Again with Viscerality

The combat takes up too many of the rules, and too many item slots. The descriptions of guns are 50 words, whereas water is only 5 or 10. What gives, man?

I think a lot of it comes from my experience with D&D 3.5. As I've mentioned before, D&D is a pulp fantasy simulator- meaning a huge focus on combat. 3.5 edition did away with the pulpiness, but still kept the combat focus. Notice how all D&D player's stories are about combat encounters?

So, I've tried to re-think the challenge dynamic in an RPG. I asked myself- what are the solutions to various challenges? Here's my list.

• Combat
• Stealth
• Speech
• Resources
• Devices
• Exploration
• Puzzle
• Roleplay

Combat:
Very obvious. By far the most overused solution to a problem. The gameplay is to drain the opposition's health, without losing your own. This could be an entire game. I've been thinking about future editions of the EE, and this is going to be the most prone to change.

Stealth:
My main inspiration was one of the Splinter Cell games. Using light, sound, and also smell, you could create a very compelling set of stealth rules. Much more focus on tension, rather than intensity. I like stealth because it is just as failure-prone as combat, and much more believable.

Speech:
Again, one thing I wanted to add to the EE. Let reputation and believability be the HP bars, and just run the encounter as people talking. By Sunburn 3, this is definitely going to be a feature. Obviously, it'll take some time, but it's a mechanic which I think is missing from most RPGs, and even video games.

Resources:
Overlooked in most games is the mercantilist answer. In a lot of cases, just having enough money or the right items can solve a problem in itself. Not just buying the meat shield a bigger gun, but having something designed specifically for the problem you're solving. What I try to do is model a system whereby a character can survive just by money management, and lots of bribes.

Devices:
A bit trickier. Having worked in industry, I can attest to the complexity of certain machinery. Some of it is complex enough to warrant more than one check for operation. It would be cool to make an "encounter" out of picking a lock, or disarming a trap. The problem would be, what "attacks" would you be making? Pounding it with a hammer? Manipulating it with lockpicks? Dunking it in acid? If it works, great! Otherwise, this might be a dud.

Exploration:
Not just in the geographical sense. Escape-the-room games are a good example of this mechanic, because you win by looking everywhere. I mostly think of it in a Bethesda Games sense- go here, find this, do this thing. I believe a pure exploration game would be impossible to pull off (though, playing as Lewis and Clark would be rather entertaining). But, as an added feature, I think it's great. There's going to be some content in Spectrum hidden away near the edges of maps, to encourage exploration of the world.

I like exploration as an experience, but it's pretty hard to make challenging or engaging.

Puzzle:
This one, as well as Roleplaying, are very difficult to describe in perfect detail. The purpose of a puzzle is to challenge the players through their characters. I might hand them something in real life, or describe the problem orally. Visual aids help tremendously.

Roleplaying:
By far the hardest to describe on the list. You could make an argument that it's another category in disguise, but I like to think of it like manifest destiny, or self-actualization.

The concept behind it is accumulation of knowledge, usually gained through exploration (or puzzles. All three could be lumped together as "stuff the power player doesn't care about"). Then, the application of that knowledge. It doesn't rely on the character's stats, it instead relies on the player. Immersing yourself in the lore of the world to manipulate presented events is something I really think everyone should do at least once. For some games, this is a viable technique. I can't think of very many, there are many more examples of the opposite. Think of all the games where it doesn't make a difference how much you care about the world.

Being drawn into a fictional world is an amazing experience. It makes everything so real for the players, but only if they're willing to go under the surface. If I ever devise a good example of problem solving by Roleplaying, I will definitely post it here. For now, it's a little voice in the back of my head.

~

See how many alternatives there are to combat-based gameplay? As long as there's a solid mechanic behind all of these (except the last two), almost anything could be compelling. I could make an interesting campaign out of a boring day at the post office.