thread: 2005-03-23 : Strong Stuff Indeed
On 2005-03-24, Vincent wrote:
Ethan, Christian:
Here on the one hand, you have: the rules are about your participation in the game, as a participant. They structure who gets to say what about what, when. What should I contribute, and how should I treat others' contributions?
That's true of all rules everywhere. Even, y'know, Storyteller's.
This understanding, that the rules are social in nature, structuring your participation in a social process - it's the essential minimum understanding you need to have in order to make informed design decisions. It's a big step up from "the rules are the physics of the game world, and the GM is its God," yes, but it only seems like an important insight because the conventional wisdom is so very, very stupid.
It's the position from which you begin to learn to design, not the position from which you design well.
Here on the other hand, you have: the rules are about your participation in the fiction, as an author. They structure who creates meaning, and how.
It's easy to see that writing "I've learned how to shoot people" on your character sheet changes how you participate in creating the events of the game, as a participant. "Oh!" you can say. "Now when events are such that me shooting people is at issue, I participate this way instead of that way."
But when you see how writing "I've learned how to shoot people" on your character sheet changes what the game can mean in the lives of you and your friends, that's a whole different matter. That's not fooling around any more, that's strong stuff. Storyteller doesn't do that.
