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Players choose what their PCs do . . .
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<blockquote data-quote="hawkeyefan" data-source="post: 7642918" data-attributes="member: 6785785"><p>I haven’t commented in a bit, but I’ve been reading along with the current thrust of the conversation, and the above bit jumped out at me because I think it comes up often in these discussions. </p><p></p><p>The PCs....meaning the players and the characters they play...are what make a RPG a game. Anything in the setting has rules SOLELY for the purpose of interacting with the PCs. A game needs rules, the PCs are what makes it a game, therefore the rules are there for the PCs.</p><p></p><p>Beyond that, there’s no need for rules. </p><p></p><p>I think the idea that a game MUST have some internal consistency that could be maintained in the absence of PCs is simply not true. It may be a preference, but even then I’m not quite sure I understand the need. What matters in the fiction without the PCs being involved in some way? Any such detail can simply be narrated, or if random chance is required in some way, then it can be decided with the roll of a die. </p><p></p><p>It just seems like such a tail wagging the dog kind of situation.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="hawkeyefan, post: 7642918, member: 6785785"] I haven’t commented in a bit, but I’ve been reading along with the current thrust of the conversation, and the above bit jumped out at me because I think it comes up often in these discussions. The PCs....meaning the players and the characters they play...are what make a RPG a game. Anything in the setting has rules SOLELY for the purpose of interacting with the PCs. A game needs rules, the PCs are what makes it a game, therefore the rules are there for the PCs. Beyond that, there’s no need for rules. I think the idea that a game MUST have some internal consistency that could be maintained in the absence of PCs is simply not true. It may be a preference, but even then I’m not quite sure I understand the need. What matters in the fiction without the PCs being involved in some way? Any such detail can simply be narrated, or if random chance is required in some way, then it can be decided with the roll of a die. It just seems like such a tail wagging the dog kind of situation. [/QUOTE]
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