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D&D's Evolution: Rulings, Rules, and "System Matters"
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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 8397496" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>When I see "play worlds, not rules" I think of <a href="https://d66kobolds.blogspot.com/2020/09/free-kriegsspiel-worlds-not-rules-etc.html" target="_blank">the blog</a> you pointed me to, which says this:</p><p></p><p style="margin-left: 20px">- <strong>You play worlds, not rules. </strong>Have you read <em>Brideshead Revisited</em>? <em>The Wizard of Earthsea</em>? <em>Foundation and Empire</em>? Any captivating novel, regardless of timeframe, setting, or genre? Well now you can run a full FKR game based on that book. You don't need an RPG sourcebook because <em>all </em>books are now sourcebooks. All television shows are sourcebooks. All movies and songs and comics and memes and medical brochures are now sourcebooks.</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">At its heart, FKR suggests that the world is a real place, the players/characters can act in any way which reasonably interacts with the fictional environment, and that narrative concepts reign over and above numbers and abstraction.</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">John Ross sums this up wonderfully with the term "Tactical Infinity":</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p><p style="margin-left: 20px"><strong>The freedom of the Player Characters to attempt any tactic to solve a problem, subject to the adjudication of the Game Master. </strong></p> </p><p></p><p>And what that quoted passage makes me think of is <em>action resolution based primarily on adjudication of fictional positioning</em>. This is what I take to be intended by <em>the world is a real place [and] the players/characters can act in any way which reasonably interacts with the fictional environment</em>.</p><p></p><p>Although Brideshead Revisited is mentioned, and that fits with<em>narrative concepts reign</em>, I would be very interested to see how this is actualised in these systems. Because having regard to (say) Charles's emotional entanglement as part of the process of the GM adjudicating what is reasonable in an argument between Sebastian and Charles seems to me to depart a fair way from free kriegsspiel. The RPG I'm most familiar with that suggests that any novel you're familiar with could be your RPG setting and context is HeroQuest revised (by Robin Laws), but it has very straightforward mechanics for factoring in narrative concepts like emotional entanglements - which it achieves in virtue of not being a free kriegsspiel/"GM decides" RPG.</p><p></p><p>Even when it comes to The Wizard of Earthsea, there is a lot going on that is not just about the world being real. That book and its sequels are loaded with narrative concepts whose adjudication via free kriegsspiel doesn't seem straightforward to me.</p><p></p><p>I think the idea of "the world as real" and "reasonable interaction with the fictional environment" fits much more naturally with <em>adjudication via direct reference to fictional positioning</em>. Which makes me think of early D&D, some approaches to Classic Traveller and RuneQuest, Call of Cthulhu, but nothing too gonzo or drama-laden.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 8397496, member: 42582"] When I see "play worlds, not rules" I think of [URL='https://d66kobolds.blogspot.com/2020/09/free-kriegsspiel-worlds-not-rules-etc.html']the blog[/URL] you pointed me to, which says this: [INDENT]- [B]You play worlds, not rules. [/B]Have you read [I]Brideshead Revisited[/I]? [I]The Wizard of Earthsea[/I]? [I]Foundation and Empire[/I]? Any captivating novel, regardless of timeframe, setting, or genre? Well now you can run a full FKR game based on that book. You don't need an RPG sourcebook because [I]all [/I]books are now sourcebooks. All television shows are sourcebooks. All movies and songs and comics and memes and medical brochures are now sourcebooks.[/INDENT] [INDENT][/INDENT] [INDENT]At its heart, FKR suggests that the world is a real place, the players/characters can act in any way which reasonably interacts with the fictional environment, and that narrative concepts reign over and above numbers and abstraction.[/INDENT] [INDENT]John Ross sums this up wonderfully with the term "Tactical Infinity": [INDENT][B]The freedom of the Player Characters to attempt any tactic to solve a problem, subject to the adjudication of the Game Master. [/B][/INDENT][/indent] And what that quoted passage makes me think of is [i]action resolution based primarily on adjudication of fictional positioning[/i]. This is what I take to be intended by [i]the world is a real place [and] the players/characters can act in any way which reasonably interacts with the fictional environment[/i]. Although Brideshead Revisited is mentioned, and that fits with[i]narrative concepts reign[/i], I would be very interested to see how this is actualised in these systems. Because having regard to (say) Charles's emotional entanglement as part of the process of the GM adjudicating what is reasonable in an argument between Sebastian and Charles seems to me to depart a fair way from free kriegsspiel. The RPG I'm most familiar with that suggests that any novel you're familiar with could be your RPG setting and context is HeroQuest revised (by Robin Laws), but it has very straightforward mechanics for factoring in narrative concepts like emotional entanglements - which it achieves in virtue of not being a free kriegsspiel/"GM decides" RPG. Even when it comes to The Wizard of Earthsea, there is a lot going on that is not just about the world being real. That book and its sequels are loaded with narrative concepts whose adjudication via free kriegsspiel doesn't seem straightforward to me. I think the idea of "the world as real" and "reasonable interaction with the fictional environment" fits much more naturally with [i]adjudication via direct reference to fictional positioning[/i]. Which makes me think of early D&D, some approaches to Classic Traveller and RuneQuest, Call of Cthulhu, but nothing too gonzo or drama-laden. [/QUOTE]
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