Tuesday, June 25, 2024

The Culture: D&D Is A Faction-Based Wargame

Friend of the Retreat Jon Mollison lays it out better than I have.

You'll see this in #BROSR session reports and livestreams often, becoming more obvious with time.

This is why you don't need supplements; your players are responsible for creating all the content that a campaign will ever need through their PvP gameplay, and it is that dynamic that creates the context and opportunities for the dungeon delving that most of you are familiar with.

You don't need to wait for the Referee to say that Lord Jackass wants a thing done. You can be Lord Jackass from the get-go and get up to jackass things all on your own, and between writing orders for Lord Jackass to the Referee to adjudicate you can play another character (because in real D&D you are not married to your character sheet) and Do Something Else.

You don't need to wait for the World Ending Plot. You can cause it, drive it, and actively pursue it; you can be the Big Bad Evil Guy, and you can play to win- and you should!

This is why no one cares about your setting preferences. The users--the players--define what that is by their actions, which is Revealed Preference in action, and man are they consistent in being irreverent about it. If they want to weaponize Emus to use as bioweapons against their enemies, they will. Referees would enjoy the game and hobby a lot more by sitting back and letting them cook than taking offense and attempt to herd the cats.

All you need to do is set up a faction-based wargame scenario, get some folks to run the factions, and let them go.

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