The Hidden Rules

[ExploderWizard]

Lostsoul's and your post blend into each other for me. I answered his questions in the other thread. Can you post some short conclusions of your thoughts in the OP? I did not understand exactly what you were saying.

Boiled down to a short response, I guess the overall message would be that if the players of a particular game would like to do more thinking outside the box then a good beginning move would be not to bring a box to the game.

 

[howandwhy99]

Boiled down to a short response, I guess the overall message would be that if the players of a particular game would like to do more thinking outside the box then a good beginning move would be not to bring a box to the game.

Yeah, that's why I prefer RPGs and pretty much get bored out of my mind with computer simulation games.

But I still want bones behind the screen. I've played in both freeform GM'd games and games where the GM always followed the rules behind the screen. The two may not appear different to an outside observer, and we can blanket the term "story" over the whole confusing the issue, but I will take the second every single time I play.

 

[Hussar]

Pulling something from the OP that caught my eye.

A rules light system provides much less in the way of common assumptions for all. The mechanics cover only the most basic aspects of play with the remainder to be filled in by the DM depending on the feel of game that he/she is going for.

This is not the only definition of a rules light system. Rules light =/= Rules incomplete. A rules light system can be very comprehensive simply by applying a small number of mechanics to as broad as events as possible.

Many indie games take this approach, whether narrativist or not. One or two mechanics are applied to all actions. The only question really, is the determination of target numbers and which skills/attributes are applicable.

So, in a rules light system, you could have four or five stats and a single task resolution mechanic that is known to all players. Jumping out the window or trying to put out the fire (to use those examples) are not subject to DM's fiat at all, other than perhaps determining target numbers. The players know that if they jump out the window, it's going to be X stat and probably Y skill (maybe Body and Athletics - or some other synonym depending on the system) and putting out the fire might be a different set.

But, other than perhaps the target numbers (which should at the very least be approximated to the player before the attempt in order to allow the player to make an informed decision), there are no hidden rules at all.

 

[Ariosto]

The reason that laying out everything became a notable problem in the 1970s was that players still expected to encounter tricks and traps and puzzles; those challenges -- and even occasional enigmas -- were a big part of the game.

Remove that expectation, and remove the problem. "More of the same old same old? That's the way we like it!"