Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2016 9:02 pm
Ok, elaborating further on what Ice9 said (“impactful decisions are proportionally contrary to granular processes”), I think this can be clearly illustrated in Gurps.
For example, an attack in Gurps has me “deciding” on a lot of minor things: positioning (moving ? static ?), stance (Offensive ? Defensive ? Balanced ? ), maneuver (riposte ? feint ? aimed ? grappling ?), type of damage (slash ? bludgeon ? impaling ?), how to defend against eventual strikes (passive armor only ? using shield for DR ?), etc. With the output for all those decisions being generally “you did x points of damage, and he was [knockdown/backed off/nothing]”.
So, doing the math: it’s 5 or so decisions for a fairly small change in the “game-state” (“you did x damage and forced the enemy a step back”).
On the other hand, games like D&D3/4/5 or PbtA allow you to impact the game-state in bigger ways and with less decision-points, making each decision feel more impactful.
Another good example is the old Fighting Fantasy series of game-books: because the decisions the player took were so simple ("There is a pouch in the ground in front of you: If you get it , go to page X, if you ignore it, go to page Y") each and every decision was extremely impactful, changing the game-state completely.
For example, an attack in Gurps has me “deciding” on a lot of minor things: positioning (moving ? static ?), stance (Offensive ? Defensive ? Balanced ? ), maneuver (riposte ? feint ? aimed ? grappling ?), type of damage (slash ? bludgeon ? impaling ?), how to defend against eventual strikes (passive armor only ? using shield for DR ?), etc. With the output for all those decisions being generally “you did x points of damage, and he was [knockdown/backed off/nothing]”.
So, doing the math: it’s 5 or so decisions for a fairly small change in the “game-state” (“you did x damage and forced the enemy a step back”).
On the other hand, games like D&D3/4/5 or PbtA allow you to impact the game-state in bigger ways and with less decision-points, making each decision feel more impactful.
Another good example is the old Fighting Fantasy series of game-books: because the decisions the player took were so simple ("There is a pouch in the ground in front of you: If you get it , go to page X, if you ignore it, go to page Y") each and every decision was extremely impactful, changing the game-state completely.
