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.

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

Le Joueur wrote: 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.

joshua neff wrote: 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.

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?

Mark D. Eddy wrote: 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?

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

Seth L. Blumberg wrote: You left out IIEE.

deadguy wrote: Great job.

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