[Discuss] "roleplaying island"

[Timothy Collett]

On Jun 25, 2007, at 6:50 AM, rax at outertilog.net wrote:
> ...Because, knowing how busy you, and everyone else was, you did  
> all the necessary things (paperwork/signatures in blood/secret code  
> words sealed with your stamp/etc), and sent word to the people in  
> the region to do it all in your absence... Just because the game  
> mechanics don't allow that to happen, doesn't mean it's not a  
> feasible reason for it.

Yes, but *I* am the Ruler, and I *know* I didn't do all that.  And  
since the regions aren't in anyone's Duchy, how was anyone else  
supposed to make the appointment?

...What I see here is a problem that crops up quite a bit in  
BattleMaster: our characters' knowledge of gameplay restrictions.

Is it unreasonable to say that our characters *know* that you cannot  
recruit troops anywhere but the capital?  If so, then how in the name  
of the Gods do they rationalize not being able to recruit troops in  
the seat of their own power, the non-capital city they are Duke of?   
Or the region they're Count of?  Or just the region they're a Knight of?

Is it unreasonable to say that our characters *know* that you cannot  
travel more than one region in a half-day (full day in the  
Colonies!), even if travel from A->B is 3 hours and B->C is 4 hours?   
If so, then how do they explain the fact that no matter *how* early  
in the day they set out from region A, with a clear plan for getting  
to region C, they *never* reach region C in less than a *full day*?

There are an awful lot of restrictions that make perfect sense from a  
gameplay standpoint but look totally looney from an RP standpoint-- 
but, even as an advocate of strong RP standards, it doesn't make  
sense to me to demand that our characters *not know about them*.  It  
makes for an awful lot of circumlocution, and while I can certainly  
come up with outlandish but IC reasons to explain these things, I'm  
not falsely modest enough to think that I'm an average player in that  
respect.

So if, among all the characters in my family, none of them has *ever*  
seen anyone gain a region from any method other than by being  
formally appointed by the Duke or Ruler (which is obvious and well- 
documented, not to mention announced to the realm), or by what turns  
out to be forging paperwork to "buy" the title, what in the world are  
they supposed to think when someone shows up claiming to be the  
Marquis of Richtown, when there was no announcement about it, the  
ruler's on the other side of the realm, and they're known to have a  
rich family?

Timothy Collett
Anaris Family

--

Military justice is to justice what military music is to music.
  -- Groucho Marx