It may be typical of the pro-Obama Dungeons & Dragons crowd to disparage a fellow countryman's memory of war from the comfort of mom's basement, but most Americans have the humility and gratitude to respect and learn from the memories of men who suffered on behalf of others.

rob_donoghue

For the avoidance of doubt, and by way of example only, no Licensed Product will (a) include web sites, interactive products, miniatures, or character creators; (b) describe a process for creating a character or applying the effects of experience to a character; (c) use the terms "Core Rules" or "Core Rulebook" or variations thereof on its cover or title, in self-reference or in advertising or marketing thereof; (d) refer to any artwork, imagery or other depiction contained in a Core Rulebook; (e) reprint any material contained in a Core Rulebook except as explicitly provided in Section 4; or (f) be incorporated into another product that is itself not a Licensed Product (such as, by way of example only, a magazine or book compilation).

• Continue to publish under the original WotC OGL, making products compatible the 3.5 edition D&D rules, or perhaps a major branch such as Paizo's Pathfinder RPG. This is ironclad and tested. WotC might withdraw the D20 trademark license, but one would have 30 days to change and the market has shown that one can successfully publish without using the D20 logo.
• Release compatible works without a license, avoiding use of trademarked logos. This was done in the eighties and nineties by third parties without the permission of TSR. Mayfair Games published their "Role Aids" line, and even Wizards of the Coast published compatible works under their "Primal Order" line. However, this is risky since it is quite possible to overstep and violate copyright even though the legal principle is well-founded.
• Create a new OGL game based on the previous SRD that is similar enough that supplements for it would also be compatible with 4th edition. The rules don't have to match exactly, just enough so a stat block for one can be used for the other. This is similarly risky, but gives you legal grounds for using most of the D&D terms.

Mais le théâtre suppose un public et, comme nous l'avons déjà dit, les joueurs ont un double statut: le créateur du message est également son référent. Lisa Padol1 fonde en grande partie sa définition sur ce point:

un jeu de rôle permet aux gens de devenir simultanément à la fois les artistes qui créent une histoire et le public qui la voit se dérouler.2

Une histoire qui se déroule suppose donc tout une création narrative, point que privilégie Liz Henry:

Les participants des jeux de rôle (...)sont engagés dans un processus complexe de narrativité de groupe; ils sont les auteurs, les narrateurs, les personnages, les acteurs, les lecteurs, et le public d'un texte qui est à la fois une expérience et une orientation vers le produit.3

On peut donc dire que le rôliste occupe beaucoup de fonctions littéraires au sein du texte, ce qui constitue une particularité qui lui est propre. C'est en effet une "expérience" car la narration se vit par le biais des personnages, qui doivent en général, "produire" quelque chose, c'est-à-dire atteindre des objectifs ou remplir une mission. Bien que le cadre soit virtuel, les interrogations, les décisions des personnages et les conséquences qu'ils doivent assumer sont une réalité du jeu, et donc les émotions qui en résultent sont censées être ressenties, à différents degrés, par le joueur pour donner à son personnage une réaction cohérente.

En effet, son succès fait que certains la reprennent en la modifiant quelque peu, comme John H. Kim sur le site anglo-saxon Darkshire2 qui, un peu comme The Forge, analyse et critique le jeu de rôle. Kim, qui choisit de nommer cette théorie "Le Modèle Triple "(The Threefold Model)" change le terme narrativisme pour dramatisme3, mais le sens reste le même. Au niveau du simulationnisme, il met également l'accent sur le fait que "la résolution des évènements dans le jeu se base seulement sur des considérations en rapport avec le monde du jeu, sans prendre en compte d'éventuels éléments méta-jeu pour affecter la décision"4.

"In fact, [GNS]'s success has led others to take it up and modify it somewhat, such as John H. Kim, on the English-language site Darkshire, which, like the The Forge, analyzes and critiques RPGs. Kim, who chose to name this theory "The Threefold Model", replaces the term narrativism with dramatism, but the meaning remains the same."

Jozan (M): Casts three spells in combat, and hits twice (out of two attacks) for around 17 total damage
Tordek (M): Hits twice (out of two attacks) for 26 total damage
Mialee (F): Casts no spells and does no damage in combat
Lidda (F): Hits once (out of three attacks) for 3 total damage

There are 19 rules examples using named characters, and none of them include women. There are also thirty-something examples without any names, where they use "he" for the generic pronoun throughout the book. There are five unnamed sample NPCs on page 39 of which one is female -- a maid.

There are also a great many characters mentioned as part of the background -- some real and some fictional. In particular, there is detailed background in Victorian Age section on pages 22-33, and the fictional Mars and Venus background sections (pages 148-200). There are also some characters and background scattered through the rest of the book. There are roughly 45 named characters by my count. With the exception of a special section on page 32, there are three women mentioned: Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth I (mentioned once), and Miss Jennie Jerome (mentioned once as the American wife of Lord Randolph Churchill). There is, however, a special section on page 32 entitled "Remarkable Woman" which describes seven women of the period.

The reason there's a "sweet spot" in the current game is that it's the approximate range of levels where, purely by coincidence, the math of the system actually works. In those levels, PCs don't drop after one hit, and they don't take a dozen hits to wear down. In those levels, characters miss monsters occasionally, but less than half the time, and monsters miss characters only slightly more often. It's pure chance, really, but it means the game is fun. Outside of those levels, the math doesn't work that way, and the game stops being fun.

In Fourth Edition, we've totally revamped the math behind the system, and that's a big part of the way that we've extended the sweet spot across the whole level range.

• Nat, age 8, played "Sir Aralon (Lord of Fear)" -- a lawful good human fighter
• Zack, age 6, played "Sir Hittr" -- a lawful good human magic user
• Truman, age 7, played "Sir Dragonair" -- a neutral good dwarf fighter
• Milo, age 7, played "Eodred" -- a neutral good elven magic user
• Keary (Nat and Zack's dad) played "Ralf" -- a lawful good human cleric