Discussion
My hope is that this article will serve as a single landing-point for folks curious about what I mean by "High-Trust Trad" roleplaying, or HTT.
https://rolltop-indigo.blogspot.com/2026/08/whats-forever-for.html
But, I know about hope, and the Internet. 😁
@[email protected] the mention of combinatorics reminded me to finally post about something: bonfire.mavnn.eu/pub/objects...
@SJohnRoss I think that’s great, and it matches the understanding I’d gained from your writings so far. Although what *really* made it crystallise for me was watching Familiar Sights.
And now I just have to deal with my current table being stuck in Medium-to-Low. ☹️ Try as I might, I can’t get them comfortable with tactical infinity. I think it’s because they’re worried about “losing”, which might be my fault for putting too high-stakes problems in front of them?
@utterfiction Some folks just don't crave it!
Some because they're not in love with roleplay.
Some because they want "the roleplaying parts" to be mostly reflective and free of stakes.
Some because they're passionate about the boardgame stuff and don't want to lose that focus.
_Many_ because they want story.
HTT is for weirdos. Even by RPG standards!
Scary stakes MIGHT make roleplay seem less worth it. I haven't seen that but, maybe? Maybe try smaller doses of HTT at the edges.
@SJohnRoss
What bugs me most about the direction of a *certain* game is that a bit over a decade ago, it introduced a bit of (very thin and basic) fuel for characterization... aaand then emphasized styles of adventure design where those tools did not matter *at all*. In the most recent revision, they unsurprisingly proceeded to remove the characterization-encouraging bit of the game design — and, for that matter, tried to write the rest of the rules to be as detached from lore as possible.
@pteryx For better or worse, and in so many different directions, a lot of creative RPG work goes into fulfilling the many promises certain others games made or implied, but never kept ... 😮
@SJohnRoss
In this case, your article makes me suspect you'd appreciate the idea of a system getting you started with "I have this quirk, value this abstract concept and this physically real noun, but also think this wrong way"... and *also* lament that they wasted a perfectly good idea.
Oh! Almost forgot, it encouraged "I start with this mysterious flavor object" too. No idea if that survived the revision... probably not, as the surrounding adventure design didn't lend itself to that either.
@SJohnRoss Excellent! That explains a lot. Thanks!
@skippy You're welcome! And now, I must flee to my bunker, before Reddit arrives with pitchforks. 😂
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