principles in the actual text. I’m not saying that a text necessarily should spell them out but how that hole gets plugged determines a whole load about play. Say you...

This is one of those things I’ve done a kind of 360 on. Bah the GM controls all, all role-playing is the same, just give me the mechanics > Specific text for specific games, the rules are rules > Well you know actually, all role-playing is kind of the same The issue is that people have to...

Yeah it’s easy with gangs, which also tends to mean the combat is more zoomed out. Have you seen Vincent’s example of the fight for the water station? It has about 6 npc’s v 3 pc’s and 1 npc. Something like that anyway. It’s on this scale of granularity that it gets hard. Although I’ll admit a...

Yeah contra my position on the D&D ranger from a far earlier discussion we had, currency really has to play a part in framing and resolution decisions. On the macro level it’s part of my whole confusion around Apocalypse World. How many NPC’s are taking part in the fight to defend the water...

I hate the credibility check but it took me years, and a massive shift in how I gamed, to understand why. We’ve talked a lot recently about emergent constraints, fictional positioning really but I’m not sure it’s a great term for it. I’ve seen the following types of dynamics in play. A) The GM...

it gets fuzzy doesn't it. I think of scenes as involving conflicts between the characters in the scene. So a scene could take place over ten years in hundreds of different locations, involving several rolls. Or the next scene could be, you fail to make the jump and crash into the bottom of the...

Where I’m currently at, is I see lots of an approach to system that goes. Game not working > create techniques that deal with the issue. Rather than looking at how systems intersect with dramatic structure. Dramatic structure > these techniques provide specific instantiations and pressures on...

So there’s our mutual dramaturgical exegesis. Our understanding of what’s happening in terms of stakes/meaning, how one thing leads into another. So axis one (structure?) Axis two is how compelling we find stuff on the level of the stakes and themes (content?). We can read the fiction the same...

How compelling something is, is a different axis to the one I’m talking about. I think. Although to the extent I have a point, it’s that I’d like to see a few more conversations about the subject. Even with out reference to mechanics we can talk about how Rufus and his attitude and...

I would add, group understanding and appreciation of the conflicts/stakes in play. Which could be considered a given but I want to make a case that it’s not. I often argue, here and everywhere else, about certain Narrativist resolution mechanics. Until recently I’d put a lot of emphasis on the...

If you’re into more simulationist play then the Brindlewood method seems your best bet. The causality of the setting is brought into sharper relief and the epistemic uncertainty that @pemerton mentions gets you more into your characters head. On the other hand, if you’re more into player skill...

Ah ok I get what you’re saying and you seem to be agreeing with me to some extent. If I sacrifice character for plot, then I’m not creating story by making character driven decisions, I’m reproducing a notion of plot, what I’d call pastiche. On the other hand a lot of the games I play do...

Yeah a lot of sim priorities just seem to be describing role-playing. (for me the sim part is the disclaiming decision making bit, which might have nothing to do with the notions you just listed)

Let me back up and break down my objection a bit further. I was thinking in terms of what makes sense for the character as seen from a third person perspective. If you were watching a movie does it make sense for the character to do this? I submit that if you’re chasing story the action has to...

I don't understand, when would the two ever conflict? Even if you were making choices based on wanting a good story, wouldn't those choices have to make sense? otherwise you'd get a bad story.

Are you talking about something that isn't a generic system? For instance Prime Time Adventures is generic but there's no rules for fighting per say. Or are you talking about situation specific games? For instance My Life With Master, Hot guys making out, Under Hollow Hills. Either way those...

We'll have to agree to disagree. Anyone else interested who is reading this can check the primary sources for themselves.

Well you need to understand what the constituent parts are doing to use them well but more fundamentally the text can't give you an understanding of why a decision criteria is fun. Here's a practical example that comes up in a load of different games. Say you're playing A savvyhead and you're...