Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Jon Peterson: Does System Matter?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Neonchameleon" data-source="post: 8215544" data-attributes="member: 87792"><p>And this is I think the major point of difference. The surrounded fighter will not mop the floor with the 20 level 1 fighters because he's a 20th level fighter. The powerful fighter is a 20th level fighter because he will mop the floor with the 20 level 1 fighters. The rules aren't a physics engine - they are a user interface.</p><p></p><p>To use another example, in Star Wars SAGA, <a href="https://swse.fandom.com/wiki/Luke_Skywalker" target="_blank">Luke Skywalker (RotJ era) is apparently a human Scout 1/Jedi 7/Ace Pilot 2/Jedi Knight 1 and CL 11</a>. By your way of thinking under a rules as physics model it is being level 11 character with 7 ranks of Jedi and 1 of Jedi Knight that lets Luke do things with The Force.</p><p></p><p>My way of thinking, rules as user interface, is that the Star Wars Saga Edition was published 24 years after Return of the Jedi. The idea that Luke can do ... anything ... he did in Return of the Jedi because of some RPG rules published almost a quarter of a century later is ridiculous and violates the laws of causality. The rules are, instead, intended to approximate the Star Wars setting that predated the Star Wars SAGA RPG rules and to make it easier to approximate that setting. And if I want Luke Skywalker to do something to do he does in the film that the rules don't cover then the rules are the issue.</p><p></p><p>I don't see my position on the Star Wars Saga rules and their relation to Star Wars canon to be unreasonable in the slightest. The setting is core, and the rules exist as a user interface to allow the player characters to interact with relevant (but not all; the Death Star doesn't need space battle combat stats as far as normal PCs are concerned) parts of the setting.</p><p></p><p>And I don't see a practical difference from either side of the screen between playing in the Star Wars setting and playing in most D&D settings (other than Order of the Stick) other than D&D specific settings are inspired by the D&D rules - and the rules are then used to approximate the setting.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Neonchameleon, post: 8215544, member: 87792"] And this is I think the major point of difference. The surrounded fighter will not mop the floor with the 20 level 1 fighters because he's a 20th level fighter. The powerful fighter is a 20th level fighter because he will mop the floor with the 20 level 1 fighters. The rules aren't a physics engine - they are a user interface. To use another example, in Star Wars SAGA, [URL='https://swse.fandom.com/wiki/Luke_Skywalker']Luke Skywalker (RotJ era) is apparently a human Scout 1/Jedi 7/Ace Pilot 2/Jedi Knight 1 and CL 11[/URL]. By your way of thinking under a rules as physics model it is being level 11 character with 7 ranks of Jedi and 1 of Jedi Knight that lets Luke do things with The Force. My way of thinking, rules as user interface, is that the Star Wars Saga Edition was published 24 years after Return of the Jedi. The idea that Luke can do ... anything ... he did in Return of the Jedi because of some RPG rules published almost a quarter of a century later is ridiculous and violates the laws of causality. The rules are, instead, intended to approximate the Star Wars setting that predated the Star Wars SAGA RPG rules and to make it easier to approximate that setting. And if I want Luke Skywalker to do something to do he does in the film that the rules don't cover then the rules are the issue. I don't see my position on the Star Wars Saga rules and their relation to Star Wars canon to be unreasonable in the slightest. The setting is core, and the rules exist as a user interface to allow the player characters to interact with relevant (but not all; the Death Star doesn't need space battle combat stats as far as normal PCs are concerned) parts of the setting. And I don't see a practical difference from either side of the screen between playing in the Star Wars setting and playing in most D&D settings (other than Order of the Stick) other than D&D specific settings are inspired by the D&D rules - and the rules are then used to approximate the setting. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Jon Peterson: Does System Matter?
Top