thread: 2012-11-16 : Positioning: System and gameplay options
On 2012-11-21, Paul Czege wrote:
Would you go so far as to say the path of rigorous distinction between player and character in a RPG rules text creates certain problems?
This makes llb go "in the DED roughs..."
I originally didn't distinguish between player and character at all -- "You're a Native. You have a name and a trait." In the final I felt it was necessary to draw a sharper distinction but not immediately sure why.
This makes VB go "Did it..."
...strengthen your text or weaken it?
This makes llb go "wish I knew!"
On consideration I think my goal was to make the game more accessible to players who may never have played a roleplaying game -- the places I draw a clear distinction are where I'm explaining basic concepts like narrating your character's actions or calling for a conflict. As I recall there were occasional playtesting issues. So I think that it was the right move -- but I still agree with Paul in that I do not rigorously distinguish, just when I felt I couldn't express the idea another way. ("If you're a Native, you get to say what your Native does during a scene." p14)
