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Worlds of Design: The Great Dichotomies of RPGs
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<blockquote data-quote="aramis erak" data-source="post: 8796526" data-attributes="member: 6779310"><p>For me, this is key. if past the midway point towards story, I lose interest.</p><p></p><p>this makes a predicate on a deeper, more fundamental trichotomy: hero, villain, or victim. And really, the spectrum runs past everyday hero to Not Even Normal Man level - KAMB, for example.</p><p>(It can be argued to be a tetrachotomy - adding bystander - but the bystander role is not normally appropriate for player characters)</p><p>Some games I've enjoyed are about the transition from hero to victim... tho' a few games I've not played run the other fundamental transition: victim to hero. ALIEN transitions characters from non-victim along two thirds of the spectrum between hero and villain.</p><p></p><p>Your focus on Class & Level systems shows here... and it makes for a problem, since "classless" doesn't factor in as you wrote it.</p><p>Classes vs Classless: a problematic distinction, as low numbers of skills (EG Star Frontiers, 2d20 Star Trek Adventures) can very much feel classlike, while some games use classes only as at generation (CP 2013, CP2020), and some with classes for skill access (RM/SM, Alternity), pure skill & attribute purchase (GURPS, Hero, d6).</p><p>Then there is the issue that "Balanced" is almost impossible to attain, as different GMs campaigns emphasis different pillars of play...</p><p>Combat is easiest to balance, with exploration, social interaction, puzzles, politics, and investigation being harder to balance, and indeed, overlap. Exploration and investigation are a dichotomy to examine... find what is out there vs find what shouldn't be here...</p><p>social interaction is essential for many investigation stories, but it may be to serve politics, to serve investigation, to serve exploration... or even to support conflict.</p><p></p><p></p><p>this is important for me... Because I don't care for absolutes on that spectrum, picking the middle....</p><p></p><p><a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/worlds-of-design-%E2%80%9Cold-school%E2%80%9D-in-rpgs-and-other-games-%E2%80%93-part-2-and-3-rules-pacing-non-rpgs-and-g.666038/" target="_blank">I</a> disagree with your categorization because the labels are representational of too many elements at odds with your view.</p><p>Fundamentally, the terms are becoming weaponized caricatures, and really don't have useful representation.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="aramis erak, post: 8796526, member: 6779310"] For me, this is key. if past the midway point towards story, I lose interest. this makes a predicate on a deeper, more fundamental trichotomy: hero, villain, or victim. And really, the spectrum runs past everyday hero to Not Even Normal Man level - KAMB, for example. (It can be argued to be a tetrachotomy - adding bystander - but the bystander role is not normally appropriate for player characters) Some games I've enjoyed are about the transition from hero to victim... tho' a few games I've not played run the other fundamental transition: victim to hero. ALIEN transitions characters from non-victim along two thirds of the spectrum between hero and villain. Your focus on Class & Level systems shows here... and it makes for a problem, since "classless" doesn't factor in as you wrote it. Classes vs Classless: a problematic distinction, as low numbers of skills (EG Star Frontiers, 2d20 Star Trek Adventures) can very much feel classlike, while some games use classes only as at generation (CP 2013, CP2020), and some with classes for skill access (RM/SM, Alternity), pure skill & attribute purchase (GURPS, Hero, d6). Then there is the issue that "Balanced" is almost impossible to attain, as different GMs campaigns emphasis different pillars of play... Combat is easiest to balance, with exploration, social interaction, puzzles, politics, and investigation being harder to balance, and indeed, overlap. Exploration and investigation are a dichotomy to examine... find what is out there vs find what shouldn't be here... social interaction is essential for many investigation stories, but it may be to serve politics, to serve investigation, to serve exploration... or even to support conflict. this is important for me... Because I don't care for absolutes on that spectrum, picking the middle.... [URL='https://www.enworld.org/threads/worlds-of-design-%E2%80%9Cold-school%E2%80%9D-in-rpgs-and-other-games-%E2%80%93-part-2-and-3-rules-pacing-non-rpgs-and-g.666038/']I[/URL] disagree with your categorization because the labels are representational of too many elements at odds with your view. Fundamentally, the terms are becoming weaponized caricatures, and really don't have useful representation. [/QUOTE]
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