Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 5322181" data-attributes="member: 42582">Well, sitting around on the couch relaxing can be fun and even worthwhile - but if I compared your football performance to someone sitting around on a couch, I don't think you'd be very flattered.Likewise, comparing someone's RPGing to playing games that have no roleplaying component - such as board games, card games or those other stalwarts of the genre like Monopoly and Chess - is pretty much to imply that the players in question aren't roleplaying, but rather playing a wargame.I don't dispute this. But it has nothing to do with whether or not its an RPG, or whether or not playing 4e by the rules is more analogous to board or card gaming. For example, all the suggested departures from the rules in this thread, which are said to be exemplary of roleplaying, involve combat (eg grappling swarms). And LostSoul's example rule that requires judgment also invoves combat (ie sneak attack).And playing Rolemaster combat is quite similar to some wargames and play-by-mail games. But I'd never suggest that Rolemaster play is a PBM/wargame.Burning Wheel has very crunchy combat rules - it's not therefore a wargame, and it's hardly as if Burning Wheel players aren't really roleplaying.My problem is with the characterisation of non-simulationist play, or play where the GM's judgement is exercised more heavily at the point of scene framing than action resolution, as not really roleplaying. Not only is it annoying, but it's just plain silly - games like HeroQuest or The Burning Wheel roughly fit this description, and to suggest that they're not roleplaying just because action resolution is carried out in accordance with the rules would be absurd.My basic point is that a good game should not require the GM to suspend the rules - if so, then (like LostSoul said upthread) the rules need fixing. It's a separate question what sort of judgment calls the rules should require the GM or other players to make. I've explained my preferences in that regard in earlier posts, and whether or not those preferences are sound - as I've said upthread, they're by no means immune from criticism - they have nothing to do with the board gaming/cardgaming canard.</blockquote>

Verification