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1 <?xml version='1.0'?> |
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2 <!DOCTYPE article PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.2//EN" |
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3 "/usr/share/sgml/docbook/dtd/xml/4.2/docbookx.dtd"> |
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4 <article lang="fr"> |
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5 <articleinfo> |
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6 <title>Les couleurs du système</title> |
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7 <subtitle>Une typologie des mécaniques du jeu de rôle</subtitle> |
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8 <abstract> |
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9 <para>La conception de jeux de rôle est un art, <quote>un |
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10 système de principes et de règles pour obtenir un effet |
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11 désiré</quote>. Toutefois, c'est un art encore dans ses |
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12 débuts. Bien que plusieurs modèles existent déjà pour décrire |
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13 l'expérience d'une partie de jeu de rôle, très peu a été fait |
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14 en regard aux mécaniques. Nous avons la description DKF, |
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15 quelques désignations en regards aux niveaux de concepts ou |
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16 des éléments de mécaniques mais à peu près rien au sujet des |
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17 objectifs de ces mécaniques, ou seulement sous une forme très |
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18 abstraite. Cet article a pour objectif d'explorer un seul |
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19 aspect des mécanismes de jeu, soit de déterminer quelles |
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20 qualités sont nécessaires ou au moins désirables dans tout jeu |
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21 de rôle. Ceci, je l'espère, permettra de jeter les bases pour |
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22 une plus grande caractérisation des règles, afin de soutenir |
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23 les discussions et l'évaluation de différents systèmes, et, |
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24 avec l'aide d'autres outils, de créer finalement un véritable |
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25 science du jeu de rôle.</para> |
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26 </abstract> |
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27 <keywordset> |
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28 <keyword>modèle GDS/GNS</keyword> |
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29 <keyword>jeu de rôle</keyword> |
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30 <keyword>conception de système</keyword> |
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31 <keyword>simulationisme</keyword> |
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32 <keyword>ludisme</keyword> |
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33 <keyword>narrativisme</keyword> |
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34 </keywordset> |
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35 <author> |
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36 <firstname>Fabien</firstname> |
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37 <surname>Niñoles</surname> |
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38 </author> |
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39 <copyright> |
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40 <year>2002-2005</year> |
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41 <holder>Fabien Niñoles</holder> |
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42 </copyright> |
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43 |
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44 <revhistory> |
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45 <revision> |
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46 <revnumber>0.6 :</revnumber> |
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47 <date>2005-06-25</date> |
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48 <revdescription> |
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49 <para>Traduction de la version anglaise à partir de la |
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50 version 0.5r3.</para> |
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51 </revdescription> |
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52 </revision> |
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53 <revision> |
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54 <revnumber>0.5r3 :</revnumber> |
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55 <date>2003-06-02</date> |
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56 <revdescription> |
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57 <para>Ajout d'un paragraphe apropos du lien entre Beauté et |
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58 couleurs. Ajout de quelques mots-clés au document. Une |
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59 petite remarque a été ajoutée dans la section sur |
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60 l'adaptabilité.</para> |
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61 </revdescription> |
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62 </revision> |
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63 <revision> |
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64 <revnumber>0.4r4:</revnumber> |
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65 <date>2003-01-26</date> |
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66 <revdescription> |
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67 <para>Beaucoup de petites revisions mineures. Je me suis |
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68 trompé dans mes couleurs! Maintenant, le Magenta |
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69 Nostalgique est maintenant appelé le Magenta Expressif et |
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70 le Bleu Rêve est devenu Bleu Immersif. Je pense beaucoup |
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71 à ajouter un nouveau chapitre à ce sujet. Aussi, j'ai |
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72 modifié le titre puisque ceci est vraiment une typologie |
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73 des mécaniques.</para> |
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74 </revdescription> |
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75 </revision> |
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76 <revision> |
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77 <revnumber>0.3r2 :</revnumber> |
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78 <date>2003-01-10</date> |
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79 <revdescription> |
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80 <para>Ajout de la Brillance. J'ai déplacé la Transparence |
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81 dans la Brillance et ajouté une note au sujet de la |
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82 différence entre un système transparent une |
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83 <emphasis>Couleur</emphasis> Transparente.</para> |
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84 </revdescription> |
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85 </revision> |
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86 <revision> |
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87 <revnumber>0.2 :</revnumber> |
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88 <date>2003-01-10</date> |
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89 <revdescription> |
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90 <para>Première version publiée.</para> |
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91 </revdescription> |
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92 </revision> |
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93 <revision> |
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94 <revnumber>0.1 :</revnumber> |
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95 <date>2003-01-01</date> |
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96 <revdescription> |
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97 <para>Version inition (incomplète).</para> |
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98 </revdescription> |
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99 </revision> |
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100 </revhistory> |
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101 </articleinfo> |
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102 <section id="intro"> |
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103 <title>Introduction</title> |
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104 |
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105 <para>Quel est l'art de la conception de jeu. Le Webster 1913 |
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106 défini l'art comme étant (entre autre) un système de règles et |
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107 de principes pour atteindre une fin désirée. Alors, quels sont |
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108 ces règles, ces principes, et plus important encore, cette fin |
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109 désirée? Pour cette dernière question, je pense qu'il peut y |
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110 avoir autant de réponses qu'il y a de joueurs. Bien que |
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111 plusieurs aient définis et décris en détails les motivations des |
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112 joueurs, peu a été fait en ce qui concerne comment ces buts |
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113 peuvent être atteints.</para> |
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114 |
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115 <para>Le but de cet article est de faire un pas de plus dans cette |
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116 direction. Ce que j'essaye de faire est de répondre à cette |
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117 seule question: <quote>Qu'est-ce qui est désirable, sinon |
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118 nécessaire, dans tout jeu de rôle?</quote> Cette question est |
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119 très difficile car la plupart des jeux de rôle semble avoir |
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120 différents objectifs, différents environnements, différentes |
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121 façons de faire du jeu de rôle une expérience amusante et |
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122 agréable. Étrangement, toutefois, un certain consensus laisse |
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123 percevoir que cet obstacle initial sera le plus facile. Le plus |
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124 gros obstacle sera plutôt au niveau du vocabulaire, ou plutôt du |
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125 manque d'un vocabulaire commun parmi les concepteurs. Personne |
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126 ne semble avoir la même façon d'appeler les choses, que ce soit |
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127 en français ou en anglais. Aussi, les gens utilisent souvent |
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128 les mêmes mots pour parler de choses différentes, ce qui ne fait |
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129 qu'ajouter à la confusion. Alors, pour éviter ce problème, j'ai |
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130 choisi une approche légèrement différente: j'utiliserai une |
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131 métaphore artificielle, celle des couleurs. Hélas, une couleur |
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132 ne voulant pas dire grand chose pour un concepteur, j'y ai |
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133 adjoint un adjectif afin d'aider à en faire un outil de |
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134 communication suffisamment clair pour aider à la mémorisation et |
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135 à la compréhension du texte par un nouveau lecteur.</para> |
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136 |
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137 <para>La première version de ce papier sera seulement au sujet de |
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138 la couleur des mécaniques, accompagné de quelques courts |
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139 exemples. Je planifie toutefois d'y ajouter d'autres éléments, |
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140 spécifiquement au sujet des différents aspects du jeu de rôle, |
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141 comme le liens entre les Couleurs et les typologies existantes, |
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142 comme le GNS. Mais pour commencer, nous devons définir ce |
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143 qu'est un jeu de rôle et son système.</para> |
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144 |
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145 </section> |
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146 |
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147 <section id="rpgdef"> |
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148 <title>Qu'est-ce qu'un jeu de rôle?</title> |
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149 |
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150 <para>This section is not about defining in details what's a role |
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151 playing game but mostly to propose a common vocabulary about |
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152 what constitutes a role playing game, so that we can know what |
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153 we are talking about. A typical role playing game can be seen |
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154 to be constituted of two parts:</para> |
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155 |
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156 <itemizedlist> |
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157 <listitem> |
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158 <para>a description of an imaginary universe called the |
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159 <emphasis>setting</emphasis>;</para> |
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160 </listitem> |
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161 <listitem> |
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162 <para>a set of rules to handle events resolution in the |
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163 setting, called the <emphasis>system</emphasis>.</para> |
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164 </listitem> |
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165 </itemizedlist> |
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166 |
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167 <para>Usually, the setting is divided in many more elements, like |
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168 the characters we can encounter in this particular universe, the |
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169 environment (either social, technological, historical and/or |
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170 geographical) in which those characters evolve, examples of |
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171 situations those characters can encounter, as well as notes |
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172 about the intended atmosphere of this universe. Some or even |
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173 all of those elements can be omitted or more or less detailed. |
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174 When most elements are omitted, or without specified with much |
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175 details, we call this kind of system universal or generic. I |
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176 prefer the second appellation because, although most generic |
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177 system pretend to be usable in any setting, they are often just |
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178 a generalization of one or many settings, sharing some common |
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179 elements. Except for this small difference, we will now only |
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180 talk about setting and generic setting as a whole, without |
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181 addressing more concerns about their internal elements. Is not |
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182 that those elements aren't important in designing a good role |
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183 playing game, but it's a way to stay on our focus.</para> |
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184 |
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185 <para>Systems are also often divided into multiple parts, |
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186 classified in multiple differents ways, etc. Systems often even |
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187 contains some elements of setting, like particularity of the |
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188 environment. For now, we just want to consider systems as a |
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189 whole. We only make one distinction: system elements that |
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190 contain no element which can be considered part of the setting |
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191 would be called mechanics, and mechanics or system elements that |
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192 contains or describe part of the setting (including situational |
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193 elements like combat or character description) will be called |
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194 rules. This is certainly not enough for a more in-depth |
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195 exploration of system composition but it will be sufficient for |
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196 our purpose.</para> |
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197 |
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198 <para>Meta-gaming elements are elements often external to a role |
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199 playing game. They included things like the location where the |
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200 game is set, the current mood of the players, their perception |
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201 of the reality, the quality (access, language, medium) of |
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202 communication between them, the presence of materials, their |
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203 relationship, etc. They are aspects of the gaming experience |
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204 which can be seen as out of the current setting but are still |
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205 part of the role playing experience. Some systems or even |
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206 setting elements can influence or help to make some meta-gaming |
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207 elements either less intrusive or more fun and interesting. |
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208 They can also adapt to accommodate some less optimal meta-gaming |
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209 elements, like the presence of a noisy environment. Meta-gaming |
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210 elements can often influenced both (although the designer have |
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211 mostly no control over them except written recommendation) and |
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212 some role playing games even used them to enhance the role |
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213 playing experience.</para> |
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214 |
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215 </section> |
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216 |
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217 <section id="colormodel"> |
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218 <title>The color model</title> |
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219 |
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220 <para>The color model are composed of the three primary additive |
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221 colors: red, green and blue. Just like any colors, some people |
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222 prefers some of them more than the others. That's OK, from |
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223 taste and colors, one can't discuss. However, we want to make a |
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224 small exception to this rule: we will supposed that everyone |
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225 will prefer bright colors instead of darker one. Brightness |
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226 represent the adherence of a system to a specific color (mix are |
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227 allowed). So, since we supposed that any color are at least |
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228 desirable, you'll always prefer a brighter mechanic instead of a |
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229 darker one, as long as it is of the right color. Take note that |
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230 a system that mix all colors will be white and bright. And a |
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231 system that have no color at all will be black. Maybe you still |
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232 prefer darker colors in real life (like most role players, if |
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233 you look at the way most of them are dressed up), but make a |
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234 small effort now or use negative vision. Elsewhere, you'll just |
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235 fall in the darker side of role playing game, full of munchkins |
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236 and rules lawyers. Are you sure you want to go there?</para> |
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237 |
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238 <para>To help to better understand the concept behind each color, |
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239 especially when talking to a non-initiate, an adjective is |
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240 added to each of them. You are free to used it when you think |
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241 is necessary but try to make a link to this page for reference |
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242 so people know what you are talking about.</para> |
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243 |
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244 <para>Here is the three primary colors and their definitions:</para> |
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245 |
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246 <variablelist> |
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247 <varlistentry id="reddef"> |
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248 <term>Consistent Red</term> |
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249 |
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250 <listitem> |
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251 <para>Consistent Red is the color of system that are |
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252 consistent with the setting elements they are supposed to |
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253 describe. If your setting describe, or more often |
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254 suppose, swords as more lethal than daggers, the system |
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255 should respect this and not make daggers equally or more |
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256 lethal than swords. A dark red system tend to interfere |
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257 with <literal>Suspension of Disbelief</literal>. Break in |
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258 Suspension of Disbelief is a phenomena which can be best |
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259 described as players rolling their eyes toward you, the |
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260 mouth wide open in an expression of incredulity, and |
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261 leaving your table to never came back again (and no, |
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262 that's not because their lost their way to the |
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263 refrigerator). Red was chose because of the its relation |
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264 with this <emphasis>stop attitude</emphasis>, as well as |
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265 the tendency of very high red system to be a bit bloody in |
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266 action. <emphasis>This is not, however, a universal |
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267 characteristic!</emphasis></para> |
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268 |
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269 <para>A good example of system with a strong red color is |
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270 <trademark>RoleMaster</trademark> with their very detailed |
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271 systems for med-fan universe<footnote> |
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272 |
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273 <para>Really, I'm not sure if this is a good example. |
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274 Any better suggestions welcome.</para> |
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275 |
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276 </footnote>.</para> |
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277 </listitem> |
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278 </varlistentry> |
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279 <varlistentry id="greendef"> |
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280 <term>Fluid<footnote> |
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281 |
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282 <para>Don't like this name but I want to avoid using |
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283 Simple in it, since Green is much more than only |
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284 Simplicity. Fluid is currently the only word I can |
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285 think.</para> |
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286 |
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287 </footnote> Green</term> |
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288 |
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289 <listitem> |
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290 <para>Fluid Green system are easy to learn and have often |
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291 low search and resolution time. They can however have a |
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292 lot of options to chose from, as long as those options are |
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293 clear and easy to handle. Those systems are often perfect |
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294 for beginners or people wanting quick pace systems, |
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295 without stopping to details. This is two good reasons to |
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296 give them the green color, this color being often |
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297 associated with beginners and speed.</para> |
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298 |
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299 <para>A good example of a green system is <trademark |
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300 class="copyright">The Window</trademark>, a free RPG game |
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301 with very simple mechanics.</para> |
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302 </listitem> |
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303 </varlistentry> |
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304 |
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305 <varlistentry id="bluedef"> |
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306 <term>Immersive Blue</term> |
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307 <listitem> |
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308 <para>Immersive Blue rules help to sustain a particular |
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309 atmosphere in a game. This atmosphere can be either |
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310 dramatic, heroic, epic, scary, peaceful, imaginative, or |
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311 all of them at the same time. Just like the Consistent |
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312 Red, blue rules are strongly associated with the setting. |
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313 Blue was chose because of its association with atmosphere |
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314 and emotions.</para> |
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315 |
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316 <para>One of the bluest system that the author know is |
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317 <trademark class="copyright">eight</trademark>, a free RPG |
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318 where all of the few rules participate to the setting |
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319 atmosphere.</para> |
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320 </listitem> |
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321 </varlistentry> |
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322 </variablelist> |
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323 |
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324 <para>All of the three colors can be mixed together, in different |
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325 quantities. This give us 4 more different colors<footnote> |
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326 |
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327 <para>Remember, this is the three |
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328 <emphasis>additive</emphasis> primary colors, just like your |
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329 television but unlike water painting, which used primary |
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330 <emphasis>subtractive</emphasis> colors.</para> |
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331 |
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332 </footnote>:</para> |
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333 |
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334 <variablelist> |
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335 <varlistentry id="yellowdef"> |
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336 <term>Clear-Sight Yellow (Red and Green)</term> |
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337 |
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338 <listitem> |
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339 <para>Usually, when you want brighter red, you compromise on |
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340 a darker green, and when you want brighter green, you |
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341 often compromise with darker red. So this color is quite |
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342 rare, and yellow rules are real pearl of wisdom. Yellow |
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343 systems are able to give a maximum of consistency and |
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344 details from your setting, without removing speed and ease |
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345 of play. They promised really good play for those who |
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346 like to explore different elements of the setting.</para> |
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347 |
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348 <para>As I said, yellow rules are quite rare. Yellow |
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349 systems even more. I failed to see a system where this |
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350 color dominate. If you think you have one, please tell |
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351 me.</para> |
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352 </listitem> |
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353 </varlistentry> |
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354 <varlistentry id="cyandef"> |
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355 <term>Dramatic Cyan (Green and Blue)</term> |
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356 |
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357 <listitem> |
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358 <para>One of the most popular color in new games presently. |
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359 The Cyan systems bring to front a very narrative aspect |
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360 with quick pace and easy rules. Consistent is not really |
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361 important since GM will just adjust the plot consequently. |
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362 This however give somewhat limited play and one should be |
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363 careful with the Suspension of Disbelief syndrome which |
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364 often augment with those kind of systems.</para> |
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365 |
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366 <para>One popular example of Cyan systems are |
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367 <trademark>Nobilis</trademark> and the |
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368 <trademark>Storyteller</trademark> system (at least by |
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369 intentions).</para> |
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370 </listitem> |
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371 </varlistentry> |
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372 <varlistentry id="magentadef"> |
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373 <term>Expressive Magenta (Red and Blue)</term> |
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374 |
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375 <listitem> |
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376 <para>A rare combination: Magenta systems tend to immersed |
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377 you into details. <emphasis>Many</emphasis> details. You |
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378 will be transport in a world where everything, actions or |
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379 materials, are described to the finest element. The trap |
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380 is that, too often, the lack of green in those systems |
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381 lead to a very hard to use and very slow progression of |
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382 the action. The players must be patient or the GM a real |
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383 expert to be able to handle such systems.</para> |
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384 |
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385 <para>Good examples of those systems included mostly |
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386 science-fiction or military oriented settings. |
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387 <trademark>Heavy Gear</trademark> can be described as one |
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388 of them under certain aspects.</para> |
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389 </listitem> |
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390 </varlistentry> |
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391 <varlistentry id="whitedef"> |
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392 <term>Pure White (Red, Green and Blue)</term> |
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393 |
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394 <listitem> |
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395 <para>White system can be think as the perfect system and |
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396 can be easy obtain for a very limited and specific |
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397 setting. However, such settings are often very limited in |
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398 use and, as we will see later, white system tend to dilute |
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399 (we call this a lack of Tenacity) and get darker very |
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400 easily.</para> |
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401 |
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402 <para>I have no really good example of such systems. As |
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403 said, most white system tend to became darker with usage |
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404 and/or a new color quickly dominate.</para> |
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405 </listitem> |
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406 </varlistentry> |
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407 </variablelist> |
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408 |
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409 </section> |
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410 |
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411 <section id="freedom"> |
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412 <title>Freedom</title> |
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413 |
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414 <para>Since both the red and blue colors have deep root in the |
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415 setting, we also want to know how colors are affect by change to |
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416 the setting. For this, we defined two different movements or |
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417 degrees of freedom for the color:</para> |
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418 |
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419 <variablelist> |
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420 <varlistentry id="tenacitydef"> |
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421 <term>Tenacity</term> |
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422 |
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423 <listitem> |
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424 <para>Tenacity represent how much a system retains the same |
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425 color when the setting change. This is a researched |
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426 quality for generic systems, but also for RPG with a very |
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427 diversified setting. Systems that are limited to a few |
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428 character types or situations (like only combat) doesn't |
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429 need a great Tenacity in their colors.</para> |
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430 |
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431 <para>Example of system with a good Tenacity is |
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432 <trademark>GURPS</trademark>.</para> |
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433 </listitem> |
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434 </varlistentry> |
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435 <varlistentry id="chameleondef"> |
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436 <term>Chameleon</term> |
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437 |
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438 <listitem> |
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439 <para>Chameleon systems are able to change their colors to |
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440 fit better with the new setting. This is a very rare |
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441 quality, mostly research for generic system.</para> |
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442 |
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443 <para>The only system I know which try to be chameleon is |
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444 <trademark>Multiverser</trademark>, a system with a bias |
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445 parameter for fitting with different universes.</para> |
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446 </listitem> |
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447 </varlistentry> |
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448 </variablelist> |
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449 |
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450 <para>Both degrees of freedom can appear together for a particular |
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451 system and react differently. They can also keep their quality |
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452 only for a specific range of settings. For example, the D&D |
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453 system has a Tenacity mostly in general medieval-fantastic |
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454 settings.<footnote> |
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455 |
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456 <para>I think the best way to describe of this components is |
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457 talking about inertia and direction changes, but this add a |
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458 new level of metaphor so I ended up inventing new terms that will |
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459 fit better with the metaphor. What do you think about?</para> |
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460 |
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461 </footnote></para> |
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462 |
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463 <remark>I currently doesn't like this section much. The old idea |
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464 behind adaptability is not well enough represent. But for this, |
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465 I should probably work a little more with the background |
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466 setting.</remark> |
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467 |
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468 </section> |
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469 |
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470 <section id="beauty"> |
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471 <title>Beauty of the system</title> |
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472 |
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473 <para>The colors aren't the only important qualities of a system. |
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474 One very important, if not the most important one, is the fun |
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475 factor. We are doing role playing for only one thing: having |
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476 fun. However, fun is a very personal thing where everyone have |
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477 opinion about. Some people can find one system fun and other |
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478 can find them dull. Since fun are <quote>in the eye of the |
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479 beholder</quote>, we use another quality related to our painting |
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480 metaphor that have the same characteristic: Beauty.</para> |
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481 |
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482 <para>Why some people find something beautiful and not something |
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483 else? Well, there is too much factors to enumerate all of them, |
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484 but colors can have something to do with it. Someone can prefer |
|
485 the red color, and another one will prefer a yellow color. Same |
|
486 thing for mechanics. Some people can prefer Red Mechanics, |
|
487 other want Yellow mechanics and dislike Blue mechanics. Could |
|
488 you satisfy all of them? Well, the golden rule in RPG is that |
|
489 if you dislike a rule, ignored it. It's very easy to ignore a |
|
490 rule, less easy to change it or replace it. In the color |
|
491 metaphore, this is equivalent to wearing colorized glasses. If |
|
492 you have some white light and wear yellow glasses, you'll see |
|
493 the world in yellow. But if you only have blue light, your |
|
494 yellow glasses will block it and you'll see nothing. Same thing |
|
495 for mechanics. White mechanics are good because you can please |
|
496 everyone by simply using the right filter on everyone. If one |
|
497 color is lacking, however, whatever the color of your glasses, |
|
498 you will not be able to create it, except if the mechanics is |
|
499 sufficiently <link linkend="transparency">Transparent</link>, a |
|
500 matter we will see later in <xref linkend="brightness"/>.</para> |
|
501 |
|
502 </section> |
|
503 |
|
504 <section id="visibility"> |
|
505 <title>The visibility of the rules</title> |
|
506 |
|
507 <para>Systems are composed of rules, but not all rules are |
|
508 necessary of the same color. How each rule influence the global |
|
509 system apparency is called the visibility of the rule. |
|
510 Visibility represent mostly how often a rule can be used and |
|
511 what will be their influence on the current game. This is an |
|
512 important aspect when designing a role playing system. Often, |
|
513 you can make a tradeoff in a not so much visible aspect of the |
|
514 system without affecting the whole color. By |
|
515 <emphasis>hiding</emphasis> such color into less visible aspect, |
|
516 you can, for example, achieve an overall more reddish system, |
|
517 without necessary affecting the green brightness.</para> |
|
518 |
|
519 <para>Visible rules are often the resolution mechanism, combat |
|
520 rules (in action oriented settings) and PC statistics. Less |
|
521 visible rules are often the initial creation mechanism (you just |
|
522 used it once) and evolution mechanics of the character (which |
|
523 usually only happens at the end of a game).</para> |
|
524 |
|
525 </section> |
|
526 |
|
527 <section id="brightness"> |
|
528 <title>Brightness and Transparency</title> |
|
529 |
|
530 <para>Before going further, a little more clarification is needed. |
|
531 What is Brightness? How it affects the role playing |
|
532 experience?</para> |
|
533 |
|
534 <para>Well, Brightness in this model looks more like a spell of |
|
535 Light, and is opposite, the spell of Darkness. Dark colors will |
|
536 not only have a low effect but even make your settings and your |
|
537 whole role playing experience <emphasis>darker</emphasis>, which |
|
538 means less fun and less interesting. On the opposite way, a |
|
539 brighter system will not only let your setting and GM talents |
|
540 show up, but will enhance your experience, sustaining and even |
|
541 creating a more fun and entertaining experience.</para> |
|
542 |
|
543 <para>So one should not think that ignoring a color will do no |
|
544 harm. All colors are necessary, but some settings and/or GM can |
|
545 provide their own light to the role playing experience and so |
|
546 don't need much. So, the point where a rule color switch from |
|
547 being dark to bright really depends on the quality of the |
|
548 setting and the talents of the GM. A beginner GM will find a |
|
549 system very bright that a more experienced GM will find too dark |
|
550 for him. This is however not a good reason to compare GM with |
|
551 the color system. How a GM can make a system looks Greener, |
|
552 Bluer or Redder for the players it's an open question not |
|
553 address in this article. Same thing about the settings. But |
|
554 it's clear that the brighter the system, the best it can help |
|
555 the GM to make a good role playing experience for his players, |
|
556 and fit the needs of more GM.</para> |
|
557 |
|
558 <section id="transparency"> |
|
559 <title>Transparency</title> |
|
560 |
|
561 <para>There is some system which depends a lot on the GM |
|
562 abilities to bring some brightness to it. We call this |
|
563 characteristic Transparency. A Transparent system let the GM |
|
564 take more decisions about the right way to handle differents |
|
565 situations. They have a very low strictness, often just |
|
566 providing guidelines on how to interpret some results, |
|
567 determine difficulty, or even how to resolve differents |
|
568 situations.</para> |
|
569 |
|
570 <para>There are two common misconceptions with Transparent |
|
571 systems. The first is that Transparent System necessary |
|
572 Green. This is not true at all. By letting the GM abilities |
|
573 take care of many aspects of the role playing experience, |
|
574 transparent system are mainly for mature and experienced |
|
575 players, which is the opposite of some Green qualities.</para> |
|
576 |
|
577 <para>The other misconception is that Green systems are |
|
578 Transparent. This misconception is part due to the fact that |
|
579 Green systems seems to go mostly with the flow that we have |
|
580 the impression that the system is absent, the game going by |
|
581 itself. This is a quality of Green systems, not Transparent |
|
582 one, although that with a good GM, it can be seen this way. |
|
583 In fact, transparent systems take more easily the color the GM |
|
584 want and, for this, looks a lot like <link |
|
585 linkend="chameleondef">Chameleon</link> systems.<footnote> |
|
586 |
|
587 <para>Transparent system denomination is often in a more |
|
588 broad context than here. The right definition seems to |
|
589 vary a lot and so, I prefer to make my own. Generally |
|
590 speaking, what people seems to call transparent systems |
|
591 seems to be more a kind of either Bright Green or |
|
592 Transparent systems in the Colors model. Try to not |
|
593 confuse people by specifying clearly that you are talking |
|
594 about Transparent Color systems.</para> |
|
595 |
|
596 </footnote></para> |
|
597 |
|
598 <para>Transparency, however, is not necessary a goal desirable |
|
599 for any RPG system. As we have said, Transparent system can |
|
600 be very hard on newcomers to RPG. They need some experience |
|
601 from the GM and also the players to make the role playing |
|
602 experience fun and interesting. Transparent systems provide |
|
603 no light by them self, but also no darkness. So, if you're an |
|
604 experienced GM or aim your game to experienced GM, transparent |
|
605 system can be great.</para> |
|
606 |
|
607 <para>Examples of transparent systems include <trademark |
|
608 class="copyright">The Window</trademark> and <trademark>Hero |
|
609 Wars</trademark>.</para> |
|
610 |
|
611 </section> |
|
612 |
|
613 </section> |
|
614 |
|
615 <section id="red"> |
|
616 <title>The red color</title> |
|
617 |
|
618 <para>Consistent Red elements of a particular system are hard to |
|
619 define. The first thing to know when trying to set the red part |
|
620 of a system (or to evaluate the red component of a system) is to |
|
621 know what's the particular element of the setting which is |
|
622 currently simulate and how this element must be and behave. For |
|
623 most setting elements, the creator simply doesn't know.</para> |
|
624 |
|
625 <para>A common assumption is to considered the setting as an image |
|
626 of our reality. This assumption is good most of the time except |
|
627 that there is also many parts, not always explicitly state as |
|
628 so, that differs from our reality laws. For example, we want |
|
629 our characters to be greater than normal, to have special |
|
630 powers, to not die easily and we have this special race which |
|
631 are incredibly big or small and which could not have survived |
|
632 within our physical laws or those spaceships that can warp the |
|
633 universe using an improbability motor. For all of this, as well |
|
634 as for avoiding useless complication, we normally don't want our |
|
635 system to be an exact simulation of <emphasis>our</emphasis> |
|
636 reality. We want it to allow some break with our normal |
|
637 physical laws and history, without affecting too much the |
|
638 overall credibility of the setting. Players are usually ready |
|
639 and even interest to accept such break with the normal rules of |
|
640 our daily reality, in exchange of some fantasy.</para> |
|
641 |
|
642 <para>But here an important word was said: |
|
643 <emphasis>credibility</emphasis>. What's make a system |
|
644 credible? A credible system act in a predictable way when you |
|
645 ask it to simulate different setting aspects. If the setting |
|
646 say that an experienced fighter will be able to resist easily |
|
647 and with no danger to a peasant, the simulation should represent |
|
648 this by giving greatest chance to the fighter to win against the |
|
649 peasant. How much exactly is a matter of perception, but here |
|
650 again, another important word was said: the system must be |
|
651 <emphasis>predictable</emphasis>. With a predictable system, |
|
652 the creator or the GM can adjust the representation of the |
|
653 setting elements in the system, the way she expects them to |
|
654 react, which is certainly the best way to have a credible |
|
655 system.</para> |
|
656 |
|
657 <para>Another important factor for reddish system is about limits. |
|
658 The setting often put some limits on the capacity of many of its |
|
659 elements. A fighter can't lift more than a certain amount of |
|
660 weight and magic power couldn't change the past for example. |
|
661 Those limits must be represent in the system. Although those |
|
662 limits can often be directly imposed by the mechanics used in |
|
663 the system, another way is to use a limitless mechanics and to |
|
664 let arbitration imposed such limits. This make things more |
|
665 complex a little but act like a chameleon mechanism to the |
|
666 system. So the creator or the GM don't have to change the core |
|
667 mechanics when the setting change, they just have to change the |
|
668 few rules that set the limits.</para> |
|
669 |
|
670 <para>Having a limitless mechanism also give another degree of |
|
671 freedom to the system. Limitless mechanism act on a more |
|
672 broader range of settings by definition and so have a better |
|
673 Tenacity. Finding what's the limits of a system is a very good |
|
674 way to evaluate both the red component of a system, as well as |
|
675 its Tenacity. A system that have some setting elements out of |
|
676 its limits doesn't have a bright red color, and a system that |
|
677 have limits very close to the setting elements usually doesn't |
|
678 have a good Tenacity neither. System that can move its limits |
|
679 however without big modification also have a good Chameleon |
|
680 freedom.</para> |
|
681 |
|
682 <para>Finally, an important thing to understand about this color |
|
683 it is that's not because you put more details that your system |
|
684 became necessary redder! Details often just add to the |
|
685 complexity, without giving any real brightness to the red |
|
686 components. To add brightness to the red color, details must |
|
687 really sustain a dissimilar assets to the setting elements |
|
688 linked to it and this asset must be justified in the |
|
689 setting.</para> |
|
690 |
|
691 </section> |
|
692 |
|
693 <section id="green"> |
|
694 <title>The green color</title> |
|
695 |
|
696 <para>The green color is probably the color which is the more |
|
697 affected by the <link linkend="visibility">visibility</link>. |
|
698 Putting a green element on a low visibility aspect of your |
|
699 setting will probably not affect your gaming experience very |
|
700 much, but putting a bright green element on a very visible |
|
701 system can totally change it.</para> |
|
702 |
|
703 <para>The green color is the only one who addresses only system or |
|
704 meta-gaming aspects. The setting isn't touch by it, at least |
|
705 not directly. Its importance however is very high if you want |
|
706 to let the setting take some place since a dark green system |
|
707 often take all the place in the game, taking away all the other |
|
708 elements. The Green color help a lot to not let the system |
|
709 impede into the role playing experience.</para> |
|
710 |
|
711 <para>There is many way to make a system greener, some of them |
|
712 being quite opposed to each other and more a question of |
|
713 balance. For example, a complex formula can be replace by a |
|
714 chart for a better access, but too many charts is slower than |
|
715 using a generic formula. There is also a learning curves that |
|
716 can change the color aspect: a system can have a very stiff |
|
717 learning curve (making it very dark green for a beginner) but |
|
718 once learn and some practice add to it, becoming very quick and |
|
719 easy to use (bright green). The best is to have both aspect |
|
720 together (smooth learning curve and fast resolution time) but |
|
721 it's all a question of tradeoff.</para> |
|
722 |
|
723 <para>Using character classes, not only make the system greener, |
|
724 but can also help to aboard the setting. Using derived |
|
725 attributes instead of summing them in play can also help, as |
|
726 long as they aren't too much. This method is especially useful |
|
727 for high visible elements of the system. There can be many |
|
728 gaming help also like a good index, summary charts for most |
|
729 visible elements, especially on the player character sheet or |
|
730 the game master screen. Multiple rolls or too much dice can |
|
731 also slow down the game, as well as too complex formula or too |
|
732 many factors. Try to combine them when needed in just one roll |
|
733 and avoid adding unnecessary randomness. For example, use the |
|
734 success margin of a <literal>to hit</literal> roll instead of |
|
735 rolling another dice to determine the level of damage can help |
|
736 if the margin of success is easy to determine, or in an |
|
737 opposition roll, let only one opponent roll instead of both: the |
|
738 result will automatically determine the result of the other |
|
739 guy.<footnote> |
|
740 |
|
741 <para>This is good only if that make sense, like in a strength |
|
742 test. If they are some chance for both opponents to fail |
|
743 simultaneously, just allowing this kind of rolls could |
|
744 tarnish the red color of your system.</para> |
|
745 |
|
746 </footnote></para> |
|
747 </section> |
|
748 |
|
749 <section id="blue"> |
|
750 <title>The blue color</title> |
|
751 |
|
752 <para>This color is clearly the more difficult to talk about. |
|
753 Blue is the less <link linkend="tenacitydef">tenacious</link> |
|
754 color and is mostly based on the setting elements. More over, |
|
755 contrarily to the red color, there is no clear common ground of |
|
756 setting elements that we can consider to be desirable for most |
|
757 settings. So, the only way we can speak about the blue color, |
|
758 is by speaking about genre.</para> |
|
759 |
|
760 <para>Genre is a very vague term defined as a specific kind of |
|
761 artistic work. For our concern, we will define genre as a set |
|
762 of different setting elements share between many settings. |
|
763 Genre can overlap between them and a setting can have different |
|
764 genres at the same time. The most common elements addressed by |
|
765 rules are the following:</para> |
|
766 |
|
767 <variablelist> |
|
768 <varlistentry id="risk"> |
|
769 <term>Risk factor</term> |
|
770 <listitem> |
|
771 <para>The risk factor is a common concern of many genres. |
|
772 It measures the importance or consequence of decision by |
|
773 the players. A very risky setting will put players on |
|
774 their toes, carefully thinking about any decision. Rare |
|
775 and scarce resources (like hit points), with very hard |
|
776 actions difficulties and possibility of botches, increase |
|
777 this aspect. High risk factor is popular in the horror |
|
778 genre and some very <emphasis>realistic</emphasis> |
|
779 setting.</para> |
|
780 |
|
781 <para>On the other side, a low risk setting will encourage |
|
782 players to try different things and take risk. Generous |
|
783 resources or a resolution mechanism allowing impossible |
|
784 actions to be succeed (like destiny points) are different |
|
785 ways to achieve such goals. Low risk factor is especially |
|
786 popular in the so-called epic and heroic genres.</para> |
|
787 |
|
788 <para>It's not very clear how Fortune mechanics (mechanics |
|
789 primarily based on random elements) can affect this |
|
790 aspect. A very high fortune system may allow incredible |
|
791 success but also incredible fumbles. So, how much an |
|
792 open-ended dice affect this factor is not clear at all and |
|
793 can vary.</para> |
|
794 </listitem> |
|
795 </varlistentry> |
|
796 <varlistentry id="destiny"> |
|
797 <term>We are heroes</term> |
|
798 <listitem> |
|
799 <para>Heroism is for characters that are kind of chosen by |
|
800 their Gods. They aren't allow to fail easily nor even to |
|
801 die. For this, they often have a kind of Destiny points |
|
802 that can be spent at critical moment to avoid a fatal hit |
|
803 or succeed a critical action. They can also be more |
|
804 powerful than most of the other characters, either by |
|
805 greater statistics, special gifts, or a systematic |
|
806 advantages against their opponents. Sometime, this |
|
807 systematic advantage is replace by a systematic |
|
808 disadvantage towards minor NPC, which are treated as a |
|
809 single opponent, how many they are. Those advantages |
|
810 aren't necessary reserved for PC. Important NPC have |
|
811 often similar advantages and so, constitute greater |
|
812 adversaries for the PC.</para> |
|
813 |
|
814 <para>This aspect is part of many genres, including heroism, |
|
815 action movies, super heroes and often space opera. They |
|
816 are often link with a low risk factor, although not |
|
817 necessary.</para> |
|
818 </listitem> |
|
819 </varlistentry> |
|
820 <varlistentry> |
|
821 <term>Temptation of the Dark Side</term> |
|
822 |
|
823 <listitem> |
|
824 <para>Temptation is an important part of many fantasy |
|
825 settings (either medieval, modern or space opera) and |
|
826 represent the struggle of passion where a character lost |
|
827 control upon herself. It is usually represented with a |
|
828 counter that count down (sometime without even the |
|
829 possibility of reversal) and make the player lost the |
|
830 control over her character. Each time the player do |
|
831 something wrong or are in contact with a temptation, the |
|
832 counter can decrease (may be after a failed test) and the |
|
833 PC must check if it doesn't fall in the dark side (often |
|
834 represent by some frenzy). The check usually represent |
|
835 just a temporary lost of control, but when the counter |
|
836 goes down to zero, the PC is, must of the time, considered |
|
837 a NPC, and the player must create a new one.</para> |
|
838 |
|
839 <para>Temptation can also take another aspect of opposite |
|
840 values (like Chastity and Lust) going from one side to the |
|
841 other. Each test failed reinforce the Value on the |
|
842 victorious side, making each new test either more harder |
|
843 to resist. It's usually very hard to change the balance of |
|
844 the pairs of value otherwise.</para> |
|
845 </listitem> |
|
846 </varlistentry> |
|
847 </variablelist> |
|
848 |
|
849 <para>This list is very partial and mostly presented here as |
|
850 examples of blue color rules. A more complete study of genres |
|
851 and their support in system elements are expected in a future |
|
852 project, not yet plan however. One important thing to note is |
|
853 that the system is not the more important part into getting the |
|
854 right atmosphere to a setting. The GM style and the setting is |
|
855 often far more important. The blue color is more about how a |
|
856 system can support such atmospheres but doesn't necessary create |
|
857 neither guarantee it at all.</para> |
|
858 |
|
859 <section id="metagaming"> |
|
860 |
|
861 <title>Meta-gaming elements</title> |
|
862 |
|
863 <para>Meta-gaming elements can be as important to a role-playing |
|
864 game as the system or even the setting. Why not rules can |
|
865 used them as well to encourage a better role playing |
|
866 experience? In the color model, system that encourage some |
|
867 positive meta-gaming elements are considered bluer. This is |
|
868 mostly because positive meta-gaming elements often also |
|
869 encourage to create a better atmosphere for game play.</para> |
|
870 |
|
871 <para>Although citing every way a system can encourage the usage |
|
872 of positive meta-gaming elements to sustain a good playing |
|
873 experience is not the scope of this article, a good example |
|
874 how this can be achieve is by rewarding (either in direct |
|
875 action bonus, or gain of some resources like Destiny points or |
|
876 XP) for good role playing attitude (good description, |
|
877 character sacrifice that increase the drama, etc.), extra work |
|
878 on the character background, or log keeping for the group, |
|
879 etc. Some games even have very specific mechanism for |
|
880 meta-gaming, like <trademark>Marvel Super Heroes</trademark>'s |
|
881 Humor Points. One could even encourage other players to |
|
882 participate into this kind of rewarding by allowing them a |
|
883 certain amount of points to give each session to other |
|
884 players.</para> |
|
885 </section> |
|
886 |
|
887 </section> |
|
888 |
|
889 <section id="gds"> |
|
890 <title>GDS-derived model and colors</title> |
|
891 |
|
892 <para>The GDS model, also known as <ulink |
|
893 url="http://www.darkshire.org/~jhkim/rpg/styles/faq_v1/faq1.art">Threefold |
|
894 model</ulink> was created to address the concern that many role |
|
895 players have diverse interests in role playing games. How those |
|
896 aspects are exactly defined or even named vary between people, |
|
897 and how those aspects must be addressed by role playing games |
|
898 vary even more, to the point of complete contradiction between |
|
899 different opinions. However, I will try to see how system can |
|
900 sustain the different interests expressed in the models, using |
|
901 the colors. It's clear that, by definition, all colors are |
|
902 important, but we will try to see why they are, and how much, |
|
903 relatively to each other, for each group of interests.</para> |
|
904 |
|
905 <section id="gamist"> |
|
906 <title>Gamist interests</title> |
|
907 |
|
908 <para>Gamist interests can be seen as mainly defined by challenge |
|
909 and fair play. Importance is set to being able to have |
|
910 relatively large set of options to influence the game (and |
|
911 make the challenges interesting), to be able to have good |
|
912 knowledge of the situation for fair decision, and some |
|
913 measurable goals must be set to determine a condition of |
|
914 victory.</para> |
|
915 |
|
916 <para>This is probably the most difficult aspect to determine |
|
917 the right color, but will we go for the <link |
|
918 linkend="red">Red</link> color. This color is important to |
|
919 provide a good environment for fair play. If the rules are |
|
920 incoherent, your players will begin to play by the rules |
|
921 instead of letting them go in character, to have some chance |
|
922 of winning. You'll recognized this by sentences like: |
|
923 <quote>I do this since it gives me a greater bonus</quote> |
|
924 instead of <quote>I do this since it puts me in a better |
|
925 position.</quote></para> |
|
926 |
|
927 <para>The <link linkend="green">Green</link> color is also |
|
928 important, as long as it doesn't remove dissimilarities of |
|
929 assets. The player should be able to distinguish between |
|
930 different options here and there and their decision shouldn't |
|
931 be simply based on pure luck. Green rules can still lead to a |
|
932 very good set of options with a lot of complexity in it. |
|
933 Think about games like chess. Also, green rules allow someone |
|
934 to more quickly be efficient, so the mental abilities of the |
|
935 players become more important than it's knowledge of the game |
|
936 rules, although this can also be taken as an element of |
|
937 competition that please to some gamist oriented |
|
938 players.</para> |
|
939 |
|
940 <para>Finally, the <link linkend="blue">Blue</link> color can |
|
941 sometime help to give players some goals to reach. This |
|
942 shouldn't be neglected although, sometime, the goal |
|
943 of gamers can be in a more <link |
|
944 linkend="metagaming">meta-gaming</link> level.</para> |
|
945 </section> |
|
946 |
|
947 <section id="dramatist"> |
|
948 <title>Dramatist interests</title> |
|
949 |
|
950 <para>Dramatists interests are mostly toward the story line. |
|
951 They tend to consider a good story as the most important part |
|
952 of role playing, with interests directed more toward a good |
|
953 drama then victory or even verisimilitude. The system must |
|
954 give them greater control upon the events with, if possible, |
|
955 mechanics to create good climax and interesting endings, while |
|
956 sustaining the right atmosphere for the game.</para> |
|
957 |
|
958 <para>The must important color of dramatist is <link |
|
959 linkend="blue">Blue</link>. A blue system have a lot of |
|
960 elements to favor climax and atmosphere. The <link |
|
961 linkend="green">Green</link> color is also important since it |
|
962 usually give a little more control in the hand of the GM, and |
|
963 doesn't impede too much into the flow of the game. Finally, |
|
964 the <link linkend="red">Red</link> have still an important |
|
965 part to play to enforce some verisimilitude of the story, as |
|
966 long as this doesn't contradict with the goals of the |
|
967 story.</para> |
|
968 </section> |
|
969 |
|
970 <section id="simulationnist"> |
|
971 <title>Simulationnist interests</title> |
|
972 |
|
973 <para>Simulationist interests are also called Explorer interests |
|
974 and I tend to prefer this latter term. Explorers are mostly |
|
975 interest in discovering new setting elements, but also, to a |
|
976 minor extend, some elements of the system or even meta-gaming |
|
977 aspects (like how players react to RPG situations).</para> |
|
978 |
|
979 <para>For Simulationists, the <link linkend="red">Red</link> |
|
980 color is the more important. An inconsistent system will |
|
981 invalidate the exploration experience, making the situation |
|
982 sound not very believable. The <link |
|
983 linkend="blue">Blue</link> color is also very interesting for |
|
984 this kind of interests, allowing them to better immerse into |
|
985 the game world, sustaining the experience by itself. Finally, |
|
986 the <link linkend="green">Green</link> color is seen more like |
|
987 a default necessity, the system must be fluid enough to not |
|
988 impede into the exploration experience.</para> |
|
989 </section> |
|
990 |
|
991 <section id="gdscolors"> |
|
992 <title>Summary</title> |
|
993 |
|
994 <para>So, Gamers are mostly Orange (Red, Green and Blue), |
|
995 Dramatists are Turquoise (Blue, Green, Red), and |
|
996 Simulationists are Purple (Red, Blue and Green). This is very |
|
997 near the <link linkend="yellowdef">Clear-Sight Yellow</link>, |
|
998 <link linkend="magentadef">Dramatic Cyan</link> and <link |
|
999 linkend="cyandef">Expressive Magenta</link> of the <xref |
|
1000 linkend="colormodel"/>, seen before. Those colors are called |
|
1001 complementary of each other and make me think that the colors |
|
1002 model is complementary to the threefold model about role |
|
1003 playing games and so shouldn't be ignored when designing game. |
|
1004 It make in contrast the fact that's different kind of |
|
1005 interests can be addressed by the same system, although some |
|
1006 tradeoffs are often necessary.</para> |
|
1007 </section> |
|
1008 |
|
1009 </section> |
|
1010 |
|
1011 <section id="history"> |
|
1012 <title>A SCARy history</title> |
|
1013 |
|
1014 <para>The story of the color model begin with a heat discussion |
|
1015 between me and Cédric Lemaire on the createurs-jdr mailing list. |
|
1016 The thread subject was about what's a better system, or what's |
|
1017 can be ameliorate in a given system, regardless of personal |
|
1018 taste. We quickly find that we were talking about different |
|
1019 things using the same words, and so that we need to find a |
|
1020 little bit of vocabulary. After some work, we find up four |
|
1021 qualities upon which we agree that can only be an asset for any |
|
1022 role playing games, with particular definition for each, since |
|
1023 some of this qualities aren't very well defined when applied to |
|
1024 role playing game.</para> |
|
1025 |
|
1026 <para>Months passed and I began to follow the English RPG forums |
|
1027 on Game Design. I found a lot of new theories about RPG but |
|
1028 nothing like the four qualities we have ended up on the French |
|
1029 mailing list. I decide to make an attempt to translate them and |
|
1030 call this system SCARF, including a new fifth quality to it, the |
|
1031 Fun factor. SCARF stand for Simplicity, Coherence, |
|
1032 Adaptability, Realism and Fun, and the definition were very |
|
1033 conceived (for example, a better definition of Realism should |
|
1034 have been Consistency between setting and system). The awaited |
|
1035 flame war that follow were bigger than I was expecting and I was |
|
1036 a bit surprise. On a somewhat impulsive reply where it seems |
|
1037 that all this mess where mostly a question of vocabulary, I |
|
1038 ended up to suggest that the SCARy Qualities were replace with |
|
1039 colors. I set Green for Simplicity, Blue for Coherence, and Red |
|
1040 for Realism. Adaptability was declared to be Tenacity.</para> |
|
1041 |
|
1042 <para>It ended up that I really like the system. True, this were |
|
1043 more opaque than the precedent, but the color metaphor bring |
|
1044 with it many different aspects, especially the some undiscover |
|
1045 one, like the fact that Adaptability wasn't truly a Quality by |
|
1046 itself, but a Quality over the other Qualities. I promise to |
|
1047 get back with a more develop version of the SCAR color model and |
|
1048 return to the createurs-jdr mailing list. One post and a few |
|
1049 replies later, I quickly added new aspects to the Tenacity |
|
1050 model, dividing it between Tenacity, Chameleon and Transparency. |
|
1051 A remark about <trademark>Légendes</trademark> as a bright green |
|
1052 system once you pass the creation rules made me think about the |
|
1053 Visibility of a rule. Some more thoughts, and reading from the |
|
1054 Forge make me push Transparency was move from the colors freedom |
|
1055 to the Visibility section and finally to Brightness section |
|
1056 (which was mostly create the same day, with the Darkness Spell |
|
1057 metaphor add to it.).</para> |
|
1058 |
|
1059 <para>That's all for the moment folks, but I think the color model |
|
1060 doesn't have entirely reveal itself and can still reserved some |
|
1061 good surprises. More works on it is to come soon, I |
|
1062 hope.</para> |
|
1063 |
|
1064 </section> |
|
1065 |
|
1066 <section id="ack"> |
|
1067 <title>Acknowledgements</title> |
|
1068 |
|
1069 <para>I would like to thank Cédric Lemaire, with which I develop, |
|
1070 in the context of a very heat flame war, the SCAR model, the |
|
1071 createurs-jdr mailing list members for their first commentary on |
|
1072 this system, John H. Kim, Brian Gleichman and Ron Edwards for |
|
1073 their wonderful works on RPG theory, and the members of the Art |
|
1074 of Game Design RPGnet forum for their inspirational comments that |
|
1075 lead to the colors model.</para> |
|
1076 </section> |
|
1077 |
|
1078 </article> |
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