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<blockquote data-quote="clearstream" data-source="post: 8301849" data-attributes="member: 71699"><p>I found something articulated in WWN that for me connected with the discussion at hand.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>If one is with Kevin Crawford (and it is a style of play I enjoy) then I believe one must include in one's skill-construct non-mechanical DM and player decisions and actions. For how does one "<em>change the terms of the situation</em>" if one is not to "<em>look for the powers your PC has that might resolve the obstacle</em>"? Only through extra-mechanical conversation. If written down game mechanics that the PC may use cannot resolve the obstacle, because the solution must be down to creativity, then we are going to have to step outside what the rules force to happen if they are followed.</p><p></p><p>No matter how small that step is, it is in character different from rolling a die, seeing 5 and applying 5. If Kevin Crawford is right in seeing this style of play as challenging and skillful, then it must be that making non-mechanical decisions and actions - from small to large - can be skillful. It must be that a DM applies skill when they choose one target over another for Slay Living, and that players can be skillful when they respond to that choice. Or take [USER=6696971]@Manbearcat[/USER]'s example of play given above. The player character makes a remarkable move that the DM set up by having a wand bounce down a shaft, rather than say melting into useless slag. The result "<em>was (a) extraordinary skillful play</em>".</p><p></p><p>One way to resist this might be to conflate the result of die rolls and direct implementation of mechanics (e.g. mechanic says X foes of player choice gain stunned condition, player chooses X foes, they gain exactly stunned condition and nothing further) with choices with no firm definition - drawn from the vast library of human imagination - where we can truthfully say that another DM, or even the same DM on a different night, would have decided differently.</p><p></p><p>This to me is one of the wonderful pillars of RPG, that we may use pre-agreed (we wrote them down beforehand) mechanics to order and inspire creative decisions. To give players sanctuary in their powers of fiat (i.e. using what is written on their character sheet) while also allowing them to try whatever they like (even things we didn't write down beforehand) and to be surprised by their DM (or one another) trying whatever they liked.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="clearstream, post: 8301849, member: 71699"] I found something articulated in WWN that for me connected with the discussion at hand. If one is with Kevin Crawford (and it is a style of play I enjoy) then I believe one must include in one's skill-construct non-mechanical DM and player decisions and actions. For how does one "[I]change the terms of the situation[/I]" if one is not to "[I]look for the powers your PC has that might resolve the obstacle[/I]"? Only through extra-mechanical conversation. If written down game mechanics that the PC may use cannot resolve the obstacle, because the solution must be down to creativity, then we are going to have to step outside what the rules force to happen if they are followed. No matter how small that step is, it is in character different from rolling a die, seeing 5 and applying 5. If Kevin Crawford is right in seeing this style of play as challenging and skillful, then it must be that making non-mechanical decisions and actions - from small to large - can be skillful. It must be that a DM applies skill when they choose one target over another for Slay Living, and that players can be skillful when they respond to that choice. Or take [USER=6696971]@Manbearcat[/USER]'s example of play given above. The player character makes a remarkable move that the DM set up by having a wand bounce down a shaft, rather than say melting into useless slag. The result "[I]was (a) extraordinary skillful play[/I]". One way to resist this might be to conflate the result of die rolls and direct implementation of mechanics (e.g. mechanic says X foes of player choice gain stunned condition, player chooses X foes, they gain exactly stunned condition and nothing further) with choices with no firm definition - drawn from the vast library of human imagination - where we can truthfully say that another DM, or even the same DM on a different night, would have decided differently. This to me is one of the wonderful pillars of RPG, that we may use pre-agreed (we wrote them down beforehand) mechanics to order and inspire creative decisions. To give players sanctuary in their powers of fiat (i.e. using what is written on their character sheet) while also allowing them to try whatever they like (even things we didn't write down beforehand) and to be surprised by their DM (or one another) trying whatever they liked. [/QUOTE]
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