tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1678761812929125529.post8854015825532706325..comments2023-05-27T11:14:02.426-04:00Comments on Some Space to Think: Checklists as PlayAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14216103531396452644noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1678761812929125529.post-49916574153663855982010-01-20T11:45:03.382-05:002010-01-20T11:45:03.382-05:00Actually I'd say that there are many different...Actually I'd say that there are many different checklists, rather than one checklist for a game. In 4th Ed you have very well designed and tight-knit checklists for handling combat. Outside of this well-defined combat it's the absence of checklists that cause problems in the game.<br /><br />In <i>Mouseguard</i> you basically have a single system that can be applied to any situation. However to make things easier, they've actually adapted the system to provide a checklist for almost every situation they can think of you encountering.<br /><br />One thing about checklists which may have an interesting effect when you look at gaming is the ritual nature of them. Not just in how they are performed (such as the challenge/response of the pre-flight cockpit checks on heavy commercial), but in the fact that performing the checklist becomes such a practised motion of the acolyte, that when things aren't as they seem, or the checklist is not performed, it feels ... wrong.Reverance Pavanehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01217657347160811310noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1678761812929125529.post-63232490398984188032010-01-20T11:33:40.515-05:002010-01-20T11:33:40.515-05:00@Cin They're good questions, and I think they ...@Cin They're good questions, and I think they benefit from no one answer. The boxes can absolutely be farther apart, but that demands the table fill in more and more. Whether that's a bug or a feature depends a lot upon what the table is comfortable with. On some level I suspect it's a manifestation of the larger question of the passionate love/hate relationship between constraints and creativity.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14216103531396452644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1678761812929125529.post-83807905764946878232010-01-20T11:24:08.108-05:002010-01-20T11:24:08.108-05:00So carrying it back to OD&D the checkboxes wou...So carrying it back to OD&D the checkboxes would be even further apart when compared to both games? Should designers strive for a more even distribution of checkboxes or is that a style thing?<br /><br />I would imagine that the flow of Mouseguard (only read it, not played yet) is smoother than 4e. Is that would the rules should do? And how to avoid rules (checkbox) bloat?<br /><br />These are all the questions that popped into my mind after reading your post. Thanks for presenting another perspective for viewing RPGs.CinderellaManJJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01922766356502615925noreply@blogger.com