tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2465863144787683153.post709463214863288872..comments2024-03-27T19:02:58.368-04:00Comments on BARKING ALIEN: Can You Picture That?Adam Dicksteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04840144928096089178noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2465863144787683153.post-68603511544527966492020-12-29T07:29:23.199-05:002020-12-29T07:29:23.199-05:00This absolutely happens and it gets worse over tim...This absolutely happens and it gets worse over time, spilling to other games. <br /><br />There isn't much to add to JB's excellent answer. D&D has a lot of baggage that doesn't always make a lot of sense in its current form. <br /> Miguel de Rojashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15762364029464337239noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2465863144787683153.post-60652112848747383222020-12-22T10:56:15.117-05:002020-12-22T10:56:15.117-05:00Hey, BA:
There's been (or rather, there was) ...Hey, BA:<br /><br />There's been (or rather, there was) a whole lot of discussion about things like procedural order regarding narrative and rules interactions (not to mention narrative responsibility between player and GM) back in the early 2000s during the rise of the indie-RPG movement. Many of the games designed and developed during those times tinkered with these mechanics, experimenting with different methods.<br /><br />Original D&D (from which 5E descends) is a strange beast because it comes from a regular "game mentality" and then *adds* narrative considerations as an afterthought, and it is unclear if the fictional story engendered was even viewed as *desirable* originally. Consider a game of Monopoly...if you roll a 3 on the 2d6 do you describe your car breaking down? If you land on an opponent's hotel do you justify this as being the only way to tryst with your mistress? When you land in jail for rolling doubles three times, do the players tell a story of what you've been charged with?<br /><br />No, the dice rolls are the dice rolls, and original D&D was much the same. "I try to hit the orc." Roll a D20; if successful, roll how much damage is done. All the extra "story" ladened on top is just gloss. <br /><br />But in the early 90s we started seeing a lot of (RP) games that were very, very bored with combat, and wanted to pay more attention to the non-crunchy bits of the game (the "story" that was happening between battles and firefights). Lots of explanations for that. And some designers started writing games with MORE narrative mixed with the crunch. <br /><br />The game I'm most familiar with pre-indie revolution was Christian Aldridge's Maelstrom (precursor to the Story Engine system) in 1997, and though Over the Edge (Jonathan Tweet, Robin Laws) came out the same year, I think the idea of putting narrative FIRST (and then rolling dice) probably reached its pinnacle in Story Engine.<br /><br />[I've heard Chaosium's Prince Valiant in 1989 may have been the first RPG to spur this thinking, but it's not a game I've played or read, so I can't speak to that]<br /><br />This concept of RPGs being designed to "tell stories" has permeated the industry over the years, and continues to influence design choices (and thus show up in the rules) though sometimes this is...um..."less elegant" than it could be. And that may be what you're feeling in the 5E game. I have rather a LOT to say over whether this development is a "good" or "bad" thing...but I won't go into that here. Suffice is to say, D&D...as currently shepherded...continues to struggle with its desire to stick to its origins (appeasing long-time fans) while trying to meet assumptions of the "modern" RPG theory. Having their cake and eating it, too, I guess. And they tend to be a bit fumble-handed with the whole lot.<br /><br />Which is one of the (many) reasons I don't play 5E.<br />; )JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03263662621289630246noreply@blogger.com