Regler i rollespil: Lidt læsestof til weekenden

Det er weekend nu eller lige om lidt, og jeg vil derfor dele nogle links med jer om regler, betydningen af at ændre dem, og kunsten at ændre dem.

Det første link er til R.D. Laws, der skriver om skakspillets historie, og om modtagelsen af regelændringen, der forandrede skak fra et afslappende spil til et dynamisk spil: Qwned.

In 15th century Spain, during the reign of Isabella, the queen morphed into the chessboard’s primary bad-ass. Edition wars followed; so-called mad queen’s chess met prolonged resistance in its march across the continent. Many of the objections raised to this faster, more challenging games cited what we would think of as flavor or suspension of disbelief issues. Writers complained that it was unrealistic for a female piece to exert such a devastating effect on play.

Det næste link er til Deeper in the game, der skriver om formidlingen af regler, nemlig balancen mellem klar formidling og farverig læsning, der vækker en forventning hos læseren: Emotional Memory

In a certain way, this is where I’m glad to see more and more designers being willing to take a personal conversational voice in writing their games. Most rpgs descend from the Gygaxian psuedo tech manual voice and it not only makes it harder to remember, it also makes it bland. Try reading Tolkien vs. Middle Earth Roleplaying. Obviously, we’re just starting out, so finding the sweet spots in clarity vs. colorful writing will probably be awhile coming.

Og til sidst er der den helt store gang læsning. Der er udkommet en ny bog om (computer)spil, som kan hentes gratis fra Lulu som pdf: Well Played 1,0. Det, som særligt fangede min nysgerrighed her, var følgende udsagn fra Play This Thing:

Video games can be ‘well played’ in two senses. On the one hand, well played is to games as well read is to books. On the other hand, well played as in well done.

Den slags gør sig også gældende for rollespil, så der er i alle fald noget, som jeg skal have læst op på.