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<blockquote data-quote="Hussar" data-source="post: 7475420" data-attributes="member: 22779">And, if I actually said that, you'd have a point.&nbsp; Meh, I'm taking a break from marking exams, so, let's run at this wall one more time and see if it gets through.&nbsp; Doubtful, but, hope springs eternal.-------------RPG's are games.&nbsp; Yes, of course they are.&nbsp; Let's get that out of the way right at the outset and, as I said before, that was a very bad idea on my part to drop click bait in the thread title.&nbsp; Mea Culpa.&nbsp; However, what distinguishes RPG's from other games is that the rules of an RPG are unplayable as is.&nbsp; Unlike virtually any other game out there, be it a card game, or a board game or a sport, you flat out cannot actually play an RPG straight from the books.&nbsp; RPG's require that intermediate step of scenario creation.&nbsp; There are three levels - RPG rules ---&gt; scenario ----&gt; actually playing the game.&nbsp; In virtually every other game out there there are only two steps - game rules ----&gt; actually playing the game.RPG's are essentially both games and operating systems for those games.&nbsp; You can read your RPG rules until the ink bleeds out of the paper, but, until such time as someone creates a scenario, you can't actually play the game.&nbsp; Take the introduction to Moldvay Basic page B3Later on, it expands the role of the DM:Now, it goes on to give some pretty good step by step instructions on how to construct a scenario.&nbsp; But, at no point does it tell you what a scenario is or should be.&nbsp; And later we have:Even back then, the three levels of an RPG were pretty clearly outlined.&nbsp; You don't pick up any other game and then use that game to create a specific game for you and your friends to play.&nbsp; Non-RPG's are (rarely) game creation engines.&nbsp; You play THAT GAME.&nbsp; Sure, the game might have variations or variable set-ups or whatnot, but, while you can create different scenarios for, say, Catan, the differences between one scenario and another are mostly cosmetic.Again, you don't use the rules of Poker to play anything other than Poker.&nbsp; But, you can use the rules of an RPG to play virtually any scenario you can dream up.&nbsp; Sure, some rulesets lend themselves better to certain types of scenarios, fine.&nbsp; But, that doesn't mean that you can't do Game of Thrones and Ravenloft and The Great Train Robbery using a single RPG ruleset.&nbsp; Board games quite simply do not have that intermediate step that all RPG's do - creation.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Hussar, post: 7475420, member: 22779"] And, if I actually said that, you'd have a point. Meh, I'm taking a break from marking exams, so, let's run at this wall one more time and see if it gets through. Doubtful, but, hope springs eternal. ------------- RPG's are games. Yes, of course they are. Let's get that out of the way right at the outset and, as I said before, that was a very bad idea on my part to drop click bait in the thread title. Mea Culpa. However, what distinguishes RPG's from other games is that the rules of an RPG are unplayable as is. Unlike virtually any other game out there, be it a card game, or a board game or a sport, you flat out cannot actually play an RPG straight from the books. RPG's require that intermediate step of scenario creation. There are three levels - RPG rules ---> scenario ----> actually playing the game. In virtually every other game out there there are only two steps - game rules ----> actually playing the game. RPG's are essentially both games and operating systems for those games. You can read your RPG rules until the ink bleeds out of the paper, but, until such time as someone creates a scenario, you can't actually play the game. Take the introduction to Moldvay Basic page B3 Later on, it expands the role of the DM: Now, it goes on to give some pretty good step by step instructions on [i]how[/i] to construct a scenario. But, at no point does it tell you [i]what[/i] a scenario is or should be. And later we have: Even back then, the three levels of an RPG were pretty clearly outlined. You don't pick up any other game and then use that game to create a specific game for you and your friends to play. Non-RPG's are (rarely) game creation engines. You play THAT GAME. Sure, the game might have variations or variable set-ups or whatnot, but, while you can create different scenarios for, say, Catan, the differences between one scenario and another are mostly cosmetic. Again, you don't use the rules of Poker to play anything other than Poker. But, you can use the rules of an RPG to play virtually any scenario you can dream up. Sure, some rulesets lend themselves better to certain types of scenarios, fine. But, that doesn't mean that you can't do Game of Thrones and Ravenloft and The Great Train Robbery using a single RPG ruleset. Board games quite simply do not have that intermediate step that all RPG's do - creation. [/QUOTE]

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