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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Manbearcat" data-source="post: 8244435" data-attributes="member: 6696971">I'm going to try to succinctly unpack my TLDR above in a made up quantitative formula to demonstrate what I'm saying (the numbers aren't true...so don't get hung up on them...I REPEAT, DO NOT GET BOGGED DOWN IN THE MATH...just work with the concept):Deeply Protagonist Play favors PC build on the x axis and relatively mutes y axis power.[HR][/HR]GAME 1 (4 HOUR SESSION)* Player's character build choices and other system structures dictate that scenes framed/obstacles faced allow them to passively or actively dictate that the focus of decision-points and/or action resolution are on their Dramatic Needs at a 80 % rate.  This means that players have enormous facility in direct or indirect scene framing.  The overwhelming preponderance of scenes framed and obstacles faced are going to be deeply influenced (if not dictated by) player input.* 30 beefy (impactful with considerable downstream consequences) decision-points or moments of action resolution.  Therefore 24 of them will be Dramatic Need-attendant.* There is a continuous positive feedback loop/"snowballing effect" of action resolution, so each moment of action resolution has inherently higher stakes.* Due to the above formulation, there will be a considerably higher payoff for higher floor, breadth of competency, capability and less payoff for higher ceiling, apex PC capabilities, particularly those that let you to outright obviate obstacles or outright reframe scenes.[HR][/HR]GAME 2 (4 HOUR SESSION)* Player's PC build choices and other system structures which influence scenes framed/obstacles are (a) comparatively muted (with respect to Game 1) and (b) are disproportionately rationed throughout the PC build choices (eg 3 classes have relatively significant facility in scene framing/obstacle obviation when compared to the other 7 classes).  Therefore, moments of play where decision-points and/or action resolution are deeply wedded to PC Dramatic Need (this includes being able to dictate terms of engagement, which includes obviation/reframing of scene) are 30 % rate on the low end (the 7 classes) and 40 % rate on the high end (the 3 classes).  This means that players have comparatively, significantly reduced facility in direct or indirect scene framing, with a small number of classes having much more (as a %).  The preponderance of scenes framed and obstacles faced are not going to be deeply influenced (nor dictated by) player input.* Many micro-decision-points, but only 10 beefy (impactful with considerable downstream consequences) decision-points or moments of action resolution.  Therefore, less than a handful will be Dramatic Need-attendant (3 and 4 depending upon the class) on a per session basis.* The overall population of decision-points skews heavily toward being lower stakes, but there is a "piling effect" or a "1000 snowflakes makes a heap" effect.  Further, decision-points/action declarations and resolution are significantly spikey in terms of stakes/beefiness.  For instance:You could have 30 in a row (across all PCs) that are low stakes and suddenly there is this HUGE decision-point and action declaration > resolution moment that is profoundly beefier than the preceding 30.  However, due to the "piling effect" of play, the preceding 30 add up to a heap that matters.* Due to the above formulation, there will be a considerably higher payoff for high ceiling, apex capability "moves" because when that "beefy decision-point spike" hits, it is paramount that "team PC" has an answer for it.  The other 30 decision-points/action declarations > resolution aren't "rote/auto-pilot" or inconsequential, but the stakes are just fundamentally and significantly reduced (due to design priorities and characteristics) and the "x-axised resources" that answer them don't afford "team PC" the "amplification effect" that comes with that key deployment of that high ceiling, apex capability "move" (eg it saves team PC n number of resources across that "heap" and reduces overall "heap threat level" by a factor of 3 or 4).</blockquote>

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