Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 8159582" data-attributes="member: 42582">I've posted about some of these upthread. (But got little traction.)I think a key issue is whether the player &quot;authorship&quot;/&quot;narrative power&quot; is an action declaration of some sort, or is direct stipulation like a GM writing something in his/her notes. Your &quot;rules-mediated authorship&quot; straddles both possibilities: eg in Prince Valiant a storyteller certificate allows player fiat, but is still about an action that the player's character takes.An important form of player agency is the ability to make meaningful suggestions to which the GM has to have regard. This can take all sorts of forms - eg Beliefs in Burning Wheel; or responding to the GM's questions in a PbtA game.Another form of player agency, which is very important in AW and DW, is being able to oblige the GM to introduce a fictional element that will speak to the player's concern/interests (eg &quot;Who here is in charge?&quot; or &quot;What here is not what it seems?&quot;). This is very different from exploration-oriented actions in D&amp;D or similar systems that oblige the GM to read from his/her notes but don't require that what the GM tells the player have any particular connection to the interests/concerns of a player or of his/her PC.Upthread I've quoted <a href="http://www.lumpley.com/hardcore.html" target="_blank">Vincent Baker</a> a couple of times:Roleplaying is negotiated imagination. In order for any thing to be true in game, all the participants in the game (players and GMs, if you've even got such things) have to understand and assent to it. When you're roleplaying, what you're doing is a) suggesting things that might be true in the game and then b) negotiating with the other participants to determine whether they're actually true or not. . . .

So look, you! Mechanics might model the stuff of the game world, that's another topic, but they don't exist to do so. They exist to ease and constrain real-world social negotiation between the players at the table. That's their sole and crucial function.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 8159582, member: 42582"] I've posted about some of these upthread. (But got little traction.) I think a key issue is whether the player "authorship"/"narrative power" is an action declaration of some sort, or is direct stipulation like a GM writing something in his/her notes. Your "rules-mediated authorship" straddles both possibilities: eg in Prince Valiant a storyteller certificate allows player fiat, but is still about an action that the player's character takes. An important form of player agency is the ability to make meaningful suggestions to which the GM has to have regard. This can take all sorts of forms - eg Beliefs in Burning Wheel; or responding to the GM's questions in a PbtA game. Another form of player agency, which is very important in AW and DW, is being able to oblige the GM to introduce a fictional element that will speak to the player's concern/interests (eg "Who here is in charge?" or "What here is not what it seems?"). This is very different from exploration-oriented actions in D&D or similar systems that oblige the GM to read from his/her notes but don't require that what the GM tells the player have any particular connection to the interests/concerns of a player or of his/her PC. Upthread I've quoted [url=http://www.lumpley.com/hardcore.html]Vincent Baker[/url] a couple of times: [indent]Roleplaying is negotiated imagination. In order for any thing to be true in game, all the participants in the game (players and GMs, if you've even got such things) have to understand and assent to it. When you're roleplaying, what you're doing is a) suggesting things that might be true in the game and then b) negotiating with the other participants to determine whether they're actually true or not. . . . So look, you! Mechanics might model the stuff of the game world, that's another topic, but they don't exist to do so. They exist to ease and constrain real-world social negotiation between the players at the table. That's their sole and crucial function.[/indent] [/QUOTE]

Verification