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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 3409172" data-attributes="member: 42582">A world can be deep without being pre-planned - it's just that it will probably be deep in different respects. It will probably not have a high degree of "realistic" depth. But consistent in-game causality (which tells us how the BBEG grew up from the beginning of the campaign) is not the only sort of depth. If the setting evolves in play, in response to the choices of the players, it may have a high degree of thematic and/or dramatic depth - and any desired in-game causality can be ret-conned in via player-GM collaboration. I believe that Jonathan Tweet created the setting for Over the Edge in this way.I don't want to exagerate divisions, but equally I don't think there is any point eliding what are genuine differences of preference in the approach to play. Ignoring or denying these differences, or insisting that one approach rather than another is "true" roleplaying, leads to mechanical and campaign design that pretends to be "one size fits all" but is really supportive of one approach rather than another. It also leads to unnecessary clashes between players and GMs who have different priorities.This is a good example of the interaction between mechanics and play style. This sort of mechanic is excellent for giving players metagame influence over the campaign world and plot. But it would be anathema to a group who think that only the GM should have metagame influence, and that the role of the players is confined to the in-game resolution of action through playing their PCs.Therefore, any rules supplement that introduced this mechanic would have to explain clearly what sort of play it supports, and what sort of play it is incompatible with. But this sort of explanation can only be given if we are prepared to recognise that when it comes to roleplaying mechanics, one size definitely does not fit all.I can understand why many RPG publishers don't want to acknowledge this, because it has implications for the commerical appeal of their product. But this is all the more reason why ordinary roleplayers should be ready to acknowledge it.</blockquote>

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