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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Malmuria" data-source="post: 8415932" data-attributes="member: 7030755">Picking a lock<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">in 5e (a trad game), there's a procedure and mechanic as defined by the rulebook, available to all, that the DM follows with some discretion.  So a lock may be a DC 16 dexterity/theives tools check.  The player might not know the DC but knows that there is a target number that at least the DM knows.  The DM might not have prepared the DC ahead of time, but makes a decision on the spot or makes a decision after the dice have been rolled but pretends there was a target number all along (illusionism).  Similarly, in CoC there is a locksmith skill and locks of various difficulties, but as a player you can push your roll to try again if you fail.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">in BitD (a story game), a player could choose to roll tinker or finesse.  Based on the player's description, and what else is going on in the fiction, the GM decides position and effect.  The player assembles the dice pool, rolls, and the GM interprets the results and decides what complications there might be.  The player can choose to resist this complication.</li> </ul>I think an FKR perspective is to look at the above and notice, that for all the mechanics and rules involved in the above, you are basically rolling a die and interpreting the results.  We could even go through an exercise of looking at different games and evaluating their lock picking rules from a G-N-S perspective (which rules lead to fun and streamlined gameplay?  Which are most realistic? Which is most suitable for the kind of story we are collaboratively telling).  I'm not necessarily advocating for an FKR style--the reason to use a system is because it does the work of setting expectations of play.  That is, one player might want to describe exactly how they use a small mirror and a pair of pliers to disarm a trap, and another player might just want to roll using their skill, and a third might be approaching the scene in a cinematic way.  But I do think an exercise of streamlining and stripping away rules can get you to a core understanding of what it is you are actually interested in doing in a game, and that's worthwhile even if you add rules back in later.</blockquote>

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