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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 8940558" data-attributes="member: 42582">One thing it seems to say is that the discussion about terminology/"jargon" can be set aside. If everyone is agree that these are different allocations of authority, different approaches to how situations are established, different roles of (what I've called) evaluation/normativity, etc then that's the starting point for analysing different RPGs.With the discussion around map-and-key, and [USER=16586]@Campbell[/USER]'s remarks about "game world" that [USER=71699]@clearstream[/USER] reposted just above, we can also see that the differences I've described are connected to different ways that setting/backstory is established and then used in play.Thus, if setting is established via map-and-key prep, then a significant amount of framing will be done by reference to that "game world", and that material will also provide the constraints for action resolution when players have their PCs move, search, etc. (As per some of my posts above.)On the other hand, when setting/backstory is established using other techniques, such as by players as part of their PC build (see eg BW relationships) or as an outcome of the first session (see eg AW fronts and threats), then it functions differently in the procedures of play. It is conditioned by evaluation/normativity, and it is drawn upon with that evaluation/normativity in mind when used in framing and resolution. And when used in framing and resolution it does not constrain in the way map-and-key does. It provides content and possibilities that the GM draws on within constraints that come from elsewhere (like "say 'yes' or roll the dice" or the AW agenda and principles).I think with these distinctions in mind, significant features of a lot of different approaches to play can be described: classic D&D/OSR-ish play; PbtA; scene-framing in the style of Burning Wheel, In A Wicked Age, 4e D&D or Marvel Heroic/Cortex+ Heroic; the style of map-and-key discussed with [USER=22779]@Hussar[/USER] upthread, where the map functions mostly to parcel out the interesting encounters during the course of play.I think these distinctions also provide a sound foundation for discussing particular techniques of action resolution, for discussing player resource recovery (eg how is this related to particular elements of framing and action resolution  - such as the passage of ingame time - and who has authority over those matters) and other features of RPG systems.</blockquote>

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