thread: 2013-10-17 : The Magic Trick: Damage in Dogs in the Vineyard
On 2013-10-20, George wrote:
I checked the previous thread a couple of times from "my favourites", and only just now realised there was a new one!
Gregor: I take your point, and i appreciate the aesthetic that effectively treats combat as a meaningful conversation by the GM telegraphing his intent to the players; and them making a conscious decision. I have to say that it is however different to the feel that I'm after - a sort of subsystem where the people engaged in combat perceive time differently, identify with their character and are too worried to think logically. Regarding your last point, fully agree that treating hit points as an abstraction was a stroke of genius on the part of the creators of D&D. It took me a long time to realise that, when I was a teenager I thought I was "making it more realistic" by treating it as wounds. But you're right, abstraction is key.
Vincent: for these, and many other reasons, right now i'm standing in front of my computer and after querying about the possibility of a very particular magic trick, much to my amazement you actually just performed it! i don't know what dice the rabbit rolled, but you pulled it straight out of the hat. I've been thinking about this for a very long time (maybe too long) and I think that's the only solution I've personally come across that addresses it 100%. And not only that, but it's so simple that it's transferable to other games with a different theme! I got the temptation to start listing ideas i had in the past, and how they didn't exactly do what I needed them to, while your solution does. But there's no point. I would run and buy that game, but luckily it's already sitting in my library. I have to digest this mechanic and try it out. Thanks!
