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Fairy tale logic vs naturalism in fantasy RPGing
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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 6987243" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>I think this can be mitigated in a couple of ways.</p><p></p><p>In Gygaxian dungeon crawling, you use divination, the gathering of rumours, the hiring of sages, etc to learn what's there. And you know, from the general tropes of the game, that the answer will be along the lines of nasty monsters guarding treasure.</p><p></p><p>In a more "modern" game, the information-gathering stuff is probably going to loom less large, but there is still the stuff about general tropes. And if the GM is systematic in the way they establish in game situations (eg they take player cues in a systematic way, whether that is formal or informal), that can also serve the relevant communicative purpose.</p><p></p><p>I don't think this is very applicable to Gygaxian dungeoneering, at least as he presents it (the whole thing is presented as very emotionless) but personally it's a very important part of my RPGing. And I agree with your analysis.</p><p></p><p>In my view not entirely. It's possible for the GM to make decisions that negate the players' emotional investment/commitment, and I think that naturalism can put more pressure in this direction than "fairy tale". For instance, a player deciding to have his/her PC spare a defeated enemy, to instead release them on a promise of changing their ways, can be emotionally powerful in the context of a FRPG. A naturalistic focus tends to tell us that even well-meaning people who promise to change their behaviour - let alone those who make promises in coercive circumstances, as in this sort of case - are apt to lapse back once free to do so.</p><p></p><p>To me, at least, the idea that a paladin releasing a hobgoblin out of mercy will produce redemption in the hobgoblin seems to belong more to a fairy tale (of a roughly Arthurian flavour) than a naturalistic world.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 6987243, member: 42582"] I think this can be mitigated in a couple of ways. In Gygaxian dungeon crawling, you use divination, the gathering of rumours, the hiring of sages, etc to learn what's there. And you know, from the general tropes of the game, that the answer will be along the lines of nasty monsters guarding treasure. In a more "modern" game, the information-gathering stuff is probably going to loom less large, but there is still the stuff about general tropes. And if the GM is systematic in the way they establish in game situations (eg they take player cues in a systematic way, whether that is formal or informal), that can also serve the relevant communicative purpose. I don't think this is very applicable to Gygaxian dungeoneering, at least as he presents it (the whole thing is presented as very emotionless) but personally it's a very important part of my RPGing. And I agree with your analysis. In my view not entirely. It's possible for the GM to make decisions that negate the players' emotional investment/commitment, and I think that naturalism can put more pressure in this direction than "fairy tale". For instance, a player deciding to have his/her PC spare a defeated enemy, to instead release them on a promise of changing their ways, can be emotionally powerful in the context of a FRPG. A naturalistic focus tends to tell us that even well-meaning people who promise to change their behaviour - let alone those who make promises in coercive circumstances, as in this sort of case - are apt to lapse back once free to do so. To me, at least, the idea that a paladin releasing a hobgoblin out of mercy will produce redemption in the hobgoblin seems to belong more to a fairy tale (of a roughly Arthurian flavour) than a naturalistic world. [/QUOTE]
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