Simulationism is Fundamental

The Inherent Cardinality Missed by GNS

I have been seeing much about Simulationism of late, as an aspect of GNS Theory that theory has abandoned and moved beyond in favor of more purist strains of Gamism and Narrativism. I particularly appreciate the perspective from Arbiter of Worlds, that Noetic appreciation is the source of the enjoyment in such works, our ability to perceive truth and appreciate it, and would add a further justification for such pursuits.

Far from being a false inclusion that somehow slipped into early roleplaying, I would postulate that Simulationism and Noetic appreciation are foundational aspects of nerd culture more generally. The most characteristically “nerdy” genres are fantasy and science fiction, not coincidentally the two genres that engage in exhaustive worldbuilding and setting development, to portray what is not but could be. Tolkien certainly spared no effort in treating Middle Earth like a real place to be explored and understood. Star Wars has hundreds of years of detailed history, composed by fans seeking to explore the setting and understand it more completely. What iconically nerdy pursuit does not have elements of the Noetic about it? For who but a true nerd at heart would study the Star Trek episodes to build out authentic floor plans of the Enterprise, or build a language for their fantastic setting (as in Middle Earth, Star Trek, Avatar, and countless other works), or propose unified string theories of magic?

Certainly there are now plenty of people who engage in “nerdy” pursuits that lack this approach, but it is inevitable that as nerdism becomes a more accepted part of society, that is will also become less nerdy. Gygax and Arneson were true nerds, who played wargames in the basement, modifying them themselves to allow for more complete simulations, more agency for players, and ultimately a broader genre that created more possibilities for the sorts of worlds they might depict. For they understood a very fundamental truth: that a coherent simulation creates interesting game dynamics, and that interesting gameplay creates compelling narratives. Certainly the progression can be botched, as all things can, but done rightly I believe this is the highest form of RPGs.

Adding mechanically relevant weather rules was a decision that I questioned at first - it was a moderate amount of extra work, and some inconvenience in play. And yet, by modelling the world more completely, dozens of interesting play scenarios have emerged - being lost in fog, being trapped by wind and snow, seasonal differences in how adventuring ought be conducted, the tension between lighting a fire to ward off cold or risking frostbite to remain stealthy . . . The addition of a little more truth to the world has made for an unquestionably better game, and that game has told stories it otherwise never could have. There is an inherent order to the concepts, a progression.

GNS theory erred greatly when it suggested that the most satisfying narrative comes from disregarding all other concerns, and has only really succeeded in making poor games that tell repetitive stories. True breadth of experience comes from a breadth of possibility, created through the interaction of player agency with a living world.