GNS Theory

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The GNS Theory, as originally developed by Ron Edwards, holds that participants in role-playing games make decisions which can be divided into three categories: Template:TOCright

Gamist decisions concern competition and challenge
Narrativist decisions concern story and theme
Simulationist decisions concern experience and celebration of source material

Strictly, GNS theory is concerned with gamers' decisions, but it has been extrapolated to direct game design, both in and out of the world of RPGs. Game designers find it useful because it can be used to explain why players play certain games. Critics of the theory have argued that it doesn't really explain anything regarding player behavior, and only serves to shoehorn game design down limited paths.

1 G,N,S: Gamist, Narrativist, Simulationist
2 Other terms
3 History
4 External links

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G,N,S: Gamist, Narrativist, Simulationist

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Gamist

Gamist refers to decisions based on what will make the most effective solution to the dilemma posed. These decisions are most common in games which pits characters against successively tougher challenges and opponents and may not spend much time explaining why the characters are facing them.

Dungeons and Dragons is often considered a Gamist-supporting role-playing game, as are Computer RPGs. Detractors of gamist play often accuse players of trying to "win" a game whose purpose is to be enjoyed.

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Narrativist

Narrativist refers to a decisions based on what would further a dramatic story, an address of a central theme, or a game which encourages this style of play.

Many indie role-playing games support Narrativist decisions, e.g. Dogs in the Vineyard

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Simulationist

Simulationist refers to decisions based on what would be most realistic within the game's setting, or to a game where the rules try to simulate the way that things work in that world, or at least the way that they could be thought of working.

For example, to resolve combat (a rather common event in many of role-playing games) a simulationist approach might be to see if the character hits, then if the victim can parry, then how much 'damage' the weapon does, then how much of this the armour stops, then determine what part of the victim is hit, then see how much harm the remaining damage does.

The benefit of this method is that it is simple for the players to interpret the results and understand what must have happened. The drawback is that the process can take a long time to perform and the process is not always how the real world works, anyway.

GURPS is often classified as a simulationist role-playing system.

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Other terms

The GNS theory incorporates Jonathan Tweet's three forms of task resolution that determine the outcome of an event. Edwards said that an RPG should use a task resolution system or combination of systems that is most appropriate for game's GNS perspective. The three task resolution forms are:

Drama, the participants decide the results, the requirements of the plot being the determining factor
Fortune, chance decides the results (e.g., by using dice)
Karma, a fixed value decides the results (e.g., by comparing stats)

It has been suggested that the main reason Edwards changed the Threefold Model's Drama type to Narrativism for GNS was to avoid confusion with Drama as a task resolution system.

The GNS Theory identifies five elements of role-playing that all players recognize:

Character, a fictional person
Color, details that provide atmosphere
Setting, location (in space and time)
Situation, the dilemma
System, determines how in-game events unfold

It also explains four Stances the player can have in making decisions for their character:

Actor, decides based on what their character would know
Author, decides based on what they as a player want for their character and then retroactively explains why their character made that decision
Director, makes decisions that affect the environment rather than the character (usually represented by a game master in an RPG)
Pawn, decides based on what they as a player want for their character without bothering to explain why their character would make that decision

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History

The theory developed out of the Threefold Model that defined Drama, Simulation, and Game as three paradigms of role-playing. The concept first appeared in the rec.games.frp.advocacy newsgroup, and the name "Threefold Model" was coined in a post made by Mary Kuhner in 1997 which outlined the principles of the theory. Template:Ref

In his article "System Does Matter"Template:Ref, Edwards said that all participants in RPGs hold one of three mutually exclusive perspectives or aims. He wrote that enjoyable RPGs focus on only one of these perspectives and that it is a common mistake in RPG design to try to satisfy all three types. It is for this reason that the article could be seen as a warning against generic role-playing game systems made by larger developersTemplate:Ref.

On December 2, 2005, Edwards closed the forums on The Forge regarding GNS theory, explaining that the forums supporting the GNS theoretical framework had outlived their usefulness. [1], [2].

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