Steven Jarvis (of sjarvis.com) has a great post about “drifting” a task resolution system — D&D, in this case — into a conflict resolution-based system. The theory is very accessible, and he provides a solid example.
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Thanks for the mention, Martin. It’s funny. I spent most of the last year learning and playing a number of indie, narrativist, Forge-y (or whatever) games (esp. Burning Wheel), and I thought I had sorta burned out on them. So, I returned to D&D this fall as a sort of palate-cleanser, eager to “let D&D be D&D.” Ironically, I now spend most of my time trying to figure out how to drift D&D closer to those other games/styles!
Coming off of two Burning Wheel events at this year’s GenCon, drifting D&D was on my mind as well. Some of the earliest posts here reflect that. 😉
The whole “101 Days of D&D” series is also worth checking out.
Having never experienced any Forge type games, the whole “What is your intent?” idea really took me. I really like how the whole resolution thing almost builds itself under those kinds of conditions. One of my campaigns I’m currently running would really benefit from this sort of dialoging.
Thanks for the post!
Drew: Steven’s a sharp guy, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this topic came up again in his “101 days” project.
And to think: I blew off my D&D game tonight and we played Munchkin instead. 🙂 Seriously. It was a blast. I’ve never played it before.
I think all the theorizing this past week got to me and I freaked out a little. I’ll have a post later this weekend about “thinking too much.” I imagine I’m not the only GM who has this particular problem.
(Steven) I imagine I’m not the only GM who has this particular problem.
Guilty as charged — if I’m not careful, I tend to overthink things too (in gaming and in life).