Why not RP over game mechanic?

markusdark

Knight
I have been reading a lot of discussions with people trying to find ways to do various things via game mechanics. If you want X, spend Y amounts of gold/build/gobbies/etc. Instead of going that route, why not go the route of roleplay instead of ruleplay?

For example, there's a discussion on spirit forges or learning/unlearning skills. Such ideas have come up with paying amounts of gold, spending build to remove build, spending gobbies, etc. What if instead there were universally in the game these creatures called Aislings. The Aislings can be summoned by a player through some form of ritual (doesn't even have to be ritual magic but some good RP rituals). The summoned Aisling arrives at the chapter where the ritual was cast in a game or two - giving plot time to work on some stories. The Aisling will perform the ritual but for a price. Perhaps there's some task it sets to the player that they must complete before the forge will be done. Maybe it performs the ritual with the understanding that the player will be at the Aisling's (or some other NPC's) beckon call. People are already trusting plot to run storylines and encounters for them, this could just be another way to perform it, add story and atmosphere to the game and increase the fun overall.
 
I like the Aisling idea. Hopefully you add it to the spirit forge thread.

If this thread is asking why we don't have more discussion threads about RP, let's start some.
 
First off, that is a mechanic. It is a loosely defined mechanic based around role play, but the game already has some of those (see mental abilities, gypsy curse, Love effects, Charm effects, etc.).

Second, there is a problem with that. Per the current rules, any time that plot gives out a "free" Spirit Forge, the plot team has to burn a Spirit Forge catalyst that should have gone into game. That wasn't actually free. It cost treasure policy. So, even with this idea (which I have no problem exploring), you still need to make a mechanical change to the rules in order to implement it.

(The above is true for any beneficial ritual usage on a PC that involves a catalyst. I believe purely negative ritual usage, like Obliterate, may be exempt)

-MS
 
My hesitancy is that more RP effects means more chance for cops-and-robbers style 'got you!' 'no you didn't!' arguments as there is no defined mechanic for what is going on.

Gypsy curse, love, charm are all rules defined mechanics. The mental abilities are rule defined as well, they are simply opt-in rather than mandatory for players to accept and interact with. I am personally extremely leery of roleplay effects due to long experience with how Greater Fey Curse, and Greater Fey in general have been used in the Midwest. All too often it seems like they become a vector for creating ad hoc workarounds for wanting abilities the system just isn't equipped to simulate and which would at best be better suited as LCO Effects.
 
A game can exist with little to no rules, theres tons based on completely freeform roleplay anything goes consensual reality models...many nordic larps and such- but if it has an involved rulesset for one thing (like combat for instance), then other features of the game usually require an equally robust rulesset to give those areas of play the same substance/material worth to the game as just a matter of balance. Roleplay goes a long way, but theres other stuff in any given game that requires either mechanics such as with createing things of consequence to doing stuff in the game that arent fighting (potions, weapons, gear, or services like tracking, investigateing and magic)

Going deeper, I look at mechanics as the bones and under-structure and, framing, and nervous systems of a larp setting. So those mechanics give the setting substance and parameters- something that pushes back when players push on it. The roleplay aspects should be the skin draped on and snapped-to those mechanics so you have this form and function underneath but on top is this surface to give interest and engagement and volumn to whatever those mechanics are doing under it. That skin is then colored by the setting and the world content contexts at play.

Saying all that, the point is that roleplay effects, however inane and harmless they may seem to the bigger scope, really do need to be well connected to their mechanical under-structure if they have ANY affect on a character or their own bones (their sheet). The consistency is important for keeping a sturdy world-order and making sure there arent abuses (even if non malicious). That isnt to say there shouldnt be any room for flexibility, but even those flexibilities need to be outlined in some kind of way. The point being, that when you have a sturdy frame that responds a certain way to the players pushing on it, you create potential for more creative thinking based on those limitations while maintaining the integrity of your setting IG and your system oog.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top