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<blockquote data-quote="clearstream" data-source="post: 8291098" data-attributes="member: 71699">Great example. I had the thought that perhaps rolls and resources validate that players are skillful.Let your example stand, but with no rolls and no tracked resources: just DM/player fiat. That could be vulnerable to concerns about second-guessing, mutual back-rubbing, aren't-we-so-very-clever, that-wouldn't-work-at-our-table, etc. i.e. dismissals of skillfulness. Bring in some game mechanics - graded rolls, structured modifiers, tracked resources - and the group then is held to some kind of contract. They can be skillful in a way that others will recognise as skillful. In short, game mechanics validate player skill in a way that fiat cannot.Were we to accept that validation is worthwhile - satisfying rather than dissatisfying, more reliably shared - then that might give useful context to other questions. Do some mechanics better validate SP than others? Which are necessary? Which are superfluous? Which dimensions of play are most apposite to validate? Are there as yet unfilled gaps, or current weaknesses, in validation?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="clearstream, post: 8291098, member: 71699"] Great example. I had the thought that perhaps rolls and resources validate that players are skillful. [B]Let your example stand, but [/B]with no rolls and no tracked resources: just DM/player fiat. That could be vulnerable to concerns about second-guessing, mutual back-rubbing, aren't-we-so-very-clever, that-wouldn't-work-at-our-table, etc. i.e. dismissals of skillfulness. Bring in some game mechanics - graded rolls, structured modifiers, tracked resources - and the group then is held to some kind of contract. They can be skillful in a way that others will recognise as skillful. In short, game mechanics validate player skill in a way that fiat cannot. Were we to accept that validation is worthwhile - satisfying rather than dissatisfying, more reliably shared - then that might give useful context to other questions. Do some mechanics better validate SP than others? Which are necessary? Which are superfluous? Which dimensions of play are most apposite to validate? Are there as yet unfilled gaps, or current weaknesses, in validation? [/QUOTE]

Verification