The Culture: Commentary On The Elf City Battle

What Jeffro had to say about my article on the Elf City Battle.

Several things to note here: Braunstein Play generated a unique battle scenario that is unlike anything in any game module. Player engagement was maintained over a long span of time without the benefit of standard “wargaming” practices as codified by (for example) the varied and well developed products of G.M.T. Games. The game elements and factions can be anything a player is excited about. No game design or product purchase is required for people to play what they want. There is a significant population of people that will get better wargaming experiences from these techniques than they would from traditional wargaming products. People don’t need to know much or buy anything to participate in these types of games and it is not terribly hard to get them to keep coming back. The results of this battle scenario will significantly impact the campaign state and new conflicts and scenarios will develop organically from the outcomes of events spread across the campaign map. The AD&D combat rules which have been on most of our game shelves for many decades and which THE ENTIRE WORLD said were terrible and which EVERYONE house ruled in the exact same half-dozen ways have qualities which contribute greatly to these people being able to resolve anything that happens in this cutthroat free-for-all. Combat rules which look smarter or better on paper are not actually being used to produce gameplay of this quality or duration or scope. And note the painful cognitive dissonance that results from contemplating the fact that nobody played rpgs or wargames this way between 1980 and 2020… while simultaneously rule sets on basically EVERYONE’S shelves pretty well told you what you needed to know in order to do this stuff. Everything about this is extraordinary start to finish.

- Jeffro Johnson

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You don't need to buy a damned thing other than the rules to play satisfying campaigns. Ever.