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Message: <blockquote data-quote="steenan" data-source="post: 5715640" data-attributes="member: 23240">I, generally, like three different kinds of games.One has clear and strict, but simple rules. Rules give the structure and descriptions are built around it. On the other hand, the rules are abstract enough not to restrict description and not to produce absurd situations. This type of games typically use player-defined traits, unified resolution systems and conflict resolution. They allow (or even encourage) some measure of metagaming and generally aim for story rather than character immersion.Nobilis or Dogs in the Vineyard are good examples here.Second type of games I like is in many ways an opposite. Mechanics is "weak", not in the sense of being purely designed, but in a sense of being only a tool in GMs hands, instead of an important part of the game by itself. There is no need for detailed rules for anything; what is crucial is a good, consistent setting and style. Genre conventions and common sense play greater role in resolution than dice rolls; character abilities are primarily guides for characterization. This works well with character immersion and simulationist play.I mostly played Call of Cthulhu and World of Darkness this way, though none of those systems is designed for this specifically. Fortunately, it's often just a matter of cutting out unnecessary rules and playing in a more freeform fashion.The third type of games focus strongly on a specific kind of activity and offer more detailed rules for it, while simplifying the rest. This means engaging the system more and using it to interact with fiction. In some games it's combat as a separate, tactical mini-game, in some it is detailed personality and social interaction system, in some it's a long-term resource management. As long as the detailed rules are concentrated in a single area and that's the area that is important for the game, it's fun. If the game has no focus and is detailed everywhere, it becomes unwieldy and slow in play.</blockquote>

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