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Rules and Discussions

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, Mar 16th, '10 at 03:08 PM (1574 Views)

I've noticed a marked change in some of my perspective.

When I was involved with SETAC discussing rules and variations and costs and all that was really interesting. Possibly because there was a chance that the discussion would affect the Rules Themselves, as in what's printed in the book.

Once that's done though, and it's all printed. I find the exercise tedious. banal. annoying.

I take to heart the idea of Toolkitting. I firmly believe the most important Chapter in both books is "How To Change The System" - more important than all the other chapters combined. It's the heart of the Universal Toolkit to kit it out how you want.

Now when a rules discussion comes up I find myself immediately pegging the 'this is stupid' meter all the way until it breaks. Not that the people I'm conversing with are in any way stupid. Far from it. I find the conversation itself just dumb boring.

Here's why: If you think something is wrong, change it. I certainly don't think everything in the book is spot on. So I will change it to suit my needs and preferences and sense of fairness.

Because I can guarantee that what I think is wrong with the system is not what you think is wrong with the system. At least, not on all points.

Meh... I may have less and less to share on the boards over time. If the people weren't so dang cool I'd just leave completely.

Tags: rules

Categories: Gaming - General

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Comments

Nolgroth - Mar 16th, '10 07:55 PM
Well I can understand you completely. I suppose in many ways, I don't understand when people who find some sort of limitation with the system don't make sh*t up on spot to fix it. It is a strange dichotomy. If it were a more rigidly designed system (D&D whatever) then people house rule things to their hearts content. In HERO, it seems like folk are afraid to do the same thing. My question has always been "what is the net effect going to be on gameplay?" I rarely worry about if what I am doing is "HERO Approved."

I find myself coming and going in participation on the boards. Do what feels right at the time. Of course, I get to hang out at our games so that makes it easier to cope with any reduced board activity.
Chris Goodwin - Mar 17th, '10 08:49 AM
I've been hanging out on the boards less myself lately, for pretty much the same reasons.
Peregrine - Mar 17th, '10 06:21 PM
Ditto. I'm more interested in the setting discussions on the various genre boards myself.
Zane_Marlowe - Mar 17th, '10 09:26 PM
You know, I'll bet some of the trepidation about changing the system is motivated (ironically) by the fact that that system purports to be a toolkit in the first place. If I have a system that says it can be used to build anything, and then I start thinking about changing some parts of it, I might think I've been using it wrong in the first place, and that there's some way to get the desired effect without changing the tools themselves. At least that thought gives you a reason to start combing the books if you don't like the way some ordinary rule works.

Of course, this may not capture the kind of debates people are actually having, but maybe not everyone's come to see as G-A has that you can treat the tools the way you treat the things you build with them.
ghost-angel - Mar 18th, '10 05:34 PM
Peregine: Indeed - how people implement custom rules for a specific setting, now that's a Rules Discussion I could dive into. It has actual application.

Zane - You know, I think you're onto something. That's a very good point, thanks for bringing it up, wish I could Rep a Blog Comment.