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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 5322006" data-attributes="member: 42582">I think this is a bit objectionable.It's one thing to express your preferences for how to play the game. It's another thing to describe other people's preferences using pejorative descriptions (&quot;board game&quot;, &quot;card game&quot;- these are not neutral descriptions of an RPG) that completely miss the point of what is at issue.My preference for following the rules is influenced by rules texts for games like&nbsp; HeroQuest, The Burning Wheel and so forth. The notion that these RPGs are like board games is laughable.This is why I am much more sympathetic to LostSoul's viewpoint than to yours. LostSoul (at least as I understand him) is addressing the issue not as one of whether or not we (or more specifically the GM) should suspend the rules from time to time, but rather of whether or not the rules specify that a player or GM is to exercise judgment in the course of action resolution - with clear guidance as to what the subject matter of the judgment is.In my posts I've explained my preferences and habits with respect to judgment - in particular, my players are looking for me to exercise it mostly in setting up encounters and in adjudicating NPC's social responses as well as skill challenges more generally, but not so much in respect of the resolution of attacks in combat.There's plenty to be said in favour of or against either LostSoul's approach or my approach, in terms of which better supports spontaneity, non-railroading, thematic power, enagment with the details of the fiction, and so on. Indeed, as I said above, my way may (at least in part if not in whole) simply reflect old roleplaying habitual attitudes towards the difference between combat resolution and skill resolution. (Even Burning Wheel is tighter and leaves less room for judgment in its combat resolution systems than in its social resolution system.)But none of what might be said for or against either approach has anything to do with board games or card games.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 5322006, member: 42582"] I think this is a bit objectionable. It's one thing to express your preferences for how to play the game. It's another thing to describe other people's preferences using pejorative descriptions ("board game", "card game"- these are not neutral descriptions of an RPG) that completely miss the point of what is at issue. My preference for following the rules is influenced by rules texts for games like HeroQuest, The Burning Wheel and so forth. The notion that these RPGs are like board games is laughable. This is why I am much more sympathetic to LostSoul's viewpoint than to yours. LostSoul (at least as I understand him) is addressing the issue not as one of whether or not we (or more specifically the GM) should suspend the rules from time to time, but rather of whether or not the rules specify that a player or GM is to exercise judgment in the course of action resolution - with clear guidance as to what the subject matter of the judgment is. In my posts I've explained my preferences and habits with respect to judgment - in particular, my players are looking for me to exercise it mostly in setting up encounters and in adjudicating NPC's social responses as well as skill challenges more generally, but not so much in respect of the resolution of attacks in combat. There's plenty to be said in favour of or against either LostSoul's approach or my approach, in terms of which better supports spontaneity, non-railroading, thematic power, enagment with the details of the fiction, and so on. Indeed, as I said above, my way may (at least in part if not in whole) simply reflect old roleplaying habitual attitudes towards the difference between combat resolution and skill resolution. (Even Burning Wheel is tighter and leaves less room for judgment in its combat resolution systems than in its social resolution system.) But none of what might be said for or against either approach has anything to do with board games or card games. [/QUOTE]

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