DECIDE

DECIDE has racked up many comments on this site, as well as in a related SJG forum thread.

http://www.gamesdiner.com/decide
http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?p=458795

While the idea behind DECIDE is solid, any specific implementation is a throwaway item: there are plenty of possible implementations, and you can easily drop one you don't like and replace with another, all without tossing out the core idea. So I'm not too interested in debating implementations; any will generally fall under "yeah, whatever works for you".

But in the spirit of designer's notes, here are thoughts on why I use the implementation I do, with commentary on objections to it: Read more...

What's the basic "unit" of RPG play? I'd call it this little exchange or interaction:

1. Something – some event, stimulus, something – happens.
2. Players weigh the likely consequences of that something, and state how they respond.
3. Based on the that interaction, the holy trio (GM, Players, and Game Rules) determine the outcome.

And from that little procedure, you build a scene, a session, even a campaign – it just depends on how many times you rinse and repeat.

There is in GURPS one small, wacky, but mostly harmless exception to this core unit. Read more...