The whole point of such an inventory system is so that the player doesn't have to engage with it in the game world. The game world totally skips the inventory part so that the player can simply declare post hoc what was brought.
I would argue that’s not the entire point. I believe that is part of the reason for it… it fits with the “get to the action” ideology of Blades. But it is also about creating decision points during play. Not before play, but during play. Players are not allowed to declare anything they want… they work off a set list, and they’re limited to a certain number of inventory slots.
Inventory in Blades comes up so much more frequently than it does in most other games I’ve played. So the idea that the player doesn’t have to engage with it is clearly false. You have to engage with it every session.
I think you take adiegetic to mean there is no part of the mechanic that ever feeds back into the game world - but that's simply not how I and others are using it. In fact, if that was the definition then there's no adiegetic mechanics at all, ever.
Diegetic (somewhat ironically, in this case) means “part of the narrative”, or for RPGs, part of the game world. Loadout and item selection is part of the game world.
There are indeed nondiegetic game mechanics… I already provided an example from Blades: the Devil’s Bargain. I’d say that Inspiration from 5e is likely another. Hero points and other bennies with no in game relation… there are likely very many we could list.
At least we agree on the similarity. The whole point of a flashback mechanic is so that the player doesn't have to engage with the game world to actually preplan something. They simple declare it, spend some stress and they are awarded with the chance to play through a cut scene to get the effect they want.
I meant it was similar to the loadout/gear system in that it’s all related to the character. The Flashback mechanic is there to represent the scoundrel’s ability, experience, knowledge, and luck. It represents the character’s ability to know what he’ll need.
Most games are more about testing the players. Making sure the players have chosen what the character will need. Did they write it all on their character sheet ahead of time.
I mean, looking at it that way, it seems odd to call character ability nondiegetic and player ability diegetic. It seems quite the opposite.
Yes it is, but so what? Just because stress exists in the game world doesn't mean doing a flashback costing 2 stress is something that also exists in the game world.
No, the flashback is just when we learn of the events. But otherwise the events of a flashback work just like they would in any other game. The player declares an action for the character, and then we use the rules to determine how it goes, with the GM narrating results. The situation took some effort on the part of the character, which is represented by stress.
Nothing that’s happening in the fiction for the characters is anything they couldn’t do. In the game, we’re simply not adhering to strict chronology. The breach in chronology is entirely nondiegetic.
To say it more generally - Pointing out diegetic aspects doesn't mean there are no adiegetic aspects.
I don’t know if I agree with that. Yes the player calls for the flashback. But the character doesn’t experience it. They experience the events of the flashback. But this is no different than the many other ways that games establish details retroactively.
