For the Gaming Theories

[jimhenley]

Via Tyler Cowern, Galen Strawson's "Against Narrativity." It's about cognition and ethics, not RPGs, but it has relevance to a lost current in RPG theory/advocacy discourse. Back before Forge theory collapsed the rgfa distinction between Dramatism and Simulationism, and for years took the former as the whole of the latter, and before critics of

Comments

[agrumer]

Oh, hey, speaking of Diaspora, didja also notice how they took the designed-for-combat stress-damage mechanic and adapted it to a non-combat situation (buying stuff)?

More I think about it, the more it seems like Diaspora has two conflict systems (normal combat, social "combat"), and two bundled wargames (starship combat, platoon combat). The latter are so damn specific that it seems like it'd be tough to adapt them to other kinds of situations, but I suppose there may be extractable bits.

Hm, actually, the starship combat system can be thought of as something built out of the physical combat system (the ships have stress tracks and make attack and defense rolls), and the social conflict system (the "map" that abstracts 3D space plus delta-V, with border-crossing values and special conditions on the ends).

[jimhenley]

I didn't notice cause I've only really read the social-combat section, skimming just enough to make sure I understood their specific instantiation of Fate concepts used there. But I trust your account!

[agrumer]

The print version has examples, including a months-long political campaign.

[jimhenley]

Damn you, Grumer! I am trying to come off my recent Frantically Read One RPG Ruleset After Another jag, not find the next fix. ALL I wanted to do was get through the rest of Weapons of the Gods, by which point the Leverage RPG would be here, after which I could rest. That's ALL I wanted!

[jimhenley]

IOW, ooh! Sounds cool! I will have to check it out . . .