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More DMing analysis from Lewis Pulsipher
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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 6339010" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>You two seem to be talking about the design of an RPG.</p><p></p><p>Pulsipher (and also Edwards, to whom I drew a comparison) is talking about playstyle - with an assumption that is the GM, first and foremost, who drives playstyle.</p><p></p><p>When you are talking about what it is that is prioritised by a particular GM, it's hard to prioritise (say) realism-simulation and (say) absurdity at the same time.</p><p></p><p>I explained in the OP what I think a game looked like that tried to prioritise story together with wargame-style player agency (ie Story Now).</p><p></p><p>Are their other particular combinations that are viable?</p><p></p><p>You can't prioritise wargame (skill) and absurdity (luck) at the same time. They're in opposition.</p><p></p><p>Wargame and realism-sim are possibly at odds, for the reasons that Pulsipher gives. I think those reasons apply to Runequest, for instance. I tried to explain in my OP how I think it is that RM can be used to try and support both at once - but it's still an issue even using that system (eg "realistic" crit roles are a much bigger burden on player agency than D&D's hp system; I gather many pre-Saga Star Wars players had the same problem with wound/vitality).</p><p></p><p>I don't think you can aim for both absurd and novel/story, because luck and randomness are at odds with storytelling.</p><p></p><p>That leaves realism-sim and the novel/story style. I think these are very deeply at odds, because fundamental to stories is contrivance (which in RPGs means metagame), whereas fundamental to realism-sim is the absence of contrivance/metagame. But I think my view on this point is contested by some, perhaps many, who think that you can get a novel/story game out of realistic sim. I think experiences playing Traveller or RQ could shed light on this (I've played both, but haven't tried to get novel/story style play out of either).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 6339010, member: 42582"] You two seem to be talking about the design of an RPG. Pulsipher (and also Edwards, to whom I drew a comparison) is talking about playstyle - with an assumption that is the GM, first and foremost, who drives playstyle. When you are talking about what it is that is prioritised by a particular GM, it's hard to prioritise (say) realism-simulation and (say) absurdity at the same time. I explained in the OP what I think a game looked like that tried to prioritise story together with wargame-style player agency (ie Story Now). Are their other particular combinations that are viable? You can't prioritise wargame (skill) and absurdity (luck) at the same time. They're in opposition. Wargame and realism-sim are possibly at odds, for the reasons that Pulsipher gives. I think those reasons apply to Runequest, for instance. I tried to explain in my OP how I think it is that RM can be used to try and support both at once - but it's still an issue even using that system (eg "realistic" crit roles are a much bigger burden on player agency than D&D's hp system; I gather many pre-Saga Star Wars players had the same problem with wound/vitality). I don't think you can aim for both absurd and novel/story, because luck and randomness are at odds with storytelling. That leaves realism-sim and the novel/story style. I think these are very deeply at odds, because fundamental to stories is contrivance (which in RPGs means metagame), whereas fundamental to realism-sim is the absence of contrivance/metagame. But I think my view on this point is contested by some, perhaps many, who think that you can get a novel/story game out of realistic sim. I think experiences playing Traveller or RQ could shed light on this (I've played both, but haven't tried to get novel/story style play out of either). [/QUOTE]
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