The Forge Archives

Well, since no one else seems to be doing it, I've put together the foundation of a Forgian dictionary. This is by no means complete. Please, please, PLEASE, post to this thread with clarifications and corrections. I'm envisioning this thread as a self-modifying resource. Rather than have a separately maintained document like a FAQ, this thread will grow and change as discussions take place. New members can simply be directed to this thread if they need a quick run-down of the terminology. I've tried to be as clear, and concise as possible.

Actor Stance - A stance in which decisions are arrived at using only the knowledge and perceptions possessed by the character.

Author Stance - A stance in which decisions are arrived at according to the player's own gaming priorities, then retroactively justified within the context of the game.

Character - In-game persona.

Color - Detail and nuance that gives the game flavor and atmosphere.

Director Stance - A stance in which the player not only determines the actions of his character, but also the Situation surrounding the character.

DFK - (Drama / Fortune / Karma, q.q.v.) Collectively, the three classifications of resolution systems.

Drama - A system of resolution that relies on asserted statements without reference to quantitative values.

Exploration - Imagination in action.

Fortune - A system of resolution that relies on random elements (dice, cards, spinners) often coupled with quantitative values.

Gamism - A mode of play in which competition among the participants is prioritized.

GNS - (Gamism / Narrativism / Simulationism, q.q.v.) The three modes of play that collectively make up Ron Edwards' system for classifying during-play decisions.

http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=774">IIEE (Intent/Initiation/Execution/Effect) - Four separate methods of stating character actions.

Illusionism - A style of gaming in which the GM has complete controll over a sequence of events that is presented to the who act as an audience. The players' only contribution to the game takes the form of color.

Karma - A system of resolution that relies on quantitative values with no random elements.

Narrativism - A mode of play in which the creation of story with literary merit (as defined by the literary standards of the group) is prioritized.

Narrativist (or Gamist or Simulationist) Game - A game that facilitates the particular mode of play in question.

Pawn Stance - Author stance without the retroactive justification. (Characters are "pawns" that act for no in-game justifiable or discernable reason.)

Premise - The theme that the game focuses on / is built around. In the specific case of Narrativism, a thematic question that play is devoted to addressing.

Setting - Game environment (including history) inhabited by the characters.

Simulationism - A mode of play in which the Exploration of a particular component element (Character, Color, Setting, or Situation, q.q.v.) is prioritized.

Situation - Circumstances that characters are placed / find themselves in.

Stance - A specific attitude (Actor, Author, Director, q.q.v.) that determines how players make decisions concerning the actions of their characters.

Story - (1) A caused sequence of events. (2) A work of literary merit produced by Narrative gameplay.

System - Rules or procedures used to determine in-game events.

Social Contract - An agreement, either explicit or implicit, between the participants of an RPG to abide by certain behavioral rules and social conventions.

Well, I really don't like the definition for Narrativism (& by extension, the second definition of Story). "Literary merit" is a slippery concept--forget about it. Narrativism is about creating a story right now (rather than adhering to some pre-constructed idea of how the story should flow), with all players (both GM & non-GM) creating the story. But that doesn't sound good for the succinct definition, so if someone's get a better one, go for it.

I think this belongs more appropriately in the GNS Model Discussion forum as all this terminology comes strictly from Ron's essay.  As has been said before, this is not a Ron Edwards site; Site Discussion would therefore not be about Ron Edwards' essay.

Fang Langford

Quote from: Le JoueurI think this belongs more appropriately in the GNS Model Discussion forum as all this terminology comes strictly from Ron's essay.  As has been said before, this is not a Ron Edwards site; Site Discussion would therefore not be about Ron Edwards' essay.

I guess that makes sense, Fang. Should I just copy this into a new post over there, or can one of the administrators move it?

Quote from: joshua neffWell, I really don't like the definition for Narrativism (& by extension, the second definition of Story). "Literary merit" is a slippery concept--forget about it. Narrativism is about creating a story right now (rather than adhering to some pre-constructed idea of how the story should flow), with all players (both GM & non-GM) creating the story. But that doesn't sound good for the succinct definition, so if someone's get a better one, go for it.

It is slippery, but it matches the essay I think. IIRC Ron has said before that "literary merit" is completely subjective, and is dependant on the group in question. If the group is consciously trying to create a story that meets with *their* criteria of literary merit, then they're playing a Narrativist game. If the story matches their goals when they get finished playing, then they've succeeded, regardless of whether or not anyone else thinks the game is cool. Perhaps I should ammend the definition to say "...literary merit in the eyes of the group." Actually, I think that's a good idea. I'll do it right now. :)

This is a bit of a nitpick, but you should be using q.q.v. for multiple items being crossreferenced.

In a different issue, are you sure you've got all of the subsets of Simulationism?

Quote from: Mark D. EddyThis is a bit of a nitpick, but you should be using q.q.v. for multiple items being crossreferenced.

Thanks for pointing that out! Changing now!

Quote
In a different issue, are you sure you've got all of the subsets of Simulationism?

Actually, I had one too many! Exploration of PRemise is not part of Ron's essay. :)

Maybe you could add all those RPG-abbreviations too; they are a real killer for newbe's like me. ;)

You left out IIEE.

I can't believe it.  You left out --

Aah, just kidding.  Thanks.  I'm still learning the terminology, and this is a huge help.  Sure, I can execute a search every time I run across a new term (or a term I've looked up before, since I usually can't remember what these phrases are supposed to mean), but it's nice to have something like this.  Great job.

-- Rafael

Quote from: Seth L. BlumbergYou left out IIEE.

I don't remember IIEE being in the essay. What does it mean?

Quote from: deadguyGreat job.

Thanks! I hope everyone finds it as useful as you. :)

Quote from: PaganiniI don't remember IIEE being in the essay. What does it mean?

It's one of the "talk about it later" topics in the essay, and it gets bandied about from time to time in the forums. It stands for Intent/Initiation/Execution/Effect, and the best exposition of it is probably in this thread. (Note that the terminology has changed slightly since that thread.)