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<blockquote data-quote="Ariosto" data-source="post: 5260861" data-attributes="member: 80487">A key here, I think, is that by &quot;options&quot; what is really meant is &quot;rules written in a rules-book&quot;.Obviously, if that set is identical with the set of permitted possibilities, then it is smaller than that set plus the countless other things that people can imagine!There is always a set of things that is not defined in the rules-book but rather assumed. This is necessarily vast in an RPG, because the game encompasses a whole world.So, what does get written down is chiefly things that are expected (or seem likely) not to be understood unless they are written down. The exclusive attitude toward rules -- &quot;if it's not in the written rules, then it's not in the game&quot; -- tends to move things into this class of phenomena. Once a thing is codified, one cannot be sure one is doing it &quot;right&quot; unless one looks up the codification.This makes for complexity. &quot;Rules lawyers&quot; make for more, as they (like real-world lawyers) require specialized language and precisely constructed logic to keep the &quot;letter&quot; roughly in the neighborhood of the &quot;spirit&quot;.Now, one thing that has made all this more significant in D&amp;D is a shift in where &quot;the game&quot; is located. It has become much more about picking this or that item -- an ability score, a skill, a feat, a spell, even a magic item -- off a menu. How many picks one gets is a set resource, and the value of an investment depends on someone who made a different pick not getting the benefit.It is not all neatly reduced to &quot;hero points&quot; as in Champions, but it is in essence the same superimposition of a whole second game. I dare say that in some quarters it may even stand as the primary game, overshadowing all that formerly constituted &quot;playing D&amp;D&quot;.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Ariosto, post: 5260861, member: 80487"] A key here, I think, is that by "options" what is really meant is "rules written in a rules-book". Obviously, if that set is identical with the set of permitted possibilities, then it is smaller than that set plus the countless other things that people can imagine! There is always a set of things that is not defined in the rules-book but rather assumed. This is necessarily vast in an RPG, because the game encompasses a whole world. So, what does get written down is chiefly things that are expected (or seem likely) not to be understood unless they are written down. The exclusive attitude toward rules -- "if it's not in the written rules, then it's not in the game" -- tends to move things into this class of phenomena. Once a thing is codified, one cannot be sure one is doing it "right" unless one looks up the codification. This makes for complexity. "Rules lawyers" make for more, as they (like real-world lawyers) require specialized language and precisely constructed logic to keep the "letter" roughly in the neighborhood of the "spirit". Now, one thing that has made all this more significant in D&D is a shift in where "the game" is located. It has become much more about picking this or that item -- an ability score, a skill, a feat, a spell, even a magic item -- off a menu. How many picks one gets is a set resource, and the value of an investment depends on someone who made a different pick not getting the benefit. It is not all neatly reduced to "hero points" as in Champions, but it is in essence the same superimposition of a whole second game. I dare say that in some quarters it may even stand as the primary game, overshadowing all that formerly constituted "playing D&D". [/QUOTE]

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