A Forge inspired question

Sep 10, 2008 14:54

Am I off base to think that Arb Ninja runs his games as a Narrative/gamist hybrid? Or am I misunderstanding the GNS articles?

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mrgeddylee September 10 2008, 19:20:17 UTC
I don't get Narr anywhere in his GMing style. I've suggested, and he's pretty much agreed, that Harn is Simulationist/Gamist, while Shadowrun is Gamist/Simulationist.

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mykkel September 10 2008, 19:40:04 UTC
Perhaps I'm misunderstanding Narrativist? I took it to mean that the premise was explored equally by GM and players, with both contributing to the examination of the theme?

the current Harn game theme is Family, Family, Family.

the current Srun game theme is Chthulu evil versus morally ambiguous good.

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mrgeddylee September 10 2008, 20:07:22 UTC
That's not what the Forgies mean by Theme. Ron defines it as "the point, message, or key emotional conclusion perceived by an audience member, about a fictional series of events." He also wrote, in his Narr essay, that "Theme is defined as a value-judgment or point that may be inferred from the in-game events." The rules and style of play we use do not reliably support Theme, given that random encounters, bad rolls, the "bad for you die", etc have such strong influence over the course of play, whereas value judgements are generally moot except when buttressed by tactical considerations.

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mykkel September 10 2008, 20:39:50 UTC
okay, so is there a good/decent narrativist/gamist example?

If I understand simulationist it means experiencing the world for no other purpose, right?

Or am I over simplifying the concept?

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