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<blockquote data-quote="Tom Cashel" data-source="post: 1166861" data-attributes="member: 321">Okay...everyone's talking about specific passages pointing out that rules shouldn't get in the way of the flow of the game, and you shouldn't get hooked up on rules so much that you're not having fun, etc. And yes, imagination and a &quot;let's pretend&quot; attitude are all you need to role-play and have a great time.But my point is that the Storyteller system emphasizes &quot;story&quot; more than the d20 system.&nbsp; Some people seem to want to have a &quot;d20 is better/no it's not&quot; discussion.&nbsp; (That doesn't interest me very much; I like both systems quite a bit).D20 system emphasizes character, skills, improvement over time, and (generally) an open-ended style of play where players can go visit any &quot;encounter area&quot; they want, in any order they want.&nbsp; Railroading, in d20, is generally a bad thing.Storyteller system books all begin by telling you the Theme and the Mood.&nbsp; There aren't &quot;scenarios&quot; or &quot;adventures&quot;--rather there are Stories made up of Scenes, and they are expected to have a strong Beginning, a Middle, and an End (in literary terms).You can talk the talk about d20 being story-friendly, and how it supports stories, and I agree completely.&nbsp; But I counter that the Storyteller rules emphasize story by making it the single most important element of any game session, and having a ruleset that uses Literary Terms to describe its component parts.Sorry for not being clear before, but that's what I mean.&nbsp; d20 rules have six kinds of dice and unique mechanics for umpteen-hundred spells, feats, prestige classes, etc. etc.&nbsp; Storyteller rules use one kind of dice, one kind of roll, and although there are umpteen-hundred gifts, clans, tribes, powers, etc. (and I'd never accuse Mage of having a &quot;simple&quot; ruleset), the books most definitely favor background over mechanics.And both systems are great in their own way.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Tom Cashel, post: 1166861, member: 321"] Okay...everyone's talking about specific passages pointing out that rules shouldn't get in the way of the flow of the game, and you shouldn't get hooked up on rules so much that you're not having fun, etc. And yes, imagination and a "let's pretend" attitude are all you need to role-play and have a great time. But my point is that the Storyteller system emphasizes "story" more than the d20 system. Some people seem to want to have a "d20 is better/no it's not" discussion. (That doesn't interest me very much; I like [i]both[/i] systems quite a bit). D20 system emphasizes character, skills, improvement over time, and (generally) an open-ended style of play where players can go visit any "encounter area" they want, in any order they want. Railroading, in d20, is generally a [i]bad thing[/i]. Storyteller system books all begin by telling you the Theme and the Mood. There aren't "scenarios" or "adventures"--rather there are Stories made up of Scenes, and they are expected to have a strong Beginning, a Middle, and an End (in literary terms). You can talk the talk about d20 being story-friendly, and how it supports stories, and I agree completely. But I counter that the Storyteller rules emphasize story by making it [i]the single most important element[/i] of any game session, and having a ruleset that uses Literary Terms to describe its component parts. Sorry for not being clear before, but that's what I mean. d20 rules have six kinds of dice and unique mechanics for umpteen-hundred spells, feats, prestige classes, etc. etc. Storyteller rules use one kind of dice, one kind of roll, and although there [i]are[/i] umpteen-hundred gifts, clans, tribes, powers, etc. (and I'd never accuse [i]Mage[/i] of having a "simple" ruleset), the books most definitely favor background over mechanics. And both systems are great in their own way. [/QUOTE]

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