The idea is to create role playing games which require real knowledge of science.
Let's take American Football as an example. There is a role playing version of American Football I've never played, which apparently assigns values for strength, stamina, etc., allows murder and weapons on the field and generally requires a great deal of planning before game play. Why not make the physics of game choices transparent ? Show the probability of any one player lofting a ball given wind conditions, running speed and so on.
Add to that material science for the playing field, chemistry for fatigue and poison mixing, and medical science for treating injuries efficaciously.-- 4and20, Sep 08 2014 somewhat related MacGyver_99 [FlyingToaster, Sep 08 2014] Blood Bowl http://www.boardgam...-bowl-third-editionThis might be what you are thinking of. I seem to remember that I may have played it once or twice but I certainly didn't maim any of my opponents...much. Well, no more than was necessary to ensure utter domination of the field of play & total, crushing victory. [DrBob, Sep 08 2014] It may not sound like a thrilling episode of Jamie Oliver spice weighing, but real geeks don't snort; they score.-- 4and20, Sep 08 2014 One bun for this simply not being what I thought it might be.
Can't really see Jamie Oliver as Muad'dib.-- not_morrison_rm, Sep 08 2014 When do we get to say, "FOOLS! I'LL SHOW THEM ALL!!!" ???-- Vernon, Sep 08 2014 Pretty much straight away, hopefully ...
Although it could be interesting if all the participants want to be bad guys ...-- 8th of 7, Sep 08 2014 You seem to be confusing role playing with dice based games and then discarding both. Role playing is imagination based and allows for unrealism and storytelling. Dice games use statistical models to replace the inconvenience of very meticulous mundane calculation. A game that has neither of these features is no longer a roll playing game, it is a simulation or a thought exercise, or some other thing entirely.-- WcW, Sep 08 2014 Where WCW has me dead to rights is: I've played dice-based sports games, but never once a role playing game in the D&D style, though I have many geek friends. Wikipedia says that role playing uses dice. Would it not be fair to set the rules to be everything conceivable in the rules of science and economics? I imagine anything is possible in RPG but some methods are known to be more interesting.
I'd just make it a computer based dice game with limited options for statistically based scientific outcomes.
[DrBob] Dead on. Nicely understated description. Pity they disabled the taunting feature.-- 4and20, Sep 08 2014 (geek on) Role playing is play-acting like the character would / should, roll playing is focusing on the dice and numbers(geek off)-- normzone, Sep 08 2014 [off topic musing alert] my favourite never played RPG, probably Paranoia, the adds just made it sound so much fun / closely followed (probably due to the cartoon in White Dwarf) by Traveller.
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Paranoia:
"Imagine a world designed by Kafka, Stalin, Orwell, Huxley, Sartre and the Marx Brothers..."-- Skewed, Sep 09 2014 No need to imagine. Just watch the TV news for a bit. You're already there ...-- 8th of 7, Sep 09 2014 A simple and fun version of this would be to simply pimp out Artillery. The simplest version has Napoleonic cannons; do the math before you fire. One could graduate to rockets, autonomous balloon bots, gliders and the like. Physics engines are fun.
woops - this is role play. It would seem a little less satisfying to have the Dungeon Master check my math and then say: "No, you forgot to carry the 2. It landed in the ocean again. Why do you hate fish so much? <snort>."-- bungston, Sep 09 2014 Yeah, I'm with you regarding Paranoia. It sounds like fun.-- normzone, Sep 09 2014 It was. The character skill of 'Dubious Logic' was my favourite attribute, which will probably surprise nobody. The games mainly consisted of dobbing your mates in to the all-powerful computer for any & every minor infraction of the law or, on occasion, just claiming that they looked as if they were thinking of doing something forbidden. Like a normal role-playing adventure but, instead of being a co-operative party, you had to achieve the objective with a load of unwanted companions hindering your every effort & nicking the credit for any successes. Being dead happened quite a lot but, as you are all clones anyway, that's not necessarily a problem.-- DrBob, Sep 09 2014 In my experience, a good game of Paranoia depends on a GM who is *just* sadistic enough, but not too sadistic. It's easily ruined. Like a soufflé, or something.-- pertinax, Sep 11 2014 There was a d10 system in the mid-90s that was designed by a bunch of MIT guys and was incredibly detailed, factoring things like wind velocity and soil consistency into resolution of melee combat. I think it was called the Crusader system. It was predictably short-lived; I think they only published the basic book and two or three debut modules.
Paranoia is great with the right GM. I have a first-edition set that I will never part with, despite it having taken them several re-vamps to perfect the formula.-- Alterother, Sep 12 2014 random, halfbakery