Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Hussar" data-source="post: 7769686" data-attributes="member: 22779">There is also something of an issue with the notion of &quot;precision&quot; in a rule.&nbsp; Lots of RPG systems have broad &quot;rule of thumb&quot; systems that are meant to cover anything that's not covered in the rules.&nbsp; I've mentioned Savage World's Rule of 4 before in these threads.&nbsp; Any time you make a check, if you score 4 or higher, then you succeed whatever it is you are trying to do.&nbsp; ((Now, there are obvious modifiers - the size of the die you are rolling, situational modifiers, etc - but, at the end of the day, so long as you score 4 or better, you succeed))Now, as far as board games go, well, of course they need precise rules because, unlike an RPG, the rules prescribe EVERYTHING you can do.I'm going to sneak this idea back in here, but, I do truly believe that what differentiates RPG's from other games is that RPG's do not have rules that prescribe everything you can do.&nbsp; Sure, they have some rules that tell you you can do X or can't do Y, but, by and large, there's a huge grey area in RPG's where the actions that the player takes at the table isn't actually covered by the rules.In any other game, this would be cheating.&nbsp; Taking some sort of action that is not permissible by the rules in any other kind of game would be cheating.&nbsp; In an RPG, OTOH, it's expected and encouraged.&nbsp; The role of the rules is, in my mind, what differentiates RPG's from all other kinds of games.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Hussar, post: 7769686, member: 22779"] There is also something of an issue with the notion of "precision" in a rule. Lots of RPG systems have broad "rule of thumb" systems that are meant to cover anything that's not covered in the rules. I've mentioned Savage World's Rule of 4 before in these threads. Any time you make a check, if you score 4 or higher, then you succeed whatever it is you are trying to do. ((Now, there are obvious modifiers - the size of the die you are rolling, situational modifiers, etc - but, at the end of the day, so long as you score 4 or better, you succeed)) Now, as far as board games go, well, of course they need precise rules because, unlike an RPG, the rules prescribe EVERYTHING you can do. I'm going to sneak this idea back in here, but, I do truly believe that what differentiates RPG's from other games is that RPG's do not have rules that prescribe everything you can do. Sure, they have some rules that tell you you can do X or can't do Y, but, by and large, there's a huge grey area in RPG's where the actions that the player takes at the table isn't actually covered by the rules. In any other game, this would be cheating. Taking some sort of action that is not permissible by the rules in any other kind of game would be cheating. In an RPG, OTOH, it's expected and encouraged. The role of the rules is, in my mind, what differentiates RPG's from all other kinds of games. [/QUOTE]

Verification