[Torg] Awards

[Travis James Hall]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: torg-bounces at justintimeadventures.com 
> [mailto:torg-bounces at justintimeadventures.com] On Behalf Of Phil Dack
> Sent: Tuesday, 3 March 2009 1:33 AM
> To: torg at justintimeadventures.com
> Subject: Re: RE: [Torg] Awards
> 
> I can't say I agree, but it's clearly a question of degree.

No, I don't think so. If the idea was to rule somebody's game "not Torg",
then perhaps you would be right, but as I said, I am loathe to do so.

Rather, I am pointing out the principle that we must each be responsible for
the variations we choose to use, and the more we deviate from Torg as writ,
the greater that personal responsibility becomes. That principle doesn't
begin at some magical "not Torg" point. It begins at the very first change
we make to the game, whether in system or setting.

> I 
> don't believe those elements are integral to the system, and 
> indeed discussion of them is not found in the chapter on 
> possibilities, on combat, or on core game mechanics. The 
> mechanics of those elements are stuck towards the back of the 
> Torg book in the campaign section setting. On the other hand, 
> they do appear in the Torg rulebook, and one can certainly 
> argue that the entirity of that book is the game system. 

I daresay that the degree to which a rule is integral to the game has
nothing to do with the physical location of the related text within the
book, but rather everything to do with the effect of that rule on the game.
Thus, if one was to find oneself saying, "I don't use that rule, and this is
having an effect on my game," (as, indeed, we can often see from Ben's
comments) that rule was obviously integral to some degree by definition.

Travis Hall