The Big Model
Encyclopedia
The Big Model is a body of role-playing game theory
developed primarily by Ron Edwards
. It serves as a capstone and organizing principle to the amorphous body of work commonly referred to as GNS Theory
.
hobby in a set of meaningful, hierarchical relationships by organising these phenomena into four nested 'boxes'. The contents of each inner box are considered to be within the aegis of the outer box. A "skewer" that thrusts through the set of boxes identifies creative agenda.
The smallest box contains Ephemera, the actual events and statements made at the table; these are instances of Techniques, which are governing practices of behavior
. Techniques are how players perform Exploration, the basic act of roleplaying, and Exploration is itself an expression of the Social Contract. The Creative Agenda is a pervasive concept that pierces through all four boxes, 'fixing' the mode of play in place.
Or to put it in simpler terms, a group of friends gets together (Social Contract) and decides to play a roleplaying game about superheroes in love (Exploration). They use a set of tools (Techniques) to do things in the game (Ephemera). The decisions that they make in terms of what things to explore and how to explore them compose their Creative Agenda.
events, places, and people. Exploring fictional content is the basis and fundamental definition of all roleplay.
There are five "elements" of exploration, or five things that players will explore. All five are always present, although different games will emphasize and prioritize some over others. The five elements of exploration are character, setting, color, situation, and system.
are the people in the fiction of the roleplaying game. Often each player has one player character
over which they have special authority and responsibilities; other characters in the fiction are called non-player character
s. Players may enjoy exploring character by discovering what characters do when confronted with difficult situations, why they do the things they do, or how they do them.
is the imaginary place and time in which the game is set. The setting may be "real" in the sense that it is based on a historical period or the modern day. Players explore the setting not only by asking and answering "what's over that hill?" but also by developing the relationships of setting elements like government
, economics
, interpersonal relationships
, and the like.
, for instance, is "two noble households, both alike in dignity" and "two star-cross'd lovers." It's the stuff that is happening in the game. Players explore situation by discovering and developing relationships between characters, setting elements, and events, and by taking action to affect those relationships for good or ill.
, for instance, might play for a number of reasons. They may want to become the most renowned knight of the realm, they may want to tell an engaging story about what it means to be a knight, or they may want to experience what it would be like to be a knight. Each of these reasons for play is different, and will affect what happens in the game and at the table. This "reason for play" is the creative agenda, and it is best understood as a skewer which pierces through all four boxes of the Big Model, connecting selected options in each level and fixing them in place.
The Big Model currently recognizes three kinds of creative agenda: simulationism, also known as "The Right to Dream;" gamism, also known as "Step on Up;" and narrativism, also known as "Story Now."
action. Whatever the target, the goal is to create an experience that neatly fits its parameters.
, and character victory.
. Premise here is defined in accordance with Lajos Egri
's The Art of Dramatic Writing and is usually framed as a statement (Friends are worth dying for) or a question (Are friends worth dying for?). In narrativist play, most or all of the decisions made by the players will reflect on the premise, proposing answers to the question.
The main benefit of creative agenda is that it focuses play along unified lines. Players who attempt to play the same game with differing creative agenda run a very high risk of ruining each other's entertainment. The player attempting to Step on Up will overwhelm another player's narrativist decisions with misplaced competition; the player following Story Now will consistently take actions which are not optimal strategies, spoiling the other player's gamist decisions.
Role-playing game theory
A role-playing game theory is an academic or critical study of role-playing games as a social or artistic phenomenon. RPG theories seek to understand what role-playing games are, how it functions and how the process can be refined in order to improve the gaming experience and produce more useful...
developed primarily by Ron Edwards
Ron Edwards (game designer)
Ronald Edwards is a game designer, theorist, and an influential member of the indie role-playing game community. Notably, he is the creator of the Sorcerer RPG, the GNS Theory of gameplay, and The Big Model....
. It serves as a capstone and organizing principle to the amorphous body of work commonly referred to as GNS Theory
GNS Theory
The GNS Theory, as originally developed by Ron Edwards, is a relatively amorphous body of work attempting to create a theory of how role-playing games work...
.
Structure
The Big Model attempts to contextualize the many different aspects of the role-playing gameRole-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
hobby in a set of meaningful, hierarchical relationships by organising these phenomena into four nested 'boxes'. The contents of each inner box are considered to be within the aegis of the outer box. A "skewer" that thrusts through the set of boxes identifies creative agenda.
The smallest box contains Ephemera, the actual events and statements made at the table; these are instances of Techniques, which are governing practices of behavior
Behavior
Behavior or behaviour refers to the actions and mannerisms made by organisms, systems, or artificial entities in conjunction with its environment, which includes the other systems or organisms around as well as the physical environment...
. Techniques are how players perform Exploration, the basic act of roleplaying, and Exploration is itself an expression of the Social Contract. The Creative Agenda is a pervasive concept that pierces through all four boxes, 'fixing' the mode of play in place.
Or to put it in simpler terms, a group of friends gets together (Social Contract) and decides to play a roleplaying game about superheroes in love (Exploration). They use a set of tools (Techniques) to do things in the game (Ephemera). The decisions that they make in terms of what things to explore and how to explore them compose their Creative Agenda.
Social Contract
The Social Contract is the context within which all of roleplaying occurs. This is an obvious but important point, since it recognizes that all actions at the roleplaying table are social actions and part of how the players at the table relate to each other as real people. The relationships between the people around the table affect everything else that occurs.Exploration
The Big Model defines roleplaying as Exploration: the imagining of fictitiousFiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
events, places, and people. Exploring fictional content is the basis and fundamental definition of all roleplay.
There are five "elements" of exploration, or five things that players will explore. All five are always present, although different games will emphasize and prioritize some over others. The five elements of exploration are character, setting, color, situation, and system.
Character
CharactersFictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
are the people in the fiction of the roleplaying game. Often each player has one player character
Player character
A player character or playable character is a character in a video game or role playing game who is controlled or controllable by a player, and is typically a protagonist of the story told in the course of the game. A player character is a persona of the player who controls it. Player characters...
over which they have special authority and responsibilities; other characters in the fiction are called non-player character
Non-player character
A non-player character , sometimes known as a non-person character or non-playable character, in a game is any fictional character not controlled by a player. In electronic games, this usually means a character controlled by the computer through artificial intelligence...
s. Players may enjoy exploring character by discovering what characters do when confronted with difficult situations, why they do the things they do, or how they do them.
Setting
The settingSetting
Setting may refer to:* A location where something is set* Set construction in theatrical scenery* Setting in fiction* Setting up to fail a manipulative technique to engineer failure...
is the imaginary place and time in which the game is set. The setting may be "real" in the sense that it is based on a historical period or the modern day. Players explore the setting not only by asking and answering "what's over that hill?" but also by developing the relationships of setting elements like government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
, economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
, interpersonal relationships
Love
Love is an emotion of strong affection and personal attachment. In philosophical context, love is a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion, and affection. Love is central to many religions, as in the Christian phrase, "God is love" or Agape in the Canonical gospels...
, and the like.
Color
Color comprises all the details which give the game a certain flavor but do not affect the development of a situation; color might be rocketships and aliens, rapiers and musketeers, or the grit and grime of the streets of New York. Players explore color by invoking all five senses (the air is crisp, the room is painted in dark colors) as well as establishing and reinforcing relationships (a knight's blazon is displayed all over his castle).Situation
With only characters, setting, and color, players will have a set piece which could do something interesting but has no reason to. The game's situation is an unstable juxtaposition of the other elements which sets the fictional events in motion. The situation of Romeo and JulietRomeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
, for instance, is "two noble households, both alike in dignity" and "two star-cross'd lovers." It's the stuff that is happening in the game. Players explore situation by discovering and developing relationships between characters, setting elements, and events, and by taking action to affect those relationships for good or ill.
System
Situation is the juxtaposition of elements in motion; system is the procedures by which those elements change and develop. System is best described by the Lumpley Principle, which states that "system (including but not limited to 'the rules') is defined as the means by which the group agrees to imagined events during play." Players can explore the system by working out the range of possibilities that are available to them.Techniques
In simplest terms, techniques are what the players do at the table. This may include how players create the characters they portray in the game, how players roll dice to resolve the outcome of events, or how the situation develops as the game progresses. Techniques often differ greatly from one published game to the next; at its simplest, one may call for rolling dice while another calls for drawing cards. Each set of techniques directs the ephemera of the game and directly impacts the elements of exploration.Ephemera
Whereas techniques describe the procedures of play, ephemera are the actual events at the table. Ephemera includes what the players say, what dice they roll, what the dice results are, how they react to each other's contributions, and much, much more. Ephemera is the "meat" of play, the medium by which the rest of the game operates.Creative Agenda
Just as it is possible to tell multiple stories about a single series of events, it is possible to play multiple games about identical subject matter. Players in a game about the knights of the round tableRound Table (Camelot)
The Round Table is King Arthur's famed table in the Arthurian legend, around which he and his Knights congregate. As its name suggests, it has no head, implying that everyone who sits there has equal status. The table was first described in 1155 by Wace, who relied on previous depictions of...
, for instance, might play for a number of reasons. They may want to become the most renowned knight of the realm, they may want to tell an engaging story about what it means to be a knight, or they may want to experience what it would be like to be a knight. Each of these reasons for play is different, and will affect what happens in the game and at the table. This "reason for play" is the creative agenda, and it is best understood as a skewer which pierces through all four boxes of the Big Model, connecting selected options in each level and fixing them in place.
The Big Model currently recognizes three kinds of creative agenda: simulationism, also known as "The Right to Dream;" gamism, also known as "Step on Up;" and narrativism, also known as "Story Now."
The Right to Dream
The Right to Dream focuses on the elements of exploration as things unto themselves. This creative agenda emphasizes appreciation for nuanced development of character, setting, and color to no other end than creating a holistically consistent experience. While one simulationist creative agenda may emphasize realism, another may attempt to emulate "four-color" superheroSuperhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
action. Whatever the target, the goal is to create an experience that neatly fits its parameters.
Step on Up
By contrast, Step on Up considers the elements of exploration as an arena for proving the abilities of the players. This creative agenda emphasizes clever use of tactics, resource managementResource management
In organizational studies, resource management is the efficient and effective deployment of an organization's resources when they are needed. Such resources may include financial resources, inventory, human skills, production resources, or information technology...
, and character victory.
Story Now
Story Now attempts to use the elements of exploration to create an engaging story that addresses a "premise" to produce themeTheme (literature)
A theme is a broad, message, or moral of a story. The message may be about life, society, or human nature. Themes often explore timeless and universal ideas and are almost always implied rather than stated explicitly. Along with plot, character,...
. Premise here is defined in accordance with Lajos Egri
Lajos Egri
Lajos N. Egri was the author of The Art of Dramatic Writing, which is widely regarded as one of the best works on the subject of playwriting, though its teachings have since been adapted for the writing of short stories, novels, and screenplays.-Early years:Egri came to the US in 1906...
's The Art of Dramatic Writing and is usually framed as a statement (Friends are worth dying for) or a question (Are friends worth dying for?). In narrativist play, most or all of the decisions made by the players will reflect on the premise, proposing answers to the question.
Utility of the Big Model
The Big Model is primarily concerned with categorizing the elements of the roleplaying experience into a hierarchy, the better to understand the dependencies of those elements.The main benefit of creative agenda is that it focuses play along unified lines. Players who attempt to play the same game with differing creative agenda run a very high risk of ruining each other's entertainment. The player attempting to Step on Up will overwhelm another player's narrativist decisions with misplaced competition; the player following Story Now will consistently take actions which are not optimal strategies, spoiling the other player's gamist decisions.
See also
- GNS TheoryGNS TheoryThe GNS Theory, as originally developed by Ron Edwards, is a relatively amorphous body of work attempting to create a theory of how role-playing games work...
- Threefold ModelThreefold ModelThe Threefold Model of roleplaying games is an attempt to distinguish three different goals in roleplaying. In its original formation, these are: Drama, Simulation, and Game...
- The Forge