thread: 2014-02-15 : Lies in RPGs
On 2014-02-19, Paul T. wrote:
While lying and deception can certainly have their place in game design (as any bluffing/lying game can easily show), I feel that making this analogy misses the point a little bit.
I don't think the problem with "fudging the dice" is the fact that there is lying present in the way the game is played.
After all, it's very much expected that any player can lie on behalf of his or her character: trying to (for example) figure out whether an NPC cult leader is lying to you or not is a very normal part of RPG play. This is not at all unlike Diplomacy or Liar's Dice, where deception about one's game moves (or dice results) is an explicit technique.
Lying about what rules you are playing by, however, is trickier territory. Sunset Boulevard is right on the dividing line there, depending on how it's presented. But the Forgean attitude towards "dice fudging" (and similar) has more to do with an admonition not to lie to your friends about the nature of a game than it does with functional deception within the strategic battlefield delineated by the game itself.
I suppose that's just a side point on this issue, but I feel it's important.
