Let's Talk About Metacurrency

[Umbran]

I neither like it, nor want it, nor understand why have it for the GM side, as GMs have unrestricted authorship rights.

I think you will find that many people, and games, do not take that position.

Also in some cases (like Daggerheart) the GM-side metacurrency is not much about authorship rights, and is more about action economy or other game operations.

 

[Thomas Shey]

I think you will find that many people, and games, do not take that position.

Yeah, I haven't believed in open-ended GM interventionism for many years now.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Meh. I can take it or leave it, at least on the player side. It can be handy to reinforce the idea that players are allowed authorship rights, but that can be accomplished without metacurrency, so again, meh. I neither like it, nor want it, nor understand why have it for the GM side, as GMs have unrestricted authorship rights. As for using it for mechanical things, I prefer dedicated resources rather than all encompassing ones, so, one more time, meh.

I guess my answer is...MEH!

Many games that have GM-side meta-currency also routinely restrict the GM's authorship rights. Not my bag, but a lot of people here seem to want that for reasons I don't understand.

 

[LordEntrails]

Are potions and scrolls meta currency?
I mean who hasn't had folks that save that consumable for just the right moment, for that +2 to a die roll etc?

 

[Micah Sweet]

Are potions and scrolls meta currency?
I mean who hasn't had folks that save that consumable for just the right moment, for that +2 to a die roll etc?

Consumables are real things in the setting, so IMO absolutely not.

 

[TwoSix]

Are potions and scrolls meta currency?
I mean who hasn't had folks that save that consumable for just the right moment, for that +2 to a die roll etc?

Since potions and scrolls have a diegetic reality, I would say they are the opposite of a metacurrency.

 

[LordEntrails]

Consumables are real things in the setting, so IMO absolutely not.

But often don't they function the same?

What is the difference between a "potion" the GM gives the player that is consumable and gives them advantage on an action versus and "inspiration" point the GM gives the player that gives them advantage on an action? Both are fictitious. Sure, one is "real" in the made up setting of magic and elves (or space ships and aliens) and the other is make-believe in the rules for the players.

Is only being part of the setting and not the rules the only thing that differentiates them? Why is that important?

 

[TwoSix]

Is only being part of the setting and not the rules the only thing that differentiates them? Why is that important?

I mean, the definition of "metacurrency" is rooted in the distinction between a game element being "only mechanical" versus having a diegetic presence (which is to say, the element exists within the fiction.)

Whether or not that's important is, of course, up to you as an individual; but the very fact the word exists points to it being a meaningful distinction for some.

 

[hawkeyefan]

Many games that have GM-side meta-currency also routinely restrict the GM's authorship rights. Not my bag, but a lot of people here seem to want that for reasons I don't understand.

It’s just that constraint can help focus things and shape creativity.

If someone says “tell a story”, that’s a pretty broad request. If someone says “tell a story about revenge”, that’s more narrow. If someone says “tell a story about a person getting revenge on their spouse for a betrayal that left them with nothing”, then it’s even more specific.

None of these three requests for a story is “better” than the other. There’s no reason to expect that one will routinely yield “better” stories. But they each ask something a bit different of the storyteller.

It’s the same for GMing. There’s not really anything more complex to it than that.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

But often don't they function the same?

What is the difference between a "potion" the GM gives the player that is consumable and gives them advantage on an action versus and "inspiration" point the GM gives the player that gives them advantage on an action? Both are fictitious. Sure, one is "real" in the made up setting of magic and elves (or space ships and aliens) and the other is make-believe in the rules for the players.

Is only being part of the setting and not the rules the only thing that differentiates them? Why is that important?

It is important, because then it is something the characters can make decisions about, and plan around in-character. The point of the game is to roleplay a character, not just make tactical decisions about resources.