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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Breaking Star Games" data-source="post: 9338378" data-attributes="member: 7042067">I think its fair to split G and RP. Although all games (whether that is a boardgame, videogame, sport, or TTRPG) has the player take on certain specific agencies, TTRPGs have a much more complex agency - you are (usually) roleplaying an entire person. So, while playing Catan, resource management, negotiation and strategy are the focus. Games: Agency As Art by C. Thi Nguyen is a great read on how these games teach you ways of being where you may never have experienced. Funny enough the book steers away from discussing TTRPGs because of the complexity where you have these two different categories of games meshing together.Freeform Roleplaying/Make Believe function quite differently in their agency from Catan, even if they can feel similar as we are still taking on agencies. Roleplaying agency is very open without nearly as much structure. And you are taking on a much more complex dynamic when you roleplay a person. Where Catan has a sharper focus on victory (though the book goes into more how you may take it easy on someone who is a noob to have more fun and that is a second agency you may switch to). Roleplaying definitely has a greater objective towards creating this shared fictional space.There is an interesting interview how a TTRPG breaks if you cheat but that ruins the fun in a normal game sense. Or being a spoilsport (like a rules lawyer) ruins the fun destroying the shared fictional space aspect.For me personally, I really like that mesh of both because they work together very well. But when the game gets more complex and mechanics stop reflecting the fiction, that bothers me the most. Many complex tactical combat systems have this happen. But also where the game tells you that you should roleplay one way without any rules - I feel like I am just doing improv theater. I am not a huge fan of YA/Teen Drama, but I think Masks does a great job on this with mechanics that reinforce the genre - Conditions is just perfect for me.</blockquote>

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