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Seattle, Washington, United States
I'm an old time roleplayer who became a soldier who became a veteran who became a developer who became a dba who became a manager who never gave up his dream of a better world. Even if I have to create it myself.

Monday, March 5, 2012

The Rule of Assumption

Many things in Phoenix are abstracted to improve game flow, allowing concentration on things that are fun and avoidance of things that are mind-numbing. The Rule of Assumption is a key example highlighting this approach.
What follows is an excerpt from the current draft.

Rule of Assumption

It is assumed that adventuring characters have certain basic provisions.  Characters do not need to track these, do not need to be concerned with their weights, and may use them whenever desired.  This includes:

  • Ammunition for their Projectile weapons
  • Backpack
  • Blanket
  • Clothing suitable for travel in their area
  • Flint and steel
  • Pouches
  • Rations that don’t taste good
  • Rope
  • Torches
  • Utility knife
  • Water
  • Whetstone

If a player thinks something else should be assumable for their character, they are welcome to explain their reasoning to the GM for approval.

Specialties

It is also assumed that characters have the basic materials required for their specialties – within logical reason.  Examples include vials and common ingredients for an alchemist, pitons and claws for a mountaineer, and pen and paper for a poet.

Examples of specialist materials that do not meet with logical reason, and thus are not assumed: rare or magical ingredients, a kayak, a hanglider, libraries of books, or an anvil.

Exceptions to Assumption

The GM will highlight when the Rule of Assumption is broken – for instance, a desert adventure might not assume water is readily available, or gremlins might eat all of the rations.

Note:  If you get your jollies tracking the durations of torches when constituted with variable compounds, Phoenix might not be the game for you.  How about a nice game of GURPS?

2 comments:

  1. Etoh would like his pink headband as an assumption. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. When I was younger, I took great pleasure in arranging my RPG video game inventory. Carefully creating sections within bags for different types of items, sorting by name and colour.

    Now that I'm older, I still do it, but I'm more ashamed of it.

    And yes, pink headband would definitely be an assumption.

    ReplyDelete

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