My reaction to the Dresden Files RPG and the FATE system produced a fair amount of nearly unintelligible nerd rage as the comments for those posts show. Which I always find amusing, mostly because so many of the comments are just plain stupid. And I think stupid people are at fault for many of the world's problems, so it gives the world an good excuse for being so screwed up. There is a 'correctness' to it all in a sad way.
And I'll be honest, part of the reason I post some of my opinions is in order to see if there is anyone out there with any sense holding a opposing opinion. Most of the time the answer is a resounding no. Typically all I get is hateful bile and ad hominem attacks, which was certainly the case this time around.
Well almost the case this time around. Someone did surprise me. Rainswept at Romance Monsoon had this reply to my charge of "Why people blow their hard earned money on works that a monkey could do in his spare time is beyond me."
And it's a good reply. It still indicates a approach to RPGs that I don't agree with, but it indicates a person that at least begins to understand theirs and is willing to present it without going bonkers and acting like a fool.
So well done Rainswept. I must give you your point, and since you're likely not interested in a dust up- I'll spare you my answering one.
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3 comments:
It is a good response. Very eloquent and kind-of obvious, which makes it the best kind.
As a guy that likes realism and numbers that make sense in my systems it took me a long time to come around to see the rules light perspective. I like hit location and realistic damage modeling and consider it a point of pride that I've come up with systems that model such things and more in very innovative but streamlined ways that don't take a lot of time as far as gameplay goes.
However, I've come to realize that some genre's don't need that stuff and in many ways it just gets in the way. One of the key tropes in the pulp genre is being knocked out from behind. Having a realistic damage system works against you in that case. Maybe a hit-location mechanic might not impede gameplay, but it certainly isn't necessary. In fact the only genre I honestly believe a hit location mechanic is required in is science fiction where cybernetics can replace limbs.
Of course your mileage may vary, but it's just illustrating my opinion that games are best designed with the setting and genre in-mind and that a smart designer knows when to withhold great features if they aren't truly necessary.
Helmsman: It was indeed well done. Still flawed in most cases IMO, but well done and on target for small group of exceptions.
Now to disagree with you...
Realism doesn't work against you as much as one may think as long as the systems allows for needed exceptions to realism.
For example I went to some effort to make HERO System firearms more realistic, and then allowed some characters to buy powers so that they could react 'unrealistically' to the changes.
That approach is in my view the default for nearly every genre out there. Very few characters are actually unrealistic.
By starting with a realistic system, it's much easier to turn it towards a measured degree of unrealistic then it is the other way around.
There I agree, starting from a base of realism allows for the exceptions you make to be more consistent overall. Though generally I believe elegance and streamlined gameplay should be primary focus when trying to create realistic rules. If any action requires more math than basic addition or subtraction or more rolls than 2 I go back to the drawing board.
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