Gus L. of Dungeon of Signs fame wrote four short essays on aspects of older editions of D&D (Alignment, Reaction Rolls/Morale, Asymmetrical Encounters, & Faction Intrigue) that can be used to remove moral absolutes and combat as a primary means of resolution which tend to manifest as a linear adventure supporting a narrative of "the good heroes kill the bad, evil orc because they are orcs even if it is never clear why there is conflict in the first place".
As Gus puts it:
Beyond any desire not to include disturbing, uncritical echos of colonial history and subjugation in ones game, or even for hobbyists who reject this argument (please still consider it and remember that you might not see what isn't a threat to you)these mechanics are fun and support a specific play experience. They encourage more complex roleplay, player planning, and non-combat solutions to obstacles. With these chnages classic social mechanics and design principles make for a better open world games, and generally promote player engagement with the setting because role play and negotiation themselves become paths to mechanical success, combat becomes more risky and 'fluff' or 'lore' become useful for understanding NPC/Monster motivations and goals.
I collected these essays because they are a good discussion of each of these aspects or mechanics, how to implement them, and the potential impact on play. Here are choice quotes that I pulled out:
LINK: https://alldeadgenerations.blogspot.com/2020/12/legacy-social-mechanics-and.html
On ALIGNMENT
On ASYMMETRICAL ENCOUNTERS
On the REACTION ROLL
Thanks for all your help Warren, these would have been lost like tears in the rain if you hadn't scooped them up and given them a bit of polish.
ReplyDeleteNo problem! Exactly why I did it. They are good musings and while blogs have flaws, they do a bit better at long term preservation.
DeleteI think these should be thrown in like KNOCK #2 or something similar at some point too!