I e-mailed Ryan Dancey regarding this request and he suggested I post to
this list. The intention of this post is to request assistance finding or
creating a group to look at the artificial intelligence functions (or
meta-rules) for the interaction of fantasy role-playing environments. The
appearance of random and unforeseen story elements have given me my biggest
and most rewarding challenges as a DM. I am looking for others to work with
in developing an environment where generating those elements is easier and
more powerful. My request is to help me find an existing group focused on
the elements below, or to help me form such a group.
I have been a DM for 22 years. My biggest rewards in creating game
scenarios have been thinking on my feet ("dancing in the conversation") when
the players take the game into an unexpected turn. They themselves have had
a lot more fun when they feel that game play has just "gone down a rabbit
hole" (so to speak) and are in wholly new territory where we all are unsure
of the outcome. In that same sprit I am asking for others to help
contribute to the development of a model for having dynamic story components
that provide new possibilities through combinations that I as a single DM
could not see.
There are written sources for encounters in various environments, e.g.
"Cities" (second edition CR 1981 by Midkemia Press). There are very
detailed sources that describe the power groups of a city or region, their
history, and their interaction such as "Calimport" and "Empires of the
Shinning Sea" (both CR 1998 TSR). However, none of these provide for the
dynamic interaction of the described events or groups over time.
It has occurred to me that while the actions of a potter's guild may differ
from those of a thief's guild, or a trade organization, or a noble family
fief, they all operate as organisms that feed, respond to threats, expand or
contract based on their environment, and have motivations or goals. These
generic functions, which I will call for this discussion "meta-rules",
differ between these entities only in detail. There are many parallels in
modeling behavior of multiple objects in an environment: in biology, in
quantum mechanics, and in finance. I want to contribute to a group that
looks at modeling and the fundamentals of modeling in fantasy environments.
The goal of that contribution would be a published model for fantasy game
masters (DMs) to enhance the texture of the game environments they create
for their players and themselves.
To my thinking this concept differs from the d20 System arena. It has
nothing to do with characters, classes, feats, or actions. It is about the
interactions of individuals and groups of individuals in a particular
physical environment and detailing or tracking what these groups or
individuals do as the background for game play. As a practical example,
what rumors are there in a city for players to hear? Books on a particular
setting are only a snapshot in time of a dynamic system of interactions. A
group of characters that has been in a specific area for a while affects the
area as a component in a dynamic infrastructure. A meta-rule engine could
be feed the particulars of each described group in the area, including
motivations, possible responses to threats or opportunities, goals and
opponents, etc. Then the meta-rule engine would generate responses of these
groups over time that take into account the actions of each group and its
affect on the whole. The group of characters would also be described as a
part of the dynamic whole. The output of this example (a query to the
engine) would generate a list of rumors based on the interactions of the
various groups, including the characters providing a richer texture for the
DM as a generator of possible scenarios for the character's choice of
actions.
Boy, this post has gone on longer than I thought. Thanks for your time and
consideration in reading this far.
Richard A. Schreiber
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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