thread: 2005-06-24 : John Kim on Craft and Innovation
On 2005-06-27, John Kim wrote:
Chris wrote: Basically, you can see most of the innovations revolve around Reward, GM/Player power, and Resolution. About half of these make regular appearances in mainstream games, though usually not all together.Well, I suspect that's more because those are the only things you're looking at. There have been a lot of innovations in terms of how to design and present backgrounds, character design (classes, niche protection, choices), adventure models, and so forth.
- Unified resolution mechanics (who did this first? anyone know?)
Well, depends where you draw the line. Traveller (1977) put everything into 2d6 rolls against a target number, but it was explained differently. The landmark game was RuneQuest (1978), which made combat and skill use both into rolls under a percentile skill. But it had special rules for specials and criticals in combat. After that, I think the landmark was James Bond 007 (1983), which had a true universal mechanic that used level of success in both combat and other activities.
- Point build character creation, ability/spell creation, etc. (Build your own)
Melee (1977), though Champions (1981) certainly deserves mention as fully realizing the concept.
- Personality mechanics (I believe CoC started this)
I'd say Bushido (1980) deserves mention for its honor system, but that was followed quickly by Call of Cthulhu (1981).
- Dramatic modifiers to resolution
Champions (1981) included bonuses for "surprise maneuver" which was a cool move as described by the player. But as for explicit modifiers for drama per se, I'd say Paranoia or Toon (both 1984).
- Mechanics for social resolution
I'm not sure. Certainly James Bond 007 (1983) was the first to really handle this integratedly. There were prior implementations, but I can't think of them as much.
- Rock, Paper, Scissors style strategies applied towards mechanics
Hard to say on this one.
- Dials (modular rules, as a core concept, not as houserules)
Probably Worlds of Wonder (1982) as the first universal system in the sense of core rules + varying genre-specific add-ons.
- Directed Rewards (for something other than killing monsters or showing up)
Hard to say. There are rewards for skill use and/or training in Traveller and RuneQuest. Rolemaster (1980) greatly expanded what XP were given for. But perhaps Marvel Superheroes' Karma (1984) for good deeds is more what you're talking about.
- Instant Rewards (not end of session/campaign)
James Bond 007 (1983) has immediate rewards for hero points although not for experience points. As for all rewards being instant, I'm not sure.
- Scene Framing
Hard to say. I think Torg (1990) was among the first games to have explicit mechanics based on "scene". Probably Theatrix (1993) after that for making them more central.
- Author/Director Stance as a part of mechanics
Ars Magica (1987) through Whimsy Cards and troupe style play, then somewhat more explicitly Prince Valiant (1989) through storyteller cards, and more fully in Theatrix's plot points (1993).
- Open table discussion (everyone can make suggestions) as part of rules text
Well, if we're not counting Whimsy cards since only the card-holder can suggest, then this would probably be Theatrix's Improvisations (1993).
- Player right to establish/introduce conflict
I'd put this first as Champions (1981) for allowing the players to define their own Hunted and frequency of Hunted which show up on an objective scale rather than GM choice. But after that, Ars Magica, Prince Valiant, and Theatrix as above.
