Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Reynard" data-source="post: 9281115" data-attributes="member: 467">This came up in another discussion and I thought I would move it to its own thread.There is often a tension between the game mechanics used to describe elements of the world and actions taken iun it, versus how the fiction or fantasy of those elements and actions exist in the world of the game. One example is the terrible cost of magic in the sword and sorcery genre, but the failure of most versions of D&amp;D magic mechanics to support that fantasy. (I know that not all D&amp;D worlds are sword and sorcery themed, but some are and only one -- Dark Sun -- has every really embraced the trope mechanically.)I don't want the discussion to center on just D&amp;D or just magic, though, so another classic example is how characters in the old WEG Star Wars RPG were completely inept compared to the film characters -- even when those characters were written up at the beginning of their careers. People came to the table expecting to play Han Solo and would have been lucky to be Greedo or that guy at the bar that got his arm chopped off.&nbsp; That is to say: the mechanics of character generation did not support the fiction of the heroic nature of PCs in the Star Wars universe.How do you feel when there is a gap between the mechanics and the world they are supposed to represent? Do you actively seek out games where that gap is small, or do you allow for the fact that aesthetic and description can go a long way to fill the gap? Does it concern you? If so, are you more likely to try and &quot;fix&quot; a game or find a different one?Thanks.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Reynard, post: 9281115, member: 467"] This came up in another discussion and I thought I would move it to its own thread. There is often a tension between the game mechanics used to describe elements of the world and actions taken iun it, versus how the fiction or fantasy of those elements and actions exist in the world of the game. One example is the terrible cost of magic in the sword and sorcery genre, but the failure of most versions of D&D magic mechanics to support that fantasy. (I know that not all D&D worlds are sword and sorcery themed, but some are and only one -- Dark Sun -- has every really embraced the trope mechanically.) I don't want the discussion to center on just D&D or just magic, though, so another classic example is how characters in the old WEG Star Wars RPG were completely inept compared to the film characters -- even when those characters were written up at the beginning of their careers. People came to the table expecting to play Han Solo and would have been lucky to be Greedo or that guy at the bar that got his arm chopped off. That is to say: the mechanics of character generation did not support the fiction of the heroic nature of PCs in the Star Wars universe. How do you feel when there is a gap between the mechanics and the world they are supposed to represent? Do you actively seek out games where that gap is small, or do you allow for the fact that aesthetic and description can go a long way to fill the gap? Does it concern you? If so, are you more likely to try and "fix" a game or find a different one? Thanks. [/QUOTE]

Verification