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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Psion" data-source="post: 2282729" data-attributes="member: 172">Okay, in an earlier post you alluded to the idea that rules light games can be "more consistent" by virtue of using a more simlpe mechanic across the board. Though that's not what I was meaning by "consistent", I was compelled to agree that your results would be more "consistent". But the loss of detail is likely to be less satisfying at some level. Which is why I brought up the "flip a coin" thing.And you attack me for "not considering alternatives." I brought it up precisely because I was ceding you a point, and I get bashed for it.You'll note I didn't invoke the term reality... which was purposeful, I assure you.I was thinking of it in terms of "detail of model." Sort of like a high fidelity recording captures subtle details of a song. I am speaking in terms of correspondance of the game model to the world which it hopes to represent, not the real world. For example, presumably, in Greyhawk or the Forgotten Realms, people bleed, lose limbs, etc., but the system does not model this. So in that matter, it lacks some fidelity.At any rate, if I only use a single coin flip to represent all conflicts, that is a very low fidelity game model, but very good consistency. Having a chance based on character skill but only representing three areas of capability, is still fairly low fidelity, but better.A system which allows for different representations of character skill and different difficulties is higher fidelity still. If those modifications are codified, it is more likely that the same circumstance will be applied consistently between different games, or between the same GM in different times, which gives the game consistency. These codifications are a form of rule.So, as I see it, there are a couple things that create rules - codifications that provide consistency, and categorizations which provide fidelity. To strive for a more rules light game, you can remove either categorization details or codification details. Some rules cover both to some extent, and some are minutia that really don't perform either function.That's entirely a matter of perspective. What is irrelevant to you may well be relevant to me or my players. The games characteristics are, in fact, affected when you remove rules. That it did not rob it of qualities that concern you does not mean that they weren't altered.I guess we are going to have to agree to disagree on this point, but it still stuns me that you can't see it (but I guess it shouldn't, because we've had this argument before.) Barring a GM who is more superhuman than any I have ever run under, more reliance on GM ajudication = more inconsistancy (given the caveat that you want a reasonable degree of fidelity). Period. That does not mean I think GM ajudication is bad; even the heaviest of games could not cover all bases without it.</blockquote>

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