Distinct Game Modes: Combat vs Social vs Exploration etc...

[zakael19]

It is among those 5E-response games. But it is hardly the only one.

For the record, I really like Daggerheart, and it is A hawtness, but it isn't dominating the conversation.

Is anything that’s not 5e “dominating” the conversation unless you frame “the conversation” to some subset of TTRPG play?

 

[Reynard]

Is anything that’s not 5e “dominating” the conversation unless you frame “the conversation” to some subset of TTRPG play?

I do think we go through periods where it seems like everyone is talking about one game or system (besides 5E) for an extended period. And DH was that for a bit around its release. I am just saying that it does not feel there there is a single game or system dominating the non-5E conversation right now.

 

[Nytmare]

The other problem is that combat is almost unique in how much it rewards cooperation and teamwork. Social pillars just can't be forced to have the same structure in the general case. You can through good encounter design force players in a social encounter to have to work together, but in general especially with organic social encounters that weren't heavily designed, the best strategy in a social pillar is almost always to let the "face man" handle the encounter by himself. It's hard to force a social engagement to where the help of the socially inept baffoon actually helps rather than hinders success. And so social engagement can almost never be as regularly engrossing for the whole group as combat can be.

If you are able to point to a film with gripping, and exciting dialogue scenes, where several people are involved in an argument or in trying to win someone over to a different point of view; then you have to realize that that scene structure is completely gameable and can exist within an RPG framework.

That style of game might not be a preference, but they do exist.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Well, you're certainly interested enough to talk about them rather a lot, so there's that. Was there a point there about game modes? I'm not sure, but I don;t want to assume.

Folks were talking about FATE. That's what I have to say about that. As far as game modes, I agree with @Celebrim . Different modes should be represented with different, fitting mechanics IMO, using subsystems as necessary.

 

[zakael19]

I do think we go through periods where it seems like everyone is talking about one game or system (besides 5E) for an extended period. And DH was that for a bit around its release. I am just saying that it does not feel there there is a single game or system dominating the non-5E conversation right now.

Yeah that’s fair.