thread: 2006-10-02 : Conflict resolution sans stakes
On 2006-10-03, Sydney Freedberg wrote:
P.S.: A sudden startle:
Maybe all this means that randomness ("dice") is much more important to "dilemma play" (Nar and Gam) than it is to "celebratory play" (Sim).
In "right to dream," randomness is there because realistically it should be there, because some things are unpredictable, and so a randomized outcome is sometimes the right outcome to preserve the integrity of the dream. But to the extent everyone around the table agrees that something in particular "obviously should" happen next—whether because of the fictional physics or the fictional characters or the structure of the type of story you're telling—you don't need randomness at all.
But in "story now" and "step on up," the role of randomness is as a source of adversity in itself: it's another force—alongside your fellow players (GM included)—to say, "no, you don't get what you want so easily, so now what do you do?" It's not merely a refinement of the simulation; it's a forcing function to throw you back into the dilemmas that are the driving engine of play.
