| From: | Boehme Christian <boehmec@******.UNI-MARBURG.DE> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Wargames and RPG's (was : Re: Magic) |
| Date: | Wed, 27 Jul 1994 15:47:54 CST |
>Tact has never been my strong suite. And I'm not really kidding around.
>I come from the wargamer background that most RPGers don't have anymore.
>But I would much rather change Games than alter the Rules. In most cases
>the rules are written for a balance of some kind. And most
>rules-crunchers don't understand that balance. And there's the simple
>fact that the rules are kinda the definition of the world. Change them,
>and the world changes. Change the world and you're playing something
>else, other than SRII.
I think I get a clue here. Ivy changed from wargames to RPG's. This
gives her a view very much different from many other gamers. Clear
rules are very important in a war game since it is a game about winning
or losing. To avoid trouble every player must get the chance to judge
any situation by referring to an unchangable set of rules.
But RPG's are different IMHO. For the player it is most important to play
his character and for the GM to provide a believable world and the right
atmosphere. A believable world does not at all depend on the slavish
following to a given set of rules. There are two main reasons for this :
First there is no chance to cover every real world situation by a rule.
Second you easily destroy the atmosphere if you spend too much time on
the game mechanics. The latter very often results in coverting a RPG
to a tactical wargame.
Many GM's argue that a world becomes unbelievable if the same situation
is resolved by different mechanics on different occasions. That is not
true. A RPG world is not made of mechanics but of the setting, of the
NPC's and of course of the PC's. Now, I don't say rules are not necessary.
Often reocurring situations (such as standard combat) should be played by
some rules, because the players will feel cheated otherwise (because
they're used to a certain way things happen). But if you run into a new
situation just try to be consistent with your GM'ing style and flesh out
what is happening (No "You roll two dices and get one five, that means, uh,
I would say you failed") and no player ever will feel cheated.
The same is true with house rules : if they fit your style better than
the written rules use them. If you don't remember a rarely used rule
or where to find it, simply use another. If you keep the atmosphere
and stick to your style every real roleplayer will accept your decision
as game world reality. The others are just numbercrunchers, thinking
in rules not in events. Finally some decisions are made by a dice roll
anyway, whether you use original rules or not - just the probabilities
change a little bit.
Preparing for the flames : Christian Boehme
