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<blockquote data-quote="robconley" data-source="post: 7733161" data-attributes="member: 5636"><p>There techniques that apply to tabletop roleplaying encounter however they are not the same as techniques one use to make a interesting boardgame, or wargame scenario.</p><p></p><p>Encounters are a situation occurring in a place at a particular time That likely but not always have one or more NPCs (creatures or characters) with motivations and reasons for being there. Where the referee creativity comes into play is to pick out from all the myriad possibilities inherent in a setting, something that is interesting to the players. </p><p></p><p>For example if the players are in the City State of Invincible Overlord and dealing with the Thieves Guild in someway, they decide to go to the Tanglebones Tavern in mid afternoon. I would look at the description of the patron, who works there, and come up with the situation that would exist if you actually visited the Tanglebones Tavern in the mid afternoon. And because life isn't always predictable I would throw one or two random results. </p><p></p><p>I am not concerned over what are the irreducible actions (atoms), or any particular sequence (loops). I would tell you are standing in the doorway, tell you what you notice right off the bat, and then ask what do you do.</p><p></p><p>There are technique that apply to this. For example most player don't like playing Twenty Questions. Do I see that? Do I see that? And on and on. One reason for this is that the referee doesn't describe enough important details. Another the player often have trouble trusting the referee won't pull a gotcha. Once I became aware of these issues, I figured out ways to eliminate them as issue so that when a player standing in the doorway of the Tanglebones they are thinking about what they would doing as their character rather than metagame issues.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Then you are turning the exercise into an elaborate wargame. What separate tabletop roleplaying games from their wargame progenitors is the ability for players to do anything their character is capable of doing. The fact there is a neutral human referee is what enables this to be possible. There is no expectation of doing anything other than that the players as their character are probably be looking for some type of adventure.</p><p></p><p>As for the specific concern of "regularly providing more of" that not a game design issue. Rather that part of the back and forth social interaction the referee should doing out of game as part of the social aspect of getting together to play a campaign. Getting to know your players and what they like. </p><p> </p><p></p><p></p><p>My explanation that it is a pen and paper virtual reality where you can pretend to do interesting things in a setting as a character you make. </p><p></p><p>D&D focuses on the fantasy genre like Lord of the Ring, Games of Thrones, and Conan. D&D uses a human referee, so that you and a group can make a character and experience Middle Earth, Westeros, Hyboria, or an original setting created by the referee for yourself. You listen to what the referee describe and decide what to do based as if you are there as the character. If what you want to do is risky or has a chance for failure, then you will be using the rules of a game and dice to determine what happens. </p><p></p><p>At first the rules will seem strange and some hard to remember, but focus on what being described about your character and the location find yourself visiting. If you are strong, then do things that you assume strong characters can do. If you are quick do the same for that attribute and so forth and so on for all the other skills and attributes of your character. Very quickly you will learn the rules and how they interact with your character.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>It not about everything. The setting sets the limit. The D&D rules focuses on a fantasy setting with technology similar to the early medieval period of our history. Unless stated otherwise, character can do what normal humans given their character's abilities.</p><p></p><p>The rules are tools used to adjudicate things when something is attempted when a chance for failure or the result is certain.</p><p></p><p>But tabletop roleplaying is not a game in the sense that Clue and Settlers of Catan are games. It something different, it's own thing.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The key to a good set of tabletop roleplaying rules is like I said in previous post. Does it reflect the chosen genre or setting in a way that is clear, concise, and easy to understand. It easily used during the session? </p><p></p><p>To be clear, I am not saying there are NO design principles just are not those that make for good wargames or boardgames.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="robconley, post: 7733161, member: 5636"] There techniques that apply to tabletop roleplaying encounter however they are not the same as techniques one use to make a interesting boardgame, or wargame scenario. Encounters are a situation occurring in a place at a particular time That likely but not always have one or more NPCs (creatures or characters) with motivations and reasons for being there. Where the referee creativity comes into play is to pick out from all the myriad possibilities inherent in a setting, something that is interesting to the players. For example if the players are in the City State of Invincible Overlord and dealing with the Thieves Guild in someway, they decide to go to the Tanglebones Tavern in mid afternoon. I would look at the description of the patron, who works there, and come up with the situation that would exist if you actually visited the Tanglebones Tavern in the mid afternoon. And because life isn't always predictable I would throw one or two random results. I am not concerned over what are the irreducible actions (atoms), or any particular sequence (loops). I would tell you are standing in the doorway, tell you what you notice right off the bat, and then ask what do you do. There are technique that apply to this. For example most player don't like playing Twenty Questions. Do I see that? Do I see that? And on and on. One reason for this is that the referee doesn't describe enough important details. Another the player often have trouble trusting the referee won't pull a gotcha. Once I became aware of these issues, I figured out ways to eliminate them as issue so that when a player standing in the doorway of the Tanglebones they are thinking about what they would doing as their character rather than metagame issues. Then you are turning the exercise into an elaborate wargame. What separate tabletop roleplaying games from their wargame progenitors is the ability for players to do anything their character is capable of doing. The fact there is a neutral human referee is what enables this to be possible. There is no expectation of doing anything other than that the players as their character are probably be looking for some type of adventure. As for the specific concern of "regularly providing more of" that not a game design issue. Rather that part of the back and forth social interaction the referee should doing out of game as part of the social aspect of getting together to play a campaign. Getting to know your players and what they like. My explanation that it is a pen and paper virtual reality where you can pretend to do interesting things in a setting as a character you make. D&D focuses on the fantasy genre like Lord of the Ring, Games of Thrones, and Conan. D&D uses a human referee, so that you and a group can make a character and experience Middle Earth, Westeros, Hyboria, or an original setting created by the referee for yourself. You listen to what the referee describe and decide what to do based as if you are there as the character. If what you want to do is risky or has a chance for failure, then you will be using the rules of a game and dice to determine what happens. At first the rules will seem strange and some hard to remember, but focus on what being described about your character and the location find yourself visiting. If you are strong, then do things that you assume strong characters can do. If you are quick do the same for that attribute and so forth and so on for all the other skills and attributes of your character. Very quickly you will learn the rules and how they interact with your character. It not about everything. The setting sets the limit. The D&D rules focuses on a fantasy setting with technology similar to the early medieval period of our history. Unless stated otherwise, character can do what normal humans given their character's abilities. The rules are tools used to adjudicate things when something is attempted when a chance for failure or the result is certain. But tabletop roleplaying is not a game in the sense that Clue and Settlers of Catan are games. It something different, it's own thing. The key to a good set of tabletop roleplaying rules is like I said in previous post. Does it reflect the chosen genre or setting in a way that is clear, concise, and easy to understand. It easily used during the session? To be clear, I am not saying there are NO design principles just are not those that make for good wargames or boardgames. [/QUOTE]
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