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Jarvin @animaznman.bsky.social · 11h

Differences are the life of spice 🤪. I'm not familiar enough with 'othering' to say if games really do it.

Jarvin @animaznman.bsky.social · 11h

To bring it back to TTRPGs,are the separate roles out of necessity? Chainmail was a wargame that had differentiated units, but no roles for the players that were different. And many GMless games are proof it's not of necessity. Does differentiation of roles make the game worse? I don't think so.

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Jarvin @animaznman.bsky.social · 11h

You've got games like Evolved, which are asymmetric opposition, and Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes or Operation Tango, that are asymmetric co-op. These games thrive on the fact that other roles are designated based on 'which side of the screen' you're on.

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Jarvin @animaznman.bsky.social · 11h

Then I think of MMORPGs, where you'll have at least a tank, dps, and healer (or whatever roles), and those roles were very much designed from the get-go, as opposed to being organically produced.
Asymmetry in opposition is something I feel that's relatively fresh for the video game scene.

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Jarvin @animaznman.bsky.social · 11h

Makes me think about having different 'roles' in the first place. Games like futbol got positions/roles out of necessity as the game evolved. Card games like hearts and blackjack (minus a house in the casino version) lack differentiated roles.

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Jarvin @animaznman.bsky.social · 14h

Does rolling dice in a game make it so that you are 'gaming more' (whatever that means) than games where dice rolling isn't an element?

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Jarvin @animaznman.bsky.social · 14h

That makes me feel like the conversation can start going to 'What does it mean to play a game?' if you take a 'board game' like Fiasco, it almost feels like a one shot rpg, but nobody is ever rolling dice. Then you've got the emergence of actual diceless TTRPGs, like Alice is Missing. DREAD, etc..

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Jarvin @animaznman.bsky.social · 17h

I am a fan of rules that say something to the effect of 'If it's not interesting/success (or failure) is guaranteed, don't roll.' But repetition/reinforcement of ideas at specific concepts isn't a loss (it's actually what they taught me in teacher school.) Plus, more references that say don't roll.

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Jarvin @animaznman.bsky.social · 17h

Is that me projecting from when I was learning? Probably, but I sure do expect myself to be average just like everyone else 🤪.
I think it's pertinent to put it in the book because then there's a source players can look at and say 'Hey, the rules say I specifically don't need to roll for this.'

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Jarvin @animaznman.bsky.social · 17h

I'm of the camp that many new GMs will try to make players roll for things they shouldn't regardless of what it says in the rulebook, based on the idea some people think that 'Playing means rolling dice, so if you aren't rolling dice, then I'm not making you play enough.'

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Jarvin @animaznman.bsky.social · 18h

There are countable many things that exist
There are an uncountable many things that don't exist. 🫠

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Jarvin @animaznman.bsky.social · 18h

This could easily be translated to a game like #BladesInTheDark, where you can just ask people how many pips they've got in a particular skill.

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Jarvin @animaznman.bsky.social · 18h

And as someone else pointed out, something trivial for one person might be non-trivial for someone else. While I was at a #Pathfinder2e table, the GM asked for peoples' proficiencies and if we were Expert, we didn't need to roll.

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Jarvin @animaznman.bsky.social · 18h

It could be there to provide a scale/reference point. 'You know how difficult something needs to be in order to cause a roll, let me reinforce it a little by showing you what you don't need to roll for.'

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Jarvin @animaznman.bsky.social · 19h

"How do you know they've been impersonating witches?"
"We got tie and throw them in the lake. If they sink, it's obvious they're not a witch and we're impersonating one. If they float, then that's an even more obvious sign they are currently impersonating a witch!"
"😒😒😒😒🙄😮‍💨"

Jarvin @animaznman.bsky.social · 19h

Ahhh. I see. Do you feel there are any classes it'd be viable to not have subclasses, and instead just port their subclass aspects to selectable feats?

Jarvin @animaznman.bsky.social · 1d

Mark Coville is some dude people listen to and he and a team made Draw Steel.

There's also 13th Age 2nd edition coming out relatively soon.

There's also Burning Wheel and Torchbearer.

Does Root count as a Fantasy TTRPG?

There's also Dungeon World.

There's also Shadow of the Something...

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Jarvin @animaznman.bsky.social · 1d

"So what happens when nobody's been impersonating witches?"
"Impossible. There's always somebody doing it."
"Does that mean you go out on an impersonating witch hunt?"
"Exactly."
"😒"

Golarion Today @golariontoday.bsky.social · 1d

30 Lamashan: Festival of the Witch
#Irrisen
pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Irrisen
Pranks are played at this festival celebrating witchcraft and the central part it plays in Irriseni culture. The festival climax involves burning a prisoner who has impersonated a witch.

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Jarvin @animaznman.bsky.social · 1d

I'm curious what's your dislike about subclasses? Do you feel that they restrict too much?

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Jarvin @animaznman.bsky.social · 1d

You failed the assignment. That makes it wayyyy better. 🤪

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Jarvin @animaznman.bsky.social · 1d

Rolling dice only serves as a way to be impartial. It simulates randomness and fairness, but if the means is to determine an outcome, then why not just skip the middleman, if you know you're going to be impartial anyways?

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Jarvin @animaznman.bsky.social · 1d

Going back to what you're talking about, I would frame it as you're still playing the game with your other players, but your role is just that much different. Some people really enjoy the storytelling aspect and creativeness/freedom to react to what happens.

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Jarvin @animaznman.bsky.social · 1d

And it's on the PCs to roll well. But it creates tension and puts the onus on the players/characters. "The bandit brandishes their dagger and runs at you. You'll take 10 piercing damage unless you're able to dodge or parry."

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Jarvin @animaznman.bsky.social · 1d

Juxtapose this even further with the idea of some folks who like the idea of GM never needing to roll a d20 for Pathfinder. They turn AC into a rollable # (Take AC minus 10 + d20) and you roll to dodge or rebuff an enemy attack. This can create nice tension because all I do is roll damage

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Jarvin @animaznman.bsky.social · 1d

I compare this to a game like IronSworn (option for GMless), where you just come up with the story based on the outcomes of your roll. The GM only gives input when players can't come up with story.

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