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Message: <blockquote data-quote="clearstream" data-source="post: 8496401" data-attributes="member: 71699">I had hoped it would be obvious I mentioned this in order to exclude it.Confusion isn't right. I am thinking of ambiguity, mystery, and open-endedness. Broader rather than narrower themes. Think of Dogs in the Vineyard versus D&D. (Broader doesn’t mean better.)What should be at stake, possible next phrases, what is being addressed, is less defined or constrained. What the characters are about is less determined. The world may be less like our own, it may contain genuine mysteries. How do fey behave? That may differ markedly group to group.Where there may be marked differences, and abundances of novel situations,  "'no', and don't roll" is an essential tool. "Say 'yes' or roll" relies on their being no genuinely ambiguous or mysterious situations.There is something semantic here getting in the way of communication. Is it right that you both use "fictional positioning" in connection only with things simulated in the game-world, and not connected with what is going on i.e. the narrative?For clarity, I use fictional positioning to include narrative and simulated (in-world) stake setting. In general terms, I am thinking about where players go all in, or they hedge or hold back, or they become flummoxed and err, or they are sharp and cool and unerring, they are attentive and focused, or they are forgetful and lose sight of what's key, and so on.Yes, that could be something procedural - such as how they scale the wrought iron fence - but I don't see it so narrowly. What price are they willing to pay to get inside Marlinspike Hall? Do they recall learning about the dobermanns likely roaming the grounds? Players choose and their choices inform what is at stake.The height of a wall or a dobermann's hit points are I suppose part of the overall fictional position, but they are not what I am thinking of. I am thinking of the very large freedom players must enjoy to make things worse for themselves. To put more at stake, or dial things back a notch. To matter, those must be able to lead to a yes, or change the terms of a roll.</blockquote>

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