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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 6291800" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>Ron Edwards has a very interesting discussion of the management of ingame time in some of <a href="http://www.indie-rpgs.com/articles/15/" target="_blank">his</a> <a href="http://www.indie-rpgs.com/articles/3/" target="_blank">essays</a>:</p><p></p><p style="margin-left: 20px"> I'll discuss two elements of Resolution which are rarely recognized: the treatment of in-game time and space. These are a big deal in Simulationist play as universal and consistent constraints, which must apply equally to any part of the imagined universe, at any point during play. </p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">To talk about this, let's break the issue down a little:</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p><p style="margin-left: 20px">•In-game time occurs regarding the actually-played imaginary moments and events. It's best expressed by combat mechanics, which in Simulationist play are often extremely well-defined in terms of seconds and actions, but also by movement rates at various scales, starship travel times, and similar things.</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">•Metagame time is rarely discussed openly, but it's the crucial one. It refers to time-lapse among really-played scenes: can someone get to the castle before someone else kills the king; can someone fly across Detroit before someone else detonates the Mind Bomb. Metagame time isn't "played," but its management is a central issue for scene-framing and the outcome of the session as a whole.</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">•Real time is, of course, the real time of play as experienced by the people at the table. I think comparing between its flow and that of the in-game time is a crucial issue as well - when is a huge hunk of real time necessary to establish a teeny bit of in-game time, and vice versa? </p></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">[T]he Simulationist view of in-game time [is as] a causal constraint on the other sorts. One can even find, in many early game texts, rules that enforce how in-game time acts on real time, and vice versa. However, most importantly, it constrains metagame time. It works in-to-out. In-game time at the fine-grained level (rounds, seconds, actions, movement rates) sets incontrovertible, foundation material for making judgments about hours, days, cross-town movement, and who gets where in what order. I recommend anyone who's interested to the text of DC Heroes for some of the most explicit text available on this issue throughout the book.</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">***</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">Concrete examples [of] Simulationism over-riding Narrativism . . .</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">•The time to traverse town with super-running is deemed insufficient to arrive at the scene, with reference to distance and actions at the scene, such that the villain's bomb does blow up the city. (The rules for DC Heroes specifically dictate that this be the appropriate way to GM such a scene).</p><p></p><p>This is not what Li Shenron said, however.</p><p></p><p>You can frame the PCs into the encounter with the assassins at the castle without having a predetermined plot - the plot will depend on who wins the battle, and that is not predetermined (assuming you're using standard D&D rules).</p><p></p><p>The more relevant issue is what to do with the fact that the PCs have only a limited time to get there: how can that be turned into an issue of action resolution rather than GM fiat? The best way I know of to handle that is to call for Riding/Endurance type checks (in 4e this would be a skill challenge) - on a failure, the PC loses some narratively appropriate resource (hit points, healing potion, whatever) before arriving at the castle.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 6291800, member: 42582"] Ron Edwards has a very interesting discussion of the management of ingame time in some of [url=http://www.indie-rpgs.com/articles/15/]his[/url] [url=http://www.indie-rpgs.com/articles/3/]essays[/url]: [indent] I'll discuss two elements of Resolution which are rarely recognized: the treatment of in-game time and space. These are a big deal in Simulationist play as universal and consistent constraints, which must apply equally to any part of the imagined universe, at any point during play. To talk about this, let's break the issue down a little: [indent]•In-game time occurs regarding the actually-played imaginary moments and events. It's best expressed by combat mechanics, which in Simulationist play are often extremely well-defined in terms of seconds and actions, but also by movement rates at various scales, starship travel times, and similar things. •Metagame time is rarely discussed openly, but it's the crucial one. It refers to time-lapse among really-played scenes: can someone get to the castle before someone else kills the king; can someone fly across Detroit before someone else detonates the Mind Bomb. Metagame time isn't "played," but its management is a central issue for scene-framing and the outcome of the session as a whole. •Real time is, of course, the real time of play as experienced by the people at the table. I think comparing between its flow and that of the in-game time is a crucial issue as well - when is a huge hunk of real time necessary to establish a teeny bit of in-game time, and vice versa? [/indent] [T]he Simulationist view of in-game time [is as] a causal constraint on the other sorts. One can even find, in many early game texts, rules that enforce how in-game time acts on real time, and vice versa. However, most importantly, it constrains metagame time. It works in-to-out. In-game time at the fine-grained level (rounds, seconds, actions, movement rates) sets incontrovertible, foundation material for making judgments about hours, days, cross-town movement, and who gets where in what order. I recommend anyone who's interested to the text of DC Heroes for some of the most explicit text available on this issue throughout the book. *** Concrete examples [of] Simulationism over-riding Narrativism . . . •The time to traverse town with super-running is deemed insufficient to arrive at the scene, with reference to distance and actions at the scene, such that the villain's bomb does blow up the city. (The rules for DC Heroes specifically dictate that this be the appropriate way to GM such a scene).[/indent] This is not what Li Shenron said, however. You can frame the PCs into the encounter with the assassins at the castle without having a predetermined plot - the plot will depend on who wins the battle, and that is not predetermined (assuming you're using standard D&D rules). The more relevant issue is what to do with the fact that the PCs have only a limited time to get there: how can that be turned into an issue of action resolution rather than GM fiat? The best way I know of to handle that is to call for Riding/Endurance type checks (in 4e this would be a skill challenge) - on a failure, the PC loses some narratively appropriate resource (hit points, healing potion, whatever) before arriving at the castle. [/QUOTE]
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