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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 9196877" data-attributes="member: 42582">Vincent Baker posted this blog nearly 14 years ago, but I don't think I've seen much discussion of it on ENworld: <a href="http://lumpley.com/index.php/anyway/thread/497" target="_blank">anyway: Things on Character Sheets (2)</a>The core ideas are this:*A character sheet will set out different aspects of a character - position (who am I? who am I related to? what is my motivation? etc); effectiveness (how well do I do the things I do? - in Vincent's example, this is how well the enforcer he is imaging can impose is will, and withstand pain); and resources that can be drawn on to stay active (fatigue or wound levels; adrenaline or hit points, etc). *RPG design involves making choices about how these different elements of the character in the game rules relate to the fictional character - eg which details are emphasised and which elided? which things are quantified, and which left qualitative? *RPG design also involves establishing how position, effectiveness and resources are related - Vincent's gives some examples, like What's the relationship between I'm afraid (position) and Adrenaline expenditure (resources)? Or, If I've got Blood Loss (resources), does that affect my Will to Action (effectiveness)? These relationships, he calls "currency". Currency can be formal and mechanical, or can be informal but nevertheless an established part of the process of play. *And finally - "crucially", says Vincent - there is the design questions about whether the game's currency and, how this relates to both fictional and real world dynamics, says what it is meant to say. To quote: This is where you make sure that your game's design supports fiction that is compelling and convincing.In comment 16, Vincent says that how to relate the fictional and the mechanical, other than just telling participants to "narrate stuff properly", is one of the ongoing and outstanding crises in rpg design. In comment 18, he makes this related remark:In play . . . your rules impose a structured causality upon your game's fiction. If they were a good match in design, then in play the game works the way you meant it to. If they were a bad match in design, then in play the game doesn't work how you intended. Bold barbarian warriors maximize their armor and when they go into battle it's a matter of grinding ablation, not decisive action; your grim & gritty noir detective has to carry an assault rifle because a .38 won't kill a dude; the team of morning-cartoon superheroes bicker, bean-count their resources, and wind up working for the highest bidder.I think this is all pretty insightful stuff.</blockquote>

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