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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Andor" data-source="post: 4242340" data-attributes="member: 1879">You're over thinking this. There are elements of reality we can't perceive directly due to the limits of our senses. This does not make them some kind of Lovecraftian ultimate truth which would shatter our puny mortal minds if we could ever comprehend it. I keep seeing arguements like this made in favor of more abstract game systems and I've never for a single second understood them. When have you ever see someone decry a game system for not accurately allow me to track acetocholine levels in my characters brain? Or to instantly know the resonance frequency of his sword, or predict quantum tunneling events? Never? Correct! No one cares about that level of precision. It's a degree of minutia that almost never impinges on play, and if it did, anyone would be happy talking it out with his GM. However knowing that a "hit" does indeed mean physical contact is a level of knowledge some of us want about our game worlds. The "You really missed but the dodge tired him" explanation makes little sense in any of a dozen corner cases, and there is the small matter of the fact that the basis for the D&D armour system is that most misses make physical contact but the armour protects the target from harm. I don't think I buy that explanation for what RPG rules are. Very few RPGs actually concern themselves with the distribution of power outside of the the players get to narrate their characters, and the GM gets everything else. Even when it is mentioned it usually more along the lines of advice to GMs about how not to tick off players by telling them their character wet themselves in terror.On the contrary being able to predict future events from very limited amounts of data is exactly what most RPG rules do. Will Joe Hero be able to jump the chasm? Can Darth Fido mind control the guards? Will the Count grant Vanessas plea? These are exactly the sorts of things RPG rules cover, becuase these are the events for which a neutral resolution mechanic (I.E. dice) will prevent conflict between the GM and players.</blockquote>

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