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Worlds of Design: Golden Rules for RPGs
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<blockquote data-quote="EzekielRaiden" data-source="post: 8838151" data-attributes="member: 6790260"><p>Well, at least in moral senses, the Silver Rule is the usually considered to be the older, "original" form of the Golden Rule, which was purely negative in character: "Do not do unto others as you would not want them to do unto you." The key difference being, the (modern) Golden Rule is a <em>call to action</em>, whereas the Silver Rule is only about avoidance--you could stand there and watch someone drown without lifting a finger and not violate the Silver Rule, but not the Golden Rule.</p><p></p><p>I'm afraid I can't remember things I've heard before about any "Bronze Rule," but looking things up, that would be something akin to the negative version of the Wiccan Rede. The Wiccan Rede says, "An it harm none, do what ye will." A negative version would be something like, "If someone isn't bothering you, don't bother them." Another, perhaps more interesting Bronze Rule, is one that is more self-referencing: "Do unto yourself as you would do unto others," in other words, don't be cruel or hurtful to yourself if you wouldn't do that to someone else (or if you would get upset if someone else did it to you.) That's one I've had to use a lot in helping a friend of mine who is overcoming some personal issues stemming from their childhood and needing a guiding light to separate self-destructive thoughts from rational self-appraisal.</p><p></p><p>I don't believe there is a Platinum Rule, and it's hard to outdo the modern Golden Rule, also known as (the positive version of) the "ethic of reciprocity." Some like to propose an extension or expansion of the Golden Rule, "do unto others <em>as they would want you to do unto them</em>," but this has a litany of very serious problems (e.g., someone who has broken the law would want you to cover up or ignore their deeds.) Perhaps, then, the Platinum Rule would need to be something like, "Exercise virtue with wisdom in all your actions." (Meaning, of course, the Aristotelian sense of "virtue" and "wisdom": for the former, "finding the context-appropriate balance point between extremes of deficiency and excess," and for the latter, "the ability, in both practical and theoretical contexts, to make sound judgments.") This might be cognate with another version I've found with some casual google searching, "Seek first to understand, then to be understood."</p><p></p><p>----</p><p></p><p>That said, I think we can do quite a bit to <em>adapt</em> some of these rules into specific ones for D&D contexts.</p><p></p><p>Golden Rule: What I already gave as my response for the first rule. "<strong>The GM makes final calls when necessary, and otherwise leads discussion toward consensus.</strong>" I think I've already explained why I think this is important, but if my previous post wasn't enough, it's all about <em>communication</em> and finding common ground. Being a GM means taking on a social role. It induces a lot of responsibility, and a big part of that is being a <em>leader</em>. A leader needs to understand, and should aim for consensus and unity as much as possible. With a small group (half a dozen or less), it is quite achievable to get every single person on board in most cases--and the GM should do so.</p><p></p><p>Silver Rule: "<strong>When a final call isn't needed, the GM shouldn't make one.</strong>" One I think a LOT of GMs today either ignore or only pay lip service to. It's one of my bigger criticisms of the "rulings not rules" approach to play; there is a huge concern from its proponents about dealing with an excessive proliferation of <em>rules</em>, but no parallel concern for an excessive proliferation of <em>rulings</em>.</p><p></p><p>Bronze Rule: "<strong>Be the kind of GM you would want to play with.</strong>" Pretty straightforward.</p><p></p><p>Platinum Rule: "<strong>Show wisdom and restraint, regardless of which side of the screen you sit on.</strong>" Again, pretty straightforward.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="EzekielRaiden, post: 8838151, member: 6790260"] Well, at least in moral senses, the Silver Rule is the usually considered to be the older, "original" form of the Golden Rule, which was purely negative in character: "Do not do unto others as you would not want them to do unto you." The key difference being, the (modern) Golden Rule is a [I]call to action[/I], whereas the Silver Rule is only about avoidance--you could stand there and watch someone drown without lifting a finger and not violate the Silver Rule, but not the Golden Rule. I'm afraid I can't remember things I've heard before about any "Bronze Rule," but looking things up, that would be something akin to the negative version of the Wiccan Rede. The Wiccan Rede says, "An it harm none, do what ye will." A negative version would be something like, "If someone isn't bothering you, don't bother them." Another, perhaps more interesting Bronze Rule, is one that is more self-referencing: "Do unto yourself as you would do unto others," in other words, don't be cruel or hurtful to yourself if you wouldn't do that to someone else (or if you would get upset if someone else did it to you.) That's one I've had to use a lot in helping a friend of mine who is overcoming some personal issues stemming from their childhood and needing a guiding light to separate self-destructive thoughts from rational self-appraisal. I don't believe there is a Platinum Rule, and it's hard to outdo the modern Golden Rule, also known as (the positive version of) the "ethic of reciprocity." Some like to propose an extension or expansion of the Golden Rule, "do unto others [I]as they would want you to do unto them[/I]," but this has a litany of very serious problems (e.g., someone who has broken the law would want you to cover up or ignore their deeds.) Perhaps, then, the Platinum Rule would need to be something like, "Exercise virtue with wisdom in all your actions." (Meaning, of course, the Aristotelian sense of "virtue" and "wisdom": for the former, "finding the context-appropriate balance point between extremes of deficiency and excess," and for the latter, "the ability, in both practical and theoretical contexts, to make sound judgments.") This might be cognate with another version I've found with some casual google searching, "Seek first to understand, then to be understood." ---- That said, I think we can do quite a bit to [I]adapt[/I] some of these rules into specific ones for D&D contexts. Golden Rule: What I already gave as my response for the first rule. "[B]The GM makes final calls when necessary, and otherwise leads discussion toward consensus.[/B]" I think I've already explained why I think this is important, but if my previous post wasn't enough, it's all about [I]communication[/I] and finding common ground. Being a GM means taking on a social role. It induces a lot of responsibility, and a big part of that is being a [I]leader[/I]. A leader needs to understand, and should aim for consensus and unity as much as possible. With a small group (half a dozen or less), it is quite achievable to get every single person on board in most cases--and the GM should do so. Silver Rule: "[B]When a final call isn't needed, the GM shouldn't make one.[/B]" One I think a LOT of GMs today either ignore or only pay lip service to. It's one of my bigger criticisms of the "rulings not rules" approach to play; there is a huge concern from its proponents about dealing with an excessive proliferation of [I]rules[/I], but no parallel concern for an excessive proliferation of [I]rulings[/I]. Bronze Rule: "[B]Be the kind of GM you would want to play with.[/B]" Pretty straightforward. Platinum Rule: "[B]Show wisdom and restraint, regardless of which side of the screen you sit on.[/B]" Again, pretty straightforward. [/QUOTE]
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