This essay treats a comparative discussion of various role-playing systems and styles -- their merits and flaws, how well they work in different situations, etc. I include all styles of role-play, including live-action -- just make sure to label your posts clearly.
Most of what I will discuss is a more detailed discussion of differing styles and features of games. For example: "Do you prefer to have rules and traits which govern a character's personality?" or "What are the consequences of timelining a plot in advance?"
You should try to avoid asking or stating that a game or technique is generically "better" or "worse". The one thing which is strikingly clear from discussion is that different people prefer different things in their games. Try to keep this in mind.
The other thing is to be careful about is misunderstood generalizations. Someone might say that "plotted" games are restrictive, and you respond that he is wrong -- they are inherently more flexible. Most likely, he is referring to a different type of game when he says "plotted" than you think of when you say "plotted".
For brevity, I use a variety of acronyms, including
- POV: "Point of View"
IC: "In-Character Stance", i.e. the state of thinking from your character's POV
OOC: "Out Of Character"
SOD: "Suspension of Disbelief"
DIP: "Develop-In-Play", referring to players who only have a rough character sketch which is only filled out during the campaign
DAS: "Develop-At-Start", i.e. players who write a detailed character background/personality by the time the campaign begins
d-b: "Description-Based", i.e. using qualitative verbal description rather than game mechanics
PM: "Personality Mechanics," any mechanic with the aim to help simulate a character's personality (which can be advisory or coercive)
Plus more general acronyms such as:
- PC: "Player Character" - usually handled by a player
NPC: "Non-Player Character" - usually handled by the GM
YMMV: "your mileage may vary"
IMHO: "in my humble opinion"
CF: "Castle Falkenstein", a card-using Victorian fantasy game
OTE: "Over the Edge", a dice-using freeform conspiracy game
RM: "Rolemaster"
There are also special terms:
'diceless roleplaying'.
Technically, diceless role-playing is simply any RPG which does not use any randomizers like dice or cards. As of my writing, currently four published diceless RPG "systems", including The _Amber_ DPRG, by Phage Press; _Theatrix_, by Backstage Press;_Persona_, by Tesarta Industries, Inc.; and _Epiphany_, by BTRC.
Some games use non-numerical randomizers, such as _Everway_'s Vision Cards, and are thus not "diceless" in this sense. These are also distinct from most "dice-using" games, however. Also, some dice-using games have notes on how to run the game in a diceless fashion, such as FUDGE by Grey Ghost Games and _Witchcraft_ by Myrmidon Press.
However, you should *not* assume that all diceless is like it is described in these games. "Diceless" encompasses a wide variety of playing styles, ranging from interactive storytelling to competitive simulation-style games.
"plot" and "plotting"
There are many different meanings of the term "plot" floating around: at least three and probably more. For now, I will outline three common usages:
- 1) Simply a bare sketch of a goal for the PC's and challenges to them reaching that goal. This is sometimes called a
"plot-premise" or "line of tension".
2) A GM-planned sequence of events based on what she expects the PC's to do -- called a "plot-plan" or "preplanned plot".
3) Just what happens in the game, regardless of how or even whether the GM planned it. This is sometimes called "plot-story" or simply "story".
"group contract":
The set of conventions the players and GM agree on: including rule system, but also issues like "The GM will fudge things so PCs won't die pointless deaths", or "Pulp genre conventions take precedence over common sense", or even "Don't let the cat in while we play: she bites legs." "metagame": dealing with concerns of the players and GM, as opposed to the characters in the gameworld. Examples of metagame concerns could include "spotlight time", plot scripting, and who brought the munchies.
"intra-game":
Dealing solely with matters within the gameworld. This would include a character's plans and actions, the environment, etc.
"three-fold":
A model describing games as a balance of Dramatist, Simulationist, and Gamist concerns -- i.e. someone might describe themselves as mostly Gamist with some Dramatist influence, but not very Simulationist. Also known as the "triangle model" (for a pictorial diagram of this).
"dramatist":
Is the esthetic of games which try to make the action into a satisfying and coherent storyline.
"gamist":
Is the esthetic of games which try to set up a fair challenge for the players (as opposed to the PC's). The challenges may be tactical combat, intellectual mysteries, social manipulation, etc.
"simulationist":
Is the esthetic of games where effort is made to not let meta-game concerns during play affect in-game resolution of events. That is, a fully simulationist GM will not fudge results to save PC's or to save her plot.
"immersion":
This is a term for trying to cut out all meta-game information and view things from the Point-of-View of your character (or for GM's just look at the game world facts) The player tries to feel what the PC is feeling, and develops a complex intuitive model of the PC. Some immersive players are "closed" to the GM or mechanics telling them what the PC is feeling, because that interferes with their internal model. Others are "open" to such external input.
"mechanic":
A formal method of resolution, which need not be numerical (i.e. Plot Points and Drama Deck cards are mechanics) but must be specific. A statement like "low roll good, lower roll better" is not considered a mechanic unless it is spelled out just how low is good. On the other hand, a statement like "a 02 or less is a critical" is a mechanic.
There has been some discussion over what exactly constitutes a mechanic: until that is resolved I am keeping the above description, but direct people to ongoing discussion.
"mechanics-light, mechanicless":
Games which have very few to no mechanics (sometimes known as "freeform", but this term is less clear). _Over the Edge_ is mechanics-light, for example. A game using the rule of "GM Decides" is a "mechanicless" game. (Technically, one can say it has a single mechanic, but the term "mechanicless" still stands for this type of game.)
"non-numerical":
A game or game mechanic which does not use meta-game numbers. Non-numerical randomizers could be judging the result of an action by the theme of a tarot card drawn. Non-numerical stats would be text description without any associated game number.
"spotlight time":
The amount of time a player/PC is the center of attention in the group.
"firewalling":
This is the practice of not letting Out-of-Character information you know as a player affect your decisions in play, which can apply to both the GM and the player.
"abstraction":
This is substituting a simpler game handling for something that in the game-world is more complex. In other words, the GM might say - `You manage to pick the lock' rather than describing how each tumbler was handled.
"script immunity":
This is part of the group contract under which certain characters are protected from dying at a metagame level. For example, the GM might fudge so as not to kill PC's unless they do something stupid. This might also be handled by mechanics such as "Fortune Points" which players spend to save their PC's. This can also apply to important NPC's (such as villains in _James Bond_, who can use "Survival Points" to get away.)
"Fair Play":
This is another group assumption -- that the GM will present problems which are challenging but solvable by the PC's. If the players act intelligently, it is expected that the PC's should succeed and be rewarded. This is often an integral part of "Gamist" contracts (see above).
"assumption clash":
When the GM's understanding of how the game-world works conflicts with a player's assumptions. For example, as a player you might think that your tough fighter can kill a charging boar with his sword with little fear of injury, while your GM thinks that a boar can easily ignore any sword swing and will break both his legs. You say "I crouch and prepare to meet its rush" and get severely mauled. It doesn't matter who is *right* in this case -- the problem is that their understanding differs. The player are not privy to information her character would know, and thus she made decisions which simply didn't make sense in the game world.
"interactive literature":
A term for various forms of Live Action Role-playing Games (LARP's), which involve the interactive creation of a story. Not everything the characters do is necessarily acted out, but they share some qualities: There are almost never NPC's, so both protagonists and antagonists are run by players. The players generally wander around a large area -- a Judge/GM is not always on hand, and bulky rule are rarely carried. Thus, the resolution mechanics must be minimal.
For more on these matters, see the web pages of J. H. Kim, http://www.darkshire.org/~jhkim/rpg/styles/index.html
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© Copyright 2004 by George Phillies.
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