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Skill challenges: action resolution that centres the fiction
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<blockquote data-quote="clearstream" data-source="post: 8737271" data-attributes="member: 71699"><p>I can clarify my meaning here. When I say "always oriented toward unraveling and discovering" I don't mean anything beyond those words, and I do mean what is contained in those words. First, I don't mean that the GM is doing nothing but unraveling and discovering: they are doing those things, and other things at the same time, or interleaved. Secondly, I mean both words fairly literally.</p><p></p><p>What does a GM always discover?</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">What players say</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">What the say in response to what players say, that they would not have said otherwise</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">What the dice say (the outcomes of any random processes in the game)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">What happens, were it not for what the players said, they said, and the dice said</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">What we hold true now over and above what we held true prior to those sort of events</li> </ul><p>Nothing about being moored to something you know necessarily gets in the way of the above discovering. What might GM unravel? I mean unravel in the following (actually quite literal) senses</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Untangling, e.g. when helping the group say who is doing what / is capable of what</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Straightening out, e.g. when properly applying the game text</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Clearing up, e.g. helping the group get clearer on how things stand in their game (fiction + system)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Resolving, e.g. guiding the group to use the mechanics, and helping interpret / narrate the results</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Working out, e.g. helping understand puzzling elements, and their implications for play</li> </ul><p>Again, I think nothing about being moored to something you know gets in the way of the above.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I think - and please correct me if I am mistaken - that when you write "arbitrary GM-fiat" you mean in the case where it is <strong>not</strong> constrained by system or principles. Where that trips me up is that when I think about the similar practice, I am in fact assuming the case where it is constrained. Something I probably see differently from others is that I count an agent as having "fiat" even if they exercise it within boundaries, provided that <em>within </em>those boundaries they are unconstrained. Anyway, it turns out we're not applying the term to the the same behaviour or practice.</p><p></p><p>I also get tripped up on phrases like "necessarily harmful to play", but I think that can be easily untangled. As you know, I see freeform play as holding high virtue - fast-flowing, intensely engaging, highly responsive to player choices. Therefore I'm backed into a corner if one is going to say that...</p><p></p><p></p><p>Fortunately, that's not all you say!</p><p></p><p></p><p>This I can get onboard with. Some "games and techniques" - indeed yes! Some very fruitful and enjoyable games and techniques, well worth playing. If that is the "play" we're saying is harmed, then okay!</p><p></p><p></p><p>Would you agree that there are unfruitful limits in both directions. I feel like overly-constraining play can be harmful to it, just as much as going so far freeform that there is no purchase for players in the fiction.</p><p></p><p></p><p>To sum up, I think my argument in the first bullet does no harm to the matrix. Really, the matrix requires and produces very much the discovering and unravelling that I am picturing. The second bullet then seems like a case of meaning different things by the same term, with probably a touch of reflex on my side born out of my love of freeform RPG.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="clearstream, post: 8737271, member: 71699"] I can clarify my meaning here. When I say "always oriented toward unraveling and discovering" I don't mean anything beyond those words, and I do mean what is contained in those words. First, I don't mean that the GM is doing nothing but unraveling and discovering: they are doing those things, and other things at the same time, or interleaved. Secondly, I mean both words fairly literally. What does a GM always discover? [LIST] [*]What players say [*]What the say in response to what players say, that they would not have said otherwise [*]What the dice say (the outcomes of any random processes in the game) [*]What happens, were it not for what the players said, they said, and the dice said [*]What we hold true now over and above what we held true prior to those sort of events [/LIST] Nothing about being moored to something you know necessarily gets in the way of the above discovering. What might GM unravel? I mean unravel in the following (actually quite literal) senses [LIST] [*]Untangling, e.g. when helping the group say who is doing what / is capable of what [*]Straightening out, e.g. when properly applying the game text [*]Clearing up, e.g. helping the group get clearer on how things stand in their game (fiction + system) [*]Resolving, e.g. guiding the group to use the mechanics, and helping interpret / narrate the results [*]Working out, e.g. helping understand puzzling elements, and their implications for play [/LIST] Again, I think nothing about being moored to something you know gets in the way of the above. I think - and please correct me if I am mistaken - that when you write "arbitrary GM-fiat" you mean in the case where it is [B]not[/B] constrained by system or principles. Where that trips me up is that when I think about the similar practice, I am in fact assuming the case where it is constrained. Something I probably see differently from others is that I count an agent as having "fiat" even if they exercise it within boundaries, provided that [I]within [/I]those boundaries they are unconstrained. Anyway, it turns out we're not applying the term to the the same behaviour or practice. I also get tripped up on phrases like "necessarily harmful to play", but I think that can be easily untangled. As you know, I see freeform play as holding high virtue - fast-flowing, intensely engaging, highly responsive to player choices. Therefore I'm backed into a corner if one is going to say that... Fortunately, that's not all you say! This I can get onboard with. Some "games and techniques" - indeed yes! Some very fruitful and enjoyable games and techniques, well worth playing. If that is the "play" we're saying is harmed, then okay! Would you agree that there are unfruitful limits in both directions. I feel like overly-constraining play can be harmful to it, just as much as going so far freeform that there is no purchase for players in the fiction. To sum up, I think my argument in the first bullet does no harm to the matrix. Really, the matrix requires and produces very much the discovering and unravelling that I am picturing. The second bullet then seems like a case of meaning different things by the same term, with probably a touch of reflex on my side born out of my love of freeform RPG. [/QUOTE]
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