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Message: <blockquote data-quote="kenada" data-source="post: 9509712" data-attributes="member: 70468">What I’m trying to do is assess whether either of these structures are similar to kickers — another structure I know. Going back to your <a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/roleplaying-games-are-improv-games.707884/post-9506606" target="_blank">OP</a>, I would liken them to story spines in that they provide the structure but don’t lay down specific elements beyond establishing the premise. You’ve been critical of games that railroad thematic premise. Kickers are a way to put some of that back in the players’ hands by having them provide provocative statements to kick off play (hence the name).If neither Events nor Birthsigns fill that roll, I don’t see an issue with that. Game mechanics exist to effect some change in game state. Not all of them are going to do the same thing, and sometimes games don’t have (or maybe yours does have, but we haven’t discussed it) certain mechanics because they’re not appropriate. As discussed, my game doesn’t really have kickers, though this discussion makes me think I should mention it as an option for setting the campaign goal.As I’ve mentioned before, I don’t generally care much about story when playing RPGs. However, regardless of my preference, that doesn’t prevent me from analyzing games on their merits even when they’re not something I’d normally like to play. I think it would be helpful if one avoided conflating analysis (which includes making comparisons using a familiar point of reference) with preference. I found myself having to do this recently when trying to introduce RPGs to my brother.After playing BG3, my brother started getting interested in D&D. He had found some videos of people playing on Youtube, but he didn’t quite like what he was seeing. He wasn’t into the theatrics and drama and stuff like that. I’m not really either, but I defended it and tried to explain why people like it. I also described some other play (including my own), which did end up interesting him. He’s picked up a copy of Blades in the Dark and is interested in running sometime.I had originally guessed that Events and Birthsigns were similar to a structure another game uses, but I don’t think I was right about that. As described here, they clearly don’t seem to be very similar except superficially.I’m a big fan of designing games to do exactly what you want. That’s why I’m designing my own (since nothing I’ve seen does the kind of exploration-driven game I want in the way I want). While the kind of flow state you seek is not something I desire in my RPGing, I’m trying to engage with you on your system’s merits, but I need to use points of reference to help me understand.What you describe reminds me of what those who enjoy “deep immersion” liken to slipping into the secondary world (as Tolkien describes it). The point is to be the character and experiences things as the character, which includes emotional aspects and not just playing in the absence of the primary world. Am I close?</blockquote>

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