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Player Characters Doing The Dumb Things
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<blockquote data-quote="payn" data-source="post: 9167516" data-attributes="member: 90374"><p>Folks play RPGs for different reasons. Some folks find they fail enough in real life to not want to do it in their RPG even if it would be interesting narratively. Though, mostly many games dont afford any failure state mechanics that lead to interesting play. In fact, many have character death as the result of a failed action. I think that leads to a hypersensitivity in many gamers because they want to succeed at the game not fail at it. Its really a matter of perspective.</p><p></p><p>Espionage is interesting. I'm sure many will think of Ian Fleming's man of international danger. This is a power fantasy about a suave agent going around stopping wars with style. They always have a gadget or backup plan to save their bacon at failure state. It's not about reenacting actual cloak and dagger tradecraft. A John Le Carre character on the other hand, is often matching wits under a fog of war. The stakes are not for the physical being of the character, but for their personal relationships, protection of assets, and defense of their country. Failure states here are story beats that lead up to more of a series of battles that lead up to the outcome of the war itself. </p><p></p><p>So, I dont think doing dumb things is a general expectation, nor do I think all RPGs are better if they allow for them. Though, I would like to see rulesets explore the notion better, which many modern games are doing as we speak.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="payn, post: 9167516, member: 90374"] Folks play RPGs for different reasons. Some folks find they fail enough in real life to not want to do it in their RPG even if it would be interesting narratively. Though, mostly many games dont afford any failure state mechanics that lead to interesting play. In fact, many have character death as the result of a failed action. I think that leads to a hypersensitivity in many gamers because they want to succeed at the game not fail at it. Its really a matter of perspective. Espionage is interesting. I'm sure many will think of Ian Fleming's man of international danger. This is a power fantasy about a suave agent going around stopping wars with style. They always have a gadget or backup plan to save their bacon at failure state. It's not about reenacting actual cloak and dagger tradecraft. A John Le Carre character on the other hand, is often matching wits under a fog of war. The stakes are not for the physical being of the character, but for their personal relationships, protection of assets, and defense of their country. Failure states here are story beats that lead up to more of a series of battles that lead up to the outcome of the war itself. So, I dont think doing dumb things is a general expectation, nor do I think all RPGs are better if they allow for them. Though, I would like to see rulesets explore the notion better, which many modern games are doing as we speak. [/QUOTE]
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