Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 9316112" data-attributes="member: 4937">I mean I'm glad that Celebrim's World's Simplest RPG is getting more admirers, but while you can flip a coin to determine the outcome of combat you cannot flip a coin to create the narrative of a combat.&nbsp; Those complex combat mechanics are ultimately in my opinion there to create story, and the less abstract they are the more they assist in creating story.&nbsp; Highly detailed combat mechanics would leave a transcript of play involving lunges, parries, dodges, charges and retreats, hails of missile fire, taunts and evasion and any number of other things.&nbsp; Even D&amp;D level combat, abstract as it is, still creates a narrative transcript of play in the way &quot;flip a coin&quot; just doesn't.And that is I think Brennan's point.&nbsp; If your goal is to create a narrative transcript that can be experienced as a story, well you need a combat system of some sort for that (Granted, it wouldn't necessarily have to be a tactical one.&nbsp; We could image a nar combat system.).&nbsp;&nbsp; Whereas if your goal is to create a narrative transcript of a social encounter that can be experienced as story, the less you have &quot;I roll against savoire faire to trick the guard.&quot; and the more you have actual dialogue, the more the transcript you are creating is like a traditional story and experienced as one.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Celebrim, post: 9316112, member: 4937"] I mean I'm glad that Celebrim's World's Simplest RPG is getting more admirers, but while you can flip a coin to determine the outcome of combat you cannot flip a coin to create the narrative of a combat. Those complex combat mechanics are ultimately in my opinion there to create story, and the less abstract they are the more they assist in creating story. Highly detailed combat mechanics would leave a transcript of play involving lunges, parries, dodges, charges and retreats, hails of missile fire, taunts and evasion and any number of other things. Even D&D level combat, abstract as it is, still creates a narrative transcript of play in the way "flip a coin" just doesn't. And that is I think Brennan's point. If your goal is to create a narrative transcript that can be experienced as a story, well you need a combat system of some sort for that (Granted, it wouldn't necessarily have to be a tactical one. We could image a nar combat system.). Whereas if your goal is to create a narrative transcript of a social encounter that can be experienced as story, the less you have "I roll against savoire faire to trick the guard." and the more you have actual dialogue, the more the transcript you are creating is like a traditional story and experienced as one. [/QUOTE]

Verification