Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ilbranteloth" data-source="post: 6793902" data-attributes="member: 6778044">I'm in the option #1 camp here. Having said that, I do make character death a little more difficult. In addition, I've got other options in play (injuries for example) that have a very meaningful impact, and for an extended period of time - as in at least days. This is all handled mechanically. But that's also because the combat system is mature enough that it makes death and injuries easy to work with. It's up to us (the players and myself) to wrap that event in the story.As for a universal approach, I don't know if it's possible or not. I didn't think of tying this to the Exploration Pillar, but that's spot on. I don't think there will be a single mechanic that will satisfy everybody, But that's not my point. My point is that we can codify what the process is for an exploration event. Combat would be a good example, I guess.Contact - to have a combat you have to have at least two creatures come into contact.Surprise - one or more of the creatures may be surprised by this contact.Declare hostility - at least one of the creatures has to take a hostile position in regards to others.Initiation - not in the sense as to who goes when, but that somebody initiates a hostile action.Engagement - This is the active combat itself, which will typically have it's own detailed process.Disengagement - Again, not an ability, but an act to remove oneself from the hostilities. One way to disengage is to die.Cessation - The hostilities end, for whatever reason, and the game shifts back to a normal state.This is a high level look at a combat - and I'd guess a significant number of people would start with surprise (and then skip declare hostility). The fact is, you can have contact, and surprise, without declaring hostility. In fact, without declaring hostility (and sometimes with), it would become an interaction event. The main difference between the two is the method of engagement.The engagement process details how to resolve the actions within the combat or interaction, and would probably be quite different between the two.So what does an exploration event look like? What is the difference? I guess both an interaction and a combat event are with creatures. The main difference between the two being the engagement itself. So an exploration event is an interaction with a place or thing.In other words, walking through a dungeon is exploration, but not an exploration event. Although non-events can be helpful and tell you something about the place (this passage is safe, because it is free of traps and monsters). In the game there will be a transition in and out of the event, and it's the engagement with the event that would be the focus. The event encompasses the actions, skills, and intent of the characters, and also the environment, the hand of fate, etc. The specific mechanics would differ between one game system or another, but a complete process would include all of these elements.Contact/Detection - something presents itself as an obstacle or something of interest?Surprise -  could happen (pit trap).Declare intent? - if you opt not to engage with the obstacle, then there is no event (which can be a viable option, but not always).InitiationEngagementDisengagementCessationI don't know if I'm missing something, but that's sort of a start. It's probably the engagement subprocess where the fail forward or lack thereof will occur. That's where we'd need to really work through the process on the next level. Ilbranteloth</blockquote>

Verification