Imagine that there were no improvisation penalties but the rules were otherwise unchanged, so players could choose any ability to do anything. Each character would only need one ability rating, which might as well be for an ability called 'Do Things'. Core aspects of character creation and improvement would become pointless (why bother writing 100 words?). Even systems such as The Puddle insist on a connection between character conception and ability to influence the game world. Improvisation penalties are part of the CONTEST RESOLUTION SYSTEM, but are present in the rules to make the CHARACTER GENERATION AND IMPROVEMENT SYSTEM work. That means that, when the narrator should be concentrating on contest resolution, she is also having to keep an eye on the effect her decisions will have on character improvement (and future character generation). One reason RPGs have rules is to reduce the cognitive load on the narrator (you could have a completely ruleless game, rather like 'consequences', but then the narrator has to think about almost everything at once), so a situation where the narrator also has to think about something not directly relevant to the situation at hand suggests a flaw in game design.
Powered by hypermail