What is a "Narrative Mechanic"?

[doctorbadwolf]

I think that one problem is that mechanics are often labeled "narrative mechanics" not by fans of such mechanics but, rather, by detractors of story or narrative games as a quick and easy way to identify mechanics they don't like. So the metric of what can make something a "narrative mechanic" sometimes reads as criteria with a low bar:

Where is this commonplace enough to occur “often”?

Any mechanic that moves the nexus of causality away from an action taken by the player's character.

I don't think it's generally helpful to treat this as a binary though, there's clearly a spectrum at play that differentiates "I spend a Willpower token from that earlier mishap for a +4 bonus" and "I use 'find an edge' to locate a rope to swing across the pit."

That works.

In the game I’m building, the core mechanics are distinct action resolution mechanics, ie declared singular action is tested using a dice roll and then adjudicated, and resource pools allow you to gain benefits across that differentiation. That is, you can spend to bump a failed check to a success, or you can spend and cite a character feature to establish soemthing that already happened that gives you an edge or make the situation different from what it seemed a moment ago.

 

[hawkeyefan]

BIFTs are not an intrinsic part of the game, and have been dropped since 2021.

But it’s a rule we can discuss, right? It’d probably be best to discuss actual examples which we already understand instead of everyone trying to define the term while trying to dance around jargon.

So would you consider Inspiration as it appeared in the 2014 PHB to be a narrative mechanic? If so, why? If not, why not?

 

[UngainlyTitan]

But inspiration is awarded for playing according to BIFTs, which are a part of the character. So it’s not entirely separate of the narrative. It’s about reinforcing the character… which I would say is essential to the narrative.

In theory, it is pretty nebulous and table dependent, a good mechanic should be clear on when it is used and they are in the DM gift, in my mind to be really useful the player should know what to do to reliably obtain them.
Once awarded they are pure metagame.

 

[hawkeyefan]

I’d go as far as saying Advantage/Disadvantage is a narrative mechanic and Inspiration points are a way of triggering advantage

That’s interesting. What would make you classify advantage/disadvantage as narrative?

 

[UngainlyTitan]

That’s interesting. What would make you classify advantage/disadvantage as narrative?

I am not sure the phrase "Advantage/Disadvantage as narrative" makes sense in D&D as the narrative is established after resolution.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Well, that would be how you GET inspiration. But how you use it is essentially as a metagame currency to affect a future die roll. So whether or not it's a narrative mechanic, ie a mechanic that affects the narrative, depends on whether you consider that kind of metagame currency a narrative mechanic or not. I generally do in the sense that it's not a resource the PC can choose to use, it's one for the player to give more weight to a particular check for their (admittedly relatively short focus) goals.

The fact that using Inspiration has nothing to do with how you get it (ie, there's no connection between the two) definitely makes it more of a narrative mechanic.

 

[The-Magic-Sword]

I'd think of the contrast between Narrative Mechanics and.... Simulative Mechanics? that don't qualify as broadly being the difference between Doylist and Watsonian explanations in fiction, but as applied to cause and effect via game systems.

This also works well in terms of why they're controversial for some people I think.

 

[Tonguez]

That’s interesting. What would make you classify advantage/disadvantage as narrative?

the advantage system allows players (and DM) to describe tactical actions without worrying about specific bonuses or ‘rules’, instead they can just have characters Do and the world responds accordingly.
Even the roll itself by defining two possible outcomes creates a space where narrative can be inserted if the DM/player wants (this is especially so with disdvantage if one roll succeeds and the other fails. Its not raw but it does satisfy conditions for Fail forward or succeed at a cost )

 

[Parmandur]

But it’s a rule we can discuss, right? It’d probably be best to discuss actual examples which we already understand instead of everyone trying to define the term while trying to dance around jargon.

So would you consider Inspiration as it appeared in the 2014 PHB to be a narrative mechanic? If so, why? If not, why not?

Inspiration is a mechanic in the game, I meant, BIFTs never were: those are just RP suggestions. The mechanic is just DMte ognition of good roleplaying .

It's a light narrative mechanic, sure.

 

[Fenris-77]

The easiest definition I've come across is that a narrative mechanic is anything that works on or towards results that couldn't stem from something your character could do 'in character'. That casts a pretty wide net, but I'm also not using it pejoratively. That could probably stand to be reduced into a couple of sub-categories I think.