From: Elizabeth.Mccoy@bbs.oit.unc.edu (Elizabeth Mccoy)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: Different playing styles(was Improvisation)
Date: 26 Aug 92 20:11:52 GMT
Organization: Extended Bulletin Board Service

In article <5168@blue.cis.pitt.edu.UUCP> seawasp@vm2.cis.pitt.edu (Sea Wasp) writes:
>In article <1992Aug26.084517.12744@solix.udac.uu.se> magnus@nexto.udac.uu.se (Magnus Ring) writes:
>>I think it's time to move the impro/prep thread on to a playing style
>>discussion instead. Could someone start this up by giving a good  
>>description of the different styles (Hack'n'Slash, Wargaming, Story  
>>Playing, Role Playing etc)? It seems to me that some people has too
>
>	Well, sure, I'll give it a shot. 
>
>	NOTE: The "quotes" I'm going to use to illustrate them are 
>tongue-in-cheek, so don't explode.
>
>
>	HACK AND SLASH: Reguardless of the character background or whatever,
>the real reason the characters exist is so that they can kill and loot
[snip]
>		GM: You open the door. Behind it you see...
>		PCs: We Kill It. We Search The Room. We Go To Next Room.
>
>	WARGAMING: Sort of going back to the roots of FRP gaming; in this
>kind of play the players are interested in tactics and strategy, often on
[snip]
>		GM: Okay, next combat turn. Missile Weapons fire first. 
>Which direction is your first division firing on?
>		PC: We direct our fire at those orcs, 6.5 scale inches away,
>which is long range, so we can only do...
>
>	STORY TELLING: There is at least a basic plotline that the characters 
[snip]
>		PC:  Hold, foul villain, source of Evil! Across the Burning
>Wastes and the Moaning Glacier I have tracked you, and your time of flight
>is over! Stand and face me...
>		Other player (To GM): Why isn't Mr. Evil blowing Sir 
>Clueless away while he babbles on?
>		GM: Villains always let the Heroes have their speeches,
>just like the Heroes always let the Villains have theirs. Professional
>and dramatic courtesy.
>
>	ROLE PLAYING: The behavior of the characters in their interaction
>with each other is paramount here. Personal interaction, little personal
[snip]
>		GM: But, my lady, how could you have known that when I
>was a child my stepmother separated us? Oh, cruel fate! For I love you
>still...
>		PC: *SOB* Is there no way we can be together? 
>
Ah, but you forgot one:
	PROBLEM-SOLVING: This may be a *very* mild form of war-gaming,
where PCs strive to solve a problem of some sort, using the resources of
the character (and the player, if the player isn't careful). Has a bit
of similarity to story-telling, but the characters have a *lot* more
free will. (Mysteries are one form of problem-solving adventures.)
Problem-solving characters tend to be a bit short in the role-playing
department, but this is by no means a given.
	GM: The secretary doesn't want to give you an appointment
anytime this week.
	PC: Right. I'll just access the computer when we get back to our
rooms. Hey, [other PC], how does 3am sound for an appointment?
	GM: <As official> "<Yawn> What could have possessed that idiot
to set an appointment for *now*?"
	PC: "We don't understand it ourselves, sir. Does your secretary
have a sense of humor?"

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