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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 8308783" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>I think we're agreed re DW.</p><p></p><p>I don't think that classic D&D is different, at the structural level. By reducing the fiction to certain stereotypes and clear tropes, while the decision space remains infinite in a strict sense, it becomes far more tractable. (I think maybe you agree with this point?)</p><p></p><p>Extrapolating <em>what happens if I throw a rock at the statue</em> is much less challenging than extrapolating <em>what happens if I offer the guard a bribe</em>. Particular if some of the things that happen - eg a small chip to the statue, a puff of dust at the moment of impact - are things we don't care about. We know the impact will make a noise; we can guess based on prior facts about the rock and the statue whether it might fall over (and deciding that via a coin toss or similar probably won't be controversial) and while there are literally infinitely many ways it might fall over (assuming space is infinitely divisible for these purposes) it doesn't matter. It might matter whether or not it bumps the wall as it falls, but that can probably be worked out by measuring things on a map.</p><p></p><p>Whether one wishes to call this sort of constrained extrapolation "fiat" or not doesn't bother me. I think what's key, in the context of RPGing, is that is far more amenable to player knowledge in advance (at least as far as the key things are concerned); the players can ask questions in advance which the GM will probably answer (like "If it falls will it hit the wall?"); and all this is driven by the fact that - within certain parameters of approximation - there is a definite physical state of affairs that can be extrapolated in fairly predictable ways.</p><p></p><p><em>What happens if I shoot the guard with my SMG? </em>lives in much the same space - unless the guard is a cyborg or superhero you probably kill him/her. Whereas <em>what happens if I offer the guard a bribe </em>is not like that. (And here I let [USER=82106]@AbdulAlhazred[/USER]'s post upthread take over.)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 8308783, member: 42582"] I think we're agreed re DW. I don't think that classic D&D is different, at the structural level. By reducing the fiction to certain stereotypes and clear tropes, while the decision space remains infinite in a strict sense, it becomes far more tractable. (I think maybe you agree with this point?) Extrapolating [I]what happens if I throw a rock at the statue[/I] is much less challenging than extrapolating [I]what happens if I offer the guard a bribe[/I]. Particular if some of the things that happen - eg a small chip to the statue, a puff of dust at the moment of impact - are things we don't care about. We know the impact will make a noise; we can guess based on prior facts about the rock and the statue whether it might fall over (and deciding that via a coin toss or similar probably won't be controversial) and while there are literally infinitely many ways it might fall over (assuming space is infinitely divisible for these purposes) it doesn't matter. It might matter whether or not it bumps the wall as it falls, but that can probably be worked out by measuring things on a map. Whether one wishes to call this sort of constrained extrapolation "fiat" or not doesn't bother me. I think what's key, in the context of RPGing, is that is far more amenable to player knowledge in advance (at least as far as the key things are concerned); the players can ask questions in advance which the GM will probably answer (like "If it falls will it hit the wall?"); and all this is driven by the fact that - within certain parameters of approximation - there is a definite physical state of affairs that can be extrapolated in fairly predictable ways. [I]What happens if I shoot the guard with my SMG? [/I]lives in much the same space - unless the guard is a cyborg or superhero you probably kill him/her. Whereas [I]what happens if I offer the guard a bribe [/I]is not like that. (And here I let [USER=82106]@AbdulAlhazred[/USER]'s post upthread take over.) [/QUOTE]
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