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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Composer99" data-source="post: 9244616" data-attributes="member: 7030042">IMO taking a word that at this time has no antonymic denotations and using it to mean the precise opposite of its usual meanings is guaranteed to lead to absurd results. If "a lack of support" for a thing is the same as "supporting" a thing, then I guess Tetris "supports" roleplaying.Expanding on [USER=5142]@Aldarc[/USER], here's an example:Dread has no detailed rules for intricate tactical combat, at all. By [USER=6790260]@EzekielRaiden[/USER]'s argument, that means that Dread does not support intricate tactical combat. D&D, which does have detailed rules for intricate tactical combat, therefore does support intricate tactical combat, to some lesser or greater extent depending on edition. (I mean, even OD&D and B/X are far more detailed than Dread!)If we take [USER=6795602]@FrogReaver[/USER]'s argument at face value, Dread does support intricate tactical combat by "getting out of the way" and giving people the "freedom to decide how to handle these elements". To my mind that is as nonsensical as saying that Tetris supports roleplaying.To my mind, it's pretty obvious that, as a result of its support for intricate tactical combat, D&D is superior to Dread if one of your gameplay experience goals is to engage in intricate tactical combat.To my mind, you literally cannot play D&D without adopting a fictional persona and then making decisions on behalf of that persona as they navigate the in-game fiction, however minimally you do so. That is, D&D must be a roleplaying game, at least by my reckoning of what a roleplaying game is.This does not mean, however, that D&D actually supports roleplaying-as-gameplay. What mechanics are there to treat the persona you have adopted as distinct from yourself? What mechanics are there to encourage or oblige you to make decisions consistent with the traits or characteristics ascribed to this persona? I think the practical experience of inspiration and traits, ideals, bonds, and flaws shows that such support is just shy of non-existent, much in the same way that the vestigial encumbrance rules and equipment lists show how D&D's support for robust survival gameplay is also just shy of non-existent.By contrast, D&D has plentiful mechanics that encourage or oblige players to accept the results of tactical combat. A player character who is reduced to 0 hit points and collects three death saving throw failures? That character is dead unless and until other mechanics can be invoked to restore them to life. A player character in combat is subject to the bounds of action economy. I am sure other examples could be given.To be sure, I don't think there's anything wrong with preferring D&D's lack of support for roleplaying! But I do think it's an error to try to characterise such a lack as "support", for reasons elucidated above.</blockquote>

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