Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Manbearcat" data-source="post: 7331728" data-attributes="member: 6696971">Awesome.&nbsp; Ok.&nbsp; I was hoping what I was trying to get at made sense.&nbsp; The second half of your sentence is spot on:I would change the first part though to &quot;complicates agency&quot; instead of &quot;limit it&quot;.&nbsp; This isn't exactly a 1:1 correlation, but its akin to the Wandering Monster clock in Moldvay Basic as it puts pressure on exploration turns in the micro and the entire dungeon crawl effort in the macro.How do you feel about that change (limit to complicate)?&nbsp; And from there (assuming you agree), do you feel that setting/premise-integrated mechanical elements of play that thematically complicate decision-points and macro approaches to problems/aspirations increase verisimilitude?&nbsp; That was what I was trying to get at with that post.&nbsp; My contention is that Blades in the Dark experience would be a much diminished experience without the feedback loop of Heat/Wanted Level and all its related components.&nbsp; It brings the setting alive.&nbsp; It makes the threat of the coppers or corruption amongst the luminaries/power players (especially given the Tier status, and therefore threat level, of those setting Factions) loom over your head at all times.&nbsp; It brings to bear the stress of desperation, urgency, and things spinning out of control (inherent to a doomsday clock) that should be present at all times for characters in a heist game where gangs of scoundrels are scratching and crawling (each others eyes out) to get out of the muck.It would also be diminished if those mechanics were opaque/non-player-facing.&nbsp; Appropriate GM characterization and exposition can only do so much legwork.&nbsp; Well-integrated, thematically-appropriate mechanics bring the setting alive in a different way.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Manbearcat, post: 7331728, member: 6696971"] Awesome. Ok. I was hoping what I was trying to get at made sense. The second half of your sentence is spot on: I would change the first part though to "complicates agency" instead of "limit it". This isn't exactly a 1:1 correlation, but its akin to the Wandering Monster clock in Moldvay Basic as it puts pressure on exploration turns in the micro and the entire dungeon crawl effort in the macro. How do you feel about that change (limit to complicate)? And from there (assuming you agree), do you feel that setting/premise-integrated mechanical elements of play that thematically complicate decision-points and macro approaches to problems/aspirations increase verisimilitude? That was what I was trying to get at with that post. My contention is that Blades in the Dark experience would be a much diminished experience without the feedback loop of Heat/Wanted Level and all its related components. It brings the setting alive. It makes the threat of the coppers or corruption amongst the luminaries/power players (especially given the Tier status, and therefore threat level, of those setting Factions) loom over your head at all times. It brings to bear the stress of desperation, urgency, and things spinning out of control (inherent to a doomsday clock) that should be present at all times for characters in a heist game where gangs of scoundrels are scratching and crawling (each others eyes out) to get out of the muck. It would also be diminished if those mechanics were opaque/non-player-facing. Appropriate GM characterization and exposition can only do so much legwork. Well-integrated, thematically-appropriate mechanics bring the setting alive in a different way. [/QUOTE]

Verification