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<blockquote data-quote="uzirath" data-source="post: 7614055" data-attributes="member: 8495">Wow. This is a very high bar! This would filter out any casual players, and I know many experienced gamers who don't know the rules subsystems for things they're not interested in (e.g., someone who loves playing martial characters and doesn't care to learn the spellcasting system). I'm not saying it's wrong, but it's nearly the opposite of my approach as a GM. But, then again, my approach is focused on beginners and people who don't identify as gamers. I like the idea behind this. My goal is always to make gameplay about the dynamic story rather than the rules. But I've found that beyond a few basics, most players don't need to fully digest the rules in order to participate in building a collaborative story. Particularly if the genre expectations are understood, then it's just a matter of imagining your character in the fictional circumstances and describing what you'd like them to do. As GM, I can respond rapidly and adjust their sense of the fiction as needed (&quot;Don't forget that the slippery floor might make this harder than usual. Do you want to try anyway?&quot;) The rest of it gets picked up pretty quickly in play. If I or one of the other players notice someone making mechanically suboptimal choices regularly, we'll offer suggestions (whether during play or afterward). So I'm not convinced that every person at the table needs to master the rules in order to keep them behind the scenes.As to the point of the thread, though, it is tough to play if neither the GM nor the players know the rules. I definitely see that with some of the children's groups that I supervise at school. Nobody wants to crack the books, so they just make it all up. (Even then, though, it's not a bad way to get into the hobby. Many of these kids come back the following year and ask to borrow the books so that they can learn the ropes better.)</blockquote>

[QUOTE="uzirath, post: 7614055, member: 8495"] Wow. This is a very high bar! This would filter out any casual players, and I know many experienced gamers who don't know the rules subsystems for things they're not interested in (e.g., someone who loves playing martial characters and doesn't care to learn the spellcasting system). I'm not saying it's wrong, but it's nearly the opposite of my approach as a GM. But, then again, my approach is focused on beginners and people who don't identify as gamers. I like the idea behind this. My goal is always to make gameplay about the dynamic story rather than the rules. But I've found that beyond a few basics, most players don't need to fully digest the rules in order to participate in building a collaborative story. Particularly if the genre expectations are understood, then it's just a matter of imagining your character in the fictional circumstances and describing what you'd like them to do. As GM, I can respond rapidly and adjust their sense of the fiction as needed ("Don't forget that the slippery floor might make this harder than usual. Do you want to try anyway?") The rest of it gets picked up pretty quickly in play. If I or one of the other players notice someone making mechanically suboptimal choices regularly, we'll offer suggestions (whether during play or afterward). So I'm not convinced that every person at the table needs to master the rules in order to keep them behind the scenes. As to the point of the thread, though, it is tough to play if neither the GM nor the players know the rules. I definitely see that with some of the children's groups that I supervise at school. Nobody wants to crack the books, so they just make it all up. (Even then, though, it's not a bad way to get into the hobby. Many of these kids come back the following year and ask to borrow the books so that they can learn the ropes better.) [/QUOTE]

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