RPGs, Models and World-views

Models

A successful RPG ruleset influences a group of players to imagine particular things: both content (nouns) and events that change that content (verbs).

The imaginings of a group constitute a virtual world. Insofar as there is consistency in the thoughts of the players, that world is principled. It may be principled in adhering to the rules of physics we know in everyday life, but it may just as easily be principled to favor young lovers; to reflect values aesthetic, moral or philosophical.

In their imaginings, the players thus create a model: not of our world and real-life events, but of some other world, some other sort of story. The model is not an entity unto itself but a name for order in the players’ thoughts. That order creates mechanisms of causality in the virtual world.

Rule Effects

A good ruleset — and a good text — help a group build their model. It will be a model ultimately unique to the group but sharing features with other models created with the same rule set. An effect of using rules is consistency. Conversely, different rulesets should create different models.

An ideal ruleset presumes the creation of a particular model: For one rule to work, it assumes other rules are working as well; that the rest of the model is present. But written rules seldom function perfectly in creating a piece of the model; they only point the way. What’s more, rules may not match up completely because they may not really be presuming the same model. When such disconnects exist, the players must fill in the hole on an ad hoc basis.

World-views

When a ruleset is designed, its author is imagining the model it will be used to create; each rule will have some effect on it, and will build it up. An author can carefully choose his model, and each supporting rule. However, it’s impossible to analyze everything.

Many of the rules a designer chooses will reflect tradition, and their effect will be to maintain traditional models. They will also inevitably reflect the worldview of the author: that is, the mental model he has of reality. This will produce a game that, in part, reflects his ideas and culture, even when interpreted by players who may have different ideas themselves.

This process of placing one’s world-view into a ruleset is largely unconscious. Indeed, it is reasonable for an author to spend most of his time thinking about the rules that create a world obviously different from our own — as he sees it. Inevitably though, rules are products of individuals and their societies. This will be most noticeable when some of his players think differently from him; when a Buddhist writes a game Catholics play, for instance.

A careful designer can escape some of his own assumptions — and those of the players in his culture — and experiment with using others in their place.

Nov 09, 2006 | Filed in design | Tagged: , ,