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Message: <blockquote data-quote="howandwhy99" data-source="post: 6178716" data-attributes="member: 3192">So, think of of Mastermind again and the ref changing the code after play has begun. Or think of changing the rules to any game during play. Professionals play high stakes poker. Why don't they quit playing by the rules and just give all the money to one person?  It's the same thing, right? That's all stakes are in a game anyways. Kudos to others for their agreeable expressions. You like him, so you gave him the million dollars. That's been every poker game everywhere supposedly. ~The problem with narrative theory turned to games is it lends itself to absolutist beliefs like those above. I'm not saying these ideas are necessarily wrong, but they theories hardly convey most of what poker is. If we limited ourselves to this thinking alone I doubt many would play the highly expression-limited game of poker, and performers wouldn't be payed anywhere near so much cash.D&D desperately needs rules for NPC behavior. There is some from the 80s and early 90s extrapolated from the cleric system in the AD&D DMG, but Gygax's rules tended to be unnecessarily complicated in my opinion. You can cover more with less. He sort of focused on endless modifiers without explaining the underlying mechanics he used (or maybe not even used) to determine them.Rules can cover far more than you might be giving them credit for. Think of how much of real world combat is covered by the combat system rules - before the current exception-based designs that is. Rules keep things consistent so the DM doesn't have to remember every single last consequence of a game action, yet enables players to still engage in "long strand" strategy. Long term goals. Players realizing a dream that isn't about immediate gratification. Also, careful about using the word fun. Currently fun is being conflated with narratively interesting. Games are highly addictive. Think of computer games. How many people consider computer games tools to create art? Like Photoshop or a word processor? Storygame rules are like a word processing program. The point is for the players to expressive themselves in spoken (or written) language. What most people believe is a computer game though is a program that can be won, whether playing other players within it or "the Computer" -more program. It's puzzle solving and primarily about pattern recognition-based learning. Players may create a Wiki like groups keep Character Logs to enable them to better play the game. My point is, "game fun" is largely held by most to be something other than personal expressionism. I deal with applying the rules I have to what the players are attempting to do, which sounds like what you are doing outside them. I'd say, both can be enjoyably challenging from the DM's side of the game.EDIT: Thanks for replying. Metroplexity looks pretty interesting.</blockquote>

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