Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ovinomancer" data-source="post: 8295641" data-attributes="member: 16814">I'm not clear on what you mean by "skillful play" so I'm not going to agree or disagree.  I don't really follow your second para, here, in that I'm not sure where you think there's a problem or issue -- what you're saying here does make it clear to me what you think is in opposition.Skilled play is simply leveraging the system to achieve the player's goals.  Leveraging the system definitely includes utilizing player resources, and those are often on the character sheet, so....  The player's goals are synonymous with win conditions.  Sometimes these are obvious in the game being played -- like, say, B/X, where the win condition is clearly to survive the dungeon while maximizing treasure acquisition.  In other games, the win condition is less obvious from the system, and/or rotates or is achieved and replaced on shorter timescales.  What's in direct contest with skilled play is Force.  This is another term that originated with the Forge, but is one that I find extraordinarily useful in terms of describing play.  Simply, GM Force is when the GM uses their position to force an outcome.  Railroading is a continued and intentional use of Force.  Not all Force is bad, however -- trad play and neo-trad play both require the use of Force.  The point here is that if the GM is deploying Force, they are pushing a specific outcome, and so no amount of skilled play to achieve a different (or even that outcome) really matters -- the GM will Force the necessary outcomes.Again, Force is a legitimate tool in the toolbox for GMs.  Like all tools, overuse risks degenerate or unfun play (eg, a hard railroad when the players don't want that), but it's not bad in and of itself.  It is a tool that some really enjoy and some really dislike, but there's nothing inherently bad about Force.  It does stand in opposition to Skilled Play, and recognizing this can help GMs and players achieve their play goals.</blockquote>

Verification