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General Tabletop Discussion
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The Origins of ‘Rule Zero’
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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 8176332" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>That strongly suggests that you play games like D&D (other than 4e), GURPS, HERO, Rolemaster, perhaps RuneQuest. And that you don't play games like Burning Wheel, any PbtA system, any Cortex+ system, HeroWars/Quest, Over the Edge, etc. etc.</p><p></p><p>Some of the systems in the former category are pretty simple (eg Moldvay Basic). Some of the systems in the latter category are pretty complex (eg Burning Wheel, 4e D&D. What differentiates them, besides - I am conjecturing - your preferences, is that the first category are "rules first", with the fiction being read off the rules at every point, and that the latter category are "fiction first", in the sense that the mechanical processes of the game take the fiction itself, and not just a mechanical expression of the fiction, as input.</p><p></p><p>Systems of that latter sort don't have any need for "rule zero" as a method of adjudication. They may be houseruled or "kit bashed" from time to time (some actively encourage such an approach, eg HeroQuest revised, Over the Edge, recent Cortex+ publications) but no one needs a game to state a rule in order to be permitted to alter its rules.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 8176332, member: 42582"] That strongly suggests that you play games like D&D (other than 4e), GURPS, HERO, Rolemaster, perhaps RuneQuest. And that you don't play games like Burning Wheel, any PbtA system, any Cortex+ system, HeroWars/Quest, Over the Edge, etc. etc. Some of the systems in the former category are pretty simple (eg Moldvay Basic). Some of the systems in the latter category are pretty complex (eg Burning Wheel, 4e D&D. What differentiates them, besides - I am conjecturing - your preferences, is that the first category are "rules first", with the fiction being read off the rules at every point, and that the latter category are "fiction first", in the sense that the mechanical processes of the game take the fiction itself, and not just a mechanical expression of the fiction, as input. Systems of that latter sort don't have any need for "rule zero" as a method of adjudication. They may be houseruled or "kit bashed" from time to time (some actively encourage such an approach, eg HeroQuest revised, Over the Edge, recent Cortex+ publications) but no one needs a game to state a rule in order to be permitted to alter its rules. [/QUOTE]
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