thread: 2009-07-26 : Very Briefly about Authority
On 2009-08-04, valamir wrote:
Ralph: We're playing Universalis and Sebastian creates a character who is a young snake, and Sebastian gives this character "brave," worth 2. From that point, we're all invested in the young snake's bravery, right? Nobody needs to hold authority over it; nobody needs to use a veto stick or an it's-my-turn-to-talk stick to make the young snake act bravely. Instead of assigning authority there, the rules buy us in.
—————-
I don't know V. That all looks like authority to me.
1) Sebastian had the authority to create a snake. So Sebastian created a snake by spending Coins
2) Sebastian had the authority to buy a Trait for the snake because he currently controlled the snake by way of having created it. So he bought "Brave" by spending a Coin.
3) Later on whoever else is controlling the snake is doing so because they had authority to re-introduce the snake or take it over and they did so by spending Coins.
4) However, they are not granted the authority by those Coins to depict the snake acting contrary to its established Traits. The established Trait says "Brave" so they are not authorized to play the snake as not being Brave. They purchased the authority to play the snake (#3) but their authority to do so stops at the established Traits.
5) If they wish to add new traits they have the authority to do so only if they spend Coins.
6) If they wish to portray the snake as not being brave they'll have to first remove the Brave Trait. They have the authority to do so only if they spend Coins, and only if they currently control the snake or have won a Complication where the snake's bravery could be challenged.
7) If they try to play the snake as not Brave without having paid to remove the Trait then any other player has authority to Challenge them on it by spending Coins.
I would argue that everything in Universalis boils down to purchasing the authority to take action with Coins. If you don't spend the Coin, you don't have the authority, if you do you do.
I would also argue that the only difference between Universalis and any other RPG in that regard is that Universalis actually calls attention to the currency of authority by making it an explicit in game resource you can actually count and measure...whereas in other RPGs (indeed life in general) the Coins we spend to purchase our authority are mostly intangible, often subtle, and usually geared towards allowing us to pretend that we are "collaborating" when really what we are doing is using our social Coins to purchase authority.
What you call moment to moment assent I see as moment to moment granting of authority.
Authority derives from assent...just as the authority of any government derives from the assent of the people to be governed.
But Authority also informs assent by establishing the default or "abstain" result.
To me its a circle. The idea that assent exists without authority is as bizarre to me as the idea that authority exists without assent.
