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Message: <blockquote data-quote="hawkeyefan" data-source="post: 8152169" data-attributes="member: 6785785">I think the questions I posed were about exactly that. I don't think anything is apparent, and that's why I asked.I don't think so because I literally asked you about the system since I expect you actually know more about it than I do.If I had taken your description, made a lot of assumptions about it and then used those assumptions in arguments about the system with you that revealed my ignorance of the system.....then yes, you could point that out.So if it is up to the player where to assign these points, then placing them in valor means the player is saying "valor is important to this PC", right? So they can approach play knowing this is going to come up.....that when their valor is questioned in certain ways, they may feel bound to respond in a specific manner, unless they can either succeed at a roll to resist that, or spend a player resource to resist it?Is that understanding correct?Does it literally say that? It sounds to me like there is a check of some kind which may allow a PC to proceed however they wish, and then the player may also be able to use a resource to avoid that, right?And if someone said that their character was valorous, and we trusted them to roleplay that, and they shrugged off every besmirching of their honor or ran from combat often.....aren't they actually saying that their character is not valorous? Aren't they actually NOT roleplaying?Okay, so these elements are an important part of the game, it sounds like. I can see why this game might not be for everyone, for sure. But it also sounds to me like the players will know these elements going into the play, and will build their character in a way that their virtues or attributes will fit the way they'd like to play their PC, right? And then they have ways of mitigating any unwanted effect?Again, it's hard to say, but it sounds to me like this game is simply enforcing roleplaying of the kind that seems relevant to the theme and genre. So if a player didn't want their PC to feel compelled to action based on honor, then the player would likely not place points in Valor. Does that sound right?But I say that knowing that I have an incomplete picture of the game and how it's meant to be played. My initial impression on this is that I'd likely agree with you that this is all a bit too much for my liking.I don't think in this case it would be so much about fixing as preventing.The system may not cause railroading, yes, but it does nothing to prevent it. That's my point. The system is vulnerable to railroading and force. It puts the onus on the GM to avoid doing these things.No. It does not do that, or not all of it. It says they have an emotional response, yes. However, it also says that their reaction is up to the player. It says that they should be honest about it, and roleplay accordingly. But what does that mean? It's up to the player to decide.There is no difference between physical harm and emotional response in this way. Both are unwanted, both are imposed on the PC from outside forces, but the reaction to them is up to the player to decide.I honestly don't know. I haven't played Monsterhearts at all (the genre isn't my cup of tea). I agree with you that what they're going for is very genre-specific and that it fits. I don't know all the details that go into it, so I really can't say if this is all that big a limit on player agency. I don't think you and I agree about that because I don't agree that having consequences imposed on my PC is limiting my agency as a player; it's simply part of the game.But the rule as described mentions Strings, and I don't understand their role in the game and how they come about. I'd likely need to know about those as well in order to understand the whole thing and evaluate it as a whole.Blades in the Dark allows for mitigation of Harm through the use of Armor, and also through a Resistance Roll, which would most likely result in some accumulation of Stress. This is a player resource that can be used in a variety of ways, including reducing Harm as I've described.It woudl seem to work remarkably similar to the willpower resource from Exalted. Odd that you view one as an increase in agency, but the other not as such.Why do you think that is? Do you think it's because you've been conditioned to think of physical consequences to your character as being "normal" and a common part of a game, but mental or emotional consequences should be left entirely up to the player?Or do you think it's something else?</blockquote>

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