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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Manbearcat" data-source="post: 8547667" data-attributes="member: 6696971">ON SKILLED PLAY, TORCHBEARER, BLADES IN THE DARK, AND DUNGEON WORLDAlright, some thoughts on each of these.  First, I'm going to rate each of them on a 1-10 in terms of Skilled Play and then I'm going to discuss the nature and magnitude (in terms of impact upon play's trajectory) of each of these ratings.Torchbearer - 10Quite simply, it is the most demanding game (in terms of Skilled Play) that I've ever GMed.  I can't imagine a game being more demanding than this.Players must manage a huge suite of cognitive overhead including:* building characters as not only expressions of thematic archetype but also with a deft eye upon synergistic Skill breadth and then the downstream deft deployment of Help on tests, for disposition in varying Conflicts, and for Conflict actions* all the various facets of the Inventory system (loading out proficiently and efficiently, managing the decisions about when to deploy each item, making room efficiently to bring treasure back, making decisions about what to bring back)* Cohort/Help management in Journey, Camp, and Adventure phases* deftly using your Persona and Fate points* managing your Traits effectively each session in order to both (a) power up your dice pools and (b) having them work against you in order to earn Checks to power Camp tests* leveraging your Nature and Wises effectively (and this, like everything else, is multivariate)* managing the map/route well, Roles, and each Leg of the Journey phase's various decision-points effectively to reduce their impact on your resources/capability in the coming Adventure phase* being efficient and effective in the Adventuring phase in terms of both Turn and Light management (thereby reducing the impact of The Grind upon play, the attrition of precious resources overall, and staving off the debilitating effects of Condition accrual and Darkness)* being effective in Obstacle management in the Adventure phase (this includes carefully navigating decision-points to identify what you want to engage with and what you want to avoid - this includes many different parameters from spatial to temporal to short/longterm resources to relative potency to cost/benefit, marshalling the dizzying array of resources the group can call upon to optimize dice pools to best handle tests and vs)* effectively deciding on Conflict types, Conflict Captains, and teasing out the likely action script of the enemy and deploying your own action script deftly in response (to achieve win con and reduce disposition loss when you get there)* when to use Beginner's Luck to work toward Skill Acquisition* managing the abundant decision-space around Camp phase (spend a Turn in Adventure phase to find a good spot w/ amenities or take what you can get, Light or Dark camp, Setting Watch and whom, managing Checks across the collective to recover and loadout/repair kit, averting calamity decisions if it hits)* managing the abundant decision-space around Town (assessing the group's conditions and equipment status + sorting out loot, sorting out accommodations, effectively "market-ing", leveraging your array of social resources to best effect when recovering and conducting personal business and engaging with the available Town facilities and workshops, triangulating on your next Adventure, managing Twist trouble when it invariably strikes, acquiring Cohorts/Help or managing them)* managing the significant array of thematic triggers for Fate and Persona; setting a Goal and working toward it, acting on your Belief, allies benefiting from your Instinct, injecting a grim moment of Gallows Humor, struggling with your Belief and acting against it, accomplishing your Goal, a costly moment where they either stand up for their Creed or struggle with it, the player with the play of the session (MVP), the player who sacrificed their well being or goals for their mates or worked hardest to keep the group together (Teamworker).Blades in the Dark - 8.75Next to Torchbearer, it is the most demanding game that I've ever GMed.Dungeon World - 6.75 Well north of average in terms of the demands of Skilled Play, but well below the above two games.[HR][/HR]Good lord.  That took me a good while just to do Torchbearer.  Torchbearer is pretty staggering in terms of the intricacy and totality of tactical, strategic, and thematic agency, overhead, and demandingness.  The total number of variables to weigh and manage under a lot of duress is extreme.  Blades is up there in terms of total number of variables and duress, but its a step back in each of those.  HOWEVER, fictional positioning management in both Blades and Dungeon World is extreme (an area where both games edge out Torchbearer...Torchbearer's fictional positioning management is significant, but its certainly below both of those two games by a fair margin and a lot of that rests upon the significant capability of Blades and DW PCs).I'm out of time.  I'll come back and update this tomorrow with the other two games.</blockquote>

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