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Message: <blockquote data-quote="innerdude" data-source="post: 8213847" data-attributes="member: 85870">The problem with rules as physics is that there are mountains of underlying assumptions in terms of process/playstyle that sit beneath that basic idea.The basis for the idea of rules as physics does not really stem from some idealized method of "immersive" experience. The pursuit of rules as physics is overwhelmingly tied to a particular idea of rules arbitration, which is, "RPG rules are more fair and easier to arbitrate if they are based, as much as possible, on 'realistic' and 'plausible' cause/effect interactions as we understand them. As such, rules as physics is one of the shortest, best paths for the rules to meet these criteria."But what kind of gameplay mindset assumes this as the default?<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">"Because GMs are the ultimate arbiters of everything, the game needs to be as easy to adjudicate as possible."</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">"Rules as physics should lead to fewer arguments about 'what happened here and when,' because the GM can just point to the rules and say, 'Look, physics!'"</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">"Players have less room for complaint, because everything that happens in the game is the natural result of inputs A, B, C, and D, which naturally lead to outputs W, X, Y, and Z. If the players couldn't understand what the natural result would be, it's clearly because they didn't read the rules enough."</li> </ul>Interestingly, I actually find that systems that emphasize rules as physics (GURPS being the absolute poster child, D&D 3.5 being a lesser example but still on the continuum), tend to have the opposite effect on immersion. The greater the "realism" of the system, the greater the reliance on players to engage in "skilled play" to make the experience tolerable (or even work at all). Players become heavily invested in eking out every possible advantage, modifier, and statistic; "immersion" of character is secondary.Ultimately, rules as physics is a shorthand for much, much more---stuff that's largely unspoken, assumed, and rarely discussed as being part of the "process."The more I read it, the more this quote by Vincent Baker stands out as speaking to a very important truth:"Mechanics might model the stuff of the game world, that's another topic, but they don't exist to do so. They exist to ease and constrain real-world social negotiation between the players at the table. <a href="http://www.lumpley.com/hardcore.html" target="_blank">That's their sole and crucial function</a>."Rules as physics contains a huge swath of embedded assumptions about the nature of play. When you start from the baseline assumption that "rules are the physics of the world," you are necessarily constraining the kinds of inputs that are "allowed" to be reflected/respected in the resulting fiction.It's not just a nuance. It's a fundamental assumption about what the purpose of play is in the first place.</blockquote>

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