RPG Theory Glossary: B
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Index
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Balance
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Often a term used for evenly dividing among the players, or between
PCs and their opposition. However, it may be applied to many things:
character Effectiveness, player power,
Screen Time, or player status and attention.
It has no clear definition within GNS theory, and in general should
always be qualified on what it refers to.
References:
Gamism: Step On Up
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Balance of Power
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As a role-playing term from The Forge, the distribution of who
has authority to say what happens in a game. This was a term
coined by Hunter Logan, and is essentially the same as the
later-coined term Credibility.
References:
All righty then
Gamism: Step On Up
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Bangs
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A term from the game
Sorcerer, originally
"those moments when the characters realize they have a
problem right now and have to get moving to deal with it."
In Forge discussion, this has become "introducing events into
the game which make a thematically-significant or at least
evocative choice necessary for a player." See also
Kicker.
References:
Using Kickers & Bangs
Question about Bangs, looking for opinions.
Getting ready- Writing the bangs!
Bangs, bangs and more bangs!
Confused about Bangs...
Bangs, Crises, and Inciting Events
Any bangs for our buck?
Clueless about Bangs
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Beeg Horseshoe Theory
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A term coined by Jared A. Sorensen in September 2001 for the idea
that GNS Simulationism doesn't really exist as
its own agenda, but rather is a neutral state in-between Gamism and
Narrativism. i.e. G and N were the ends of the horseshoe,
while S is the middle. This was adapted later to the idea of
a plane which was G vs N on one axis, while the other is low
to high Fidelity. What was seen as
GNS Simulationism is in this model high-Fidelity forms of
Gamism and Narrativism.
References:
All-out dissection (LONG AND BRUTAL)
The Beeg Horseshoe Theory
Beeg Horseshoe Theory Revisited
The Roots of Sim II
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The Big Model
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Ron Edward's term for his general theory of role-playing
interaction, incorporating his ideas on GNS
and further describing role-play as nested subsets of
Social Contract, Exploration,
and Creative Agenda, respectively.
References:
The Whole Model - this is it
Narrativism: Story Now
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Black Curtain
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Ron Edward's term for the techniques a GM may employ to keep his
use of Force hidden from the other participants
in the game, such that they are at least somewhat under the
impression that their characters' significant decisions are
under their control. See Illusionism.
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Blacow Player Types
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An early model of player types from the late 1970s by Glen Blacow.
This divided role-players into four groups: "Roleplayers",
"Storytellers", "Power Gamers", and "Wargamers". This was later
adopted by Robin Laws in his book, "Robin's Laws of Good Game
Mastering". Laws includes seven types, however: The Power Gamer,
The Butt-Kicker, The Tactician (i.e. wargamer), The Specialist,
The Method Actor (i.e. roleplayer), The Storyteller, and the Casual
Gamer.
References:
Robin's Laws of Good Gamemastering
Player Types (from Glen Blacow and Robin D. Laws)
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Blood Opera
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A Forge term for play in which character generation focuses on potentially
irreconcilable differences among at least some of the characters, and
in which scenario generation is designed to put as much pressure on
these differences (and therefore on unexpected alliances as possible).
Notable for high mortality rates among characters, in the manner of
the movie "Reservoir Dogs". The term was coined by Ralph Mazza, Jake
Norwood, and Ron Edwards after playing an especially masochistic
session of
The Riddle of Steel
during Origins 2003.
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Bob
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Within GNS Narrativist play, withholding response
or otherwise mandating a break in the Premise-addressing action of
play. Coined by Ron Edwards in the "Sex & Sorcery" supplement
for Sorcerer.
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Breaking the game
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Ron Edwards' phrase from his Gamism essay for exploiting a loophole
in the game such that repetitive behavior overshadows the other PCs
or causes other irreparable problems. Described as
"a dysfunctional technique of Hard Core Gamist play".
References:
Gamism: Step On Up
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Butt-Kicker
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One of Robin D. Laws seven player types, as part of the
Blacow Player Types. The Butt-Kicker is the
type of player who mainly wants to let off some steam with
"old-fashioned vicarious mayhem".
References:
Robin's Laws of Good Gamemastering
Player Types (from Glen Blacow and Robin D. Laws)
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John H. Kim
<jhkim@darkshire.net>
Last modified: Tue Mar 18 15:19:07 2008