Stormbringer Redux Interlude - Rogue’s Gallery #1

So, I proposed a whole new method for making characters (HERE). I also ran 3 sessions with players using some of these characters, to good reviews.

        

Today, I’d like to roll up some characters to see how they stand up. I don’t mean mechanically, I mean, are they interesting to play? Do my houserules make compelling characters?

Let’s find out.

I’ll be playing close attention to two houserules, the Description and Life Purpose. The latter was liked by my players, and gave them self-directed story hooks. The former was met with puzzlement, so I’m hoping to see if it is worth rehabilitating or unnecessary.

To review, Life Purpose was decided on the following table, and players had to interpret it for the gameworld.

    LIFE PURPOSE

    Example Verbs Example Nouns

        1 Find 1 Gods

        2 Lose     2 Ruler

        3 Protect     3 Homeland

            4 Destroy     4 Family

            5 Oppose     5 Love

            6 Serve     6 Wealth

I originally had intended Description, based on the highest and lowest attributes, as a ‘bennie’ that could be milked for story effects. My intent was too vague, and now I see it as a description to help roleplaying instead. Basically, by noting the highest and lowest attributes of a character, the character is fleshed out in a way that reflects the attributes. Additionally, it gives a first impression for NPCs encountered. Lastly, describing characters is a forte of Mr Moorcock, and so a mechanic emulating this should be welcome in a game based on his works.

Let’s begin!

Name: Behet Nationality: 68 Argimiliar (no mods)

Purpose: 6,1 Serve the gods Description: Weak-limbed (STR) but hearty (CON)

Profession: 62 Farmer Cult: Grome & Lassha

STR 6 CON 16 SIZ 14 DEX 13 INT 8 POW 14 CHA 9

Hit Points: 16 Damage: NA Armor: leather Weapons: cudgel & spear

Professional Skills: Blacksmith (INT x 2), Track (INT x 2), Cudgel Attack (DEX x 3) Parry (STR x 3), Small Ax Attack (DEX x 3) Parry (STR x 3), Plant Lore (INT x 2%), 2H spear Attack (DEX x 3) Parry (STR x 3)

Other Skills: 4 + 2 = 6, left open

Story: Behet’s family farm in the hinterland of Argimiliar once thrived, but was destroyed by a succession of unnatural events - swarms of locusts, endless drought, crop circles. Behet took this as a sign that the gods who watch over the fields, Grome and rain bringing Laasha, must be at war with the forces of Chaos and Law, who overturn the rhythms of nature. He left his ruined homestead and along with his sister, Leharn, he has vowed to travel The Young Kingdoms to aid in the fight of the Elemental Lords against the forces that seek to destroy the world.

Name: Leharn Nationality: 74 Argimiliar (no mods)

Purpose: 3,4 Protect family Description: Unassuming (POW), but nimble (DEX)

Profession: 56 Hunter Cult: Grome

STR 9 CON 12 SIZ 8 DEX 12 INT 7 POW 3 CHA 8

Hit Points: 12 Damage: NA Armor: leather Weapons: Bow & cudgel

Professional Skills: Cudgel Attack (DEX x 5) Parry (STR x 5), Self Bow Attack (DEX x 3) Parry (STR x 3), Set Trap (DEX x 5), Ambush (DEX x 5), Track (INT x 5), Blacksmith (INT x 2), 

Other Skills: 3+2=5, undetermined

Story: Whereas Leharn’s family disowned her brother, Behet, when he announced his ‘mission’, the huntress made it her mission to protect him wherever he roamed. She doesn’t know if she believes her brother’s claims, but feels a great sense of purpose in keeping him safe.

Name: Ohlga Nationality: 18 Shazaar (+ 1D6 CON = +2)

Purpose: 2,4 Lose family Description: Charming (CHA) but conventional (INT)

Profession: 88 Beggar Cult: Arkyn of Law

Affliction: Missing one ear

STR 10 CON 11+2= 13 SIZ 9 DEX 12 INT 9 POW 10 CHA 15

Hit Points: 13 Damage: NA Armor: leather Weapons: dagger

Professional Skills: Persuade (CHA x 6), See (INT x 6), Search (INT x 3), Pick Lock (DEX x 5), Dagger Attack (DEX x 1) Parry (STR x 1) NB: + 1 per other beggar around

Other Skills: 5+2=7, undetermined as of yet

Story: Ohlga was the daughter of a Shazaaran beggar clanmaster, and spent her life learning how to beg and steal on the streets. One day she was accused of keeping profits to herself, and as punishment the clanfather, her own father, sliced off her ear. The next day she left Shazaar and never looked back. Ohlga wants to find somewhere where her old clan can never find her, ideally among a new ‘family’ that will treat her well. Falling in with Behet and Leharn feels like a good first step to her, and she will use her wits and charm to protect them.

Is RPG Design Useful In Daily Life?

Resounding yes.

I'm reading my new credit card agreement.

These things always did my head in.

Now, it seems just like a badly explained 80's RPG. Phoenix Command eat your heart out.

There is not too much distance between x2 damage if you roll 1/10 of your attack skill and a Grace period of no interest (usually 14.9%) if you pay the balance in full within 25 days before the due date but a penalty of increased interest to 25.9% if 2 payments are missed in a one year period.

We joke a lot about 'gamer ADD', but maybe gaming is the cure for my ADD?

We now return to your regularly scheduled programming...

Stormbringer Redux #18 addendum - First Time Summonings: Number & Failure Conditions

When you’re doing a deep dive in complicated, vague, and sometimes scattered material like Stormbringer, it is inevitable that you miss things. In my last post, my thoughts on the mechanics of First Time Summonings were repositioned so many times they got lost in the shuffle.

Perhaps this is a good thing. First Time Summonings are a thorny issue, so best looked at by themselves.

FIRST TIME SUMMONING MECHANICS (New / Long Summoning) 

For the first time summoning of an entity, there are 4 aspects that must be considered:

1 Time

2 Number of rolls

3 A series of successes

4 The cost of failure

1 SUMMONING TIME

As noted in the last post, I jettisoned the Chaos Value system of 4E and linked summoning time back to the old 1E sorcerer levels, with 1 hour per entity level:

“For New / Long Summoning, time is 1 hour per entity level (Elementals = 1, Demons = 2, Elemental Lords = 3, Beast Lords = 4, Lords of Higher Worlds = 5).” (previous post)

So if you want to summon Pyaray, better cancel all appointments for the next five hours. However, this is the MINIMUM time required, as the time can increase drastically with failed rolls, as the next aspect shows.

NB: Although in 1E, the rules state that an elemental ‘must’ be bound before doing anything [5.4], I disagree with this, as we shall see in the next post on Bargaining and Binding.

2 NUMBER OF ROLLS + 3 A SERIES OF SUCCESSES

In the 1E rulebook, the entity level not only determines the hours required for a summoning, they also decide how many rolls IN SEQUENCE are required for a successful summoning:

“The Type of magical entity being summoned can be used as a value to determine the number of times a sorcerer must make his Summoning roll in order to summon the entity.” [5.3.1 in the 4E book, my italics] 

Honestly, I don’t ever recall using this rule back in the day. This injucture is repeated no less than three times in the same section, so the designers must have thought it important.

I agree with them.

However, it is not mentioned if this is the first time summoning, or subsequent times. Considering how hard it was for Elric and others to summon Arioch for the first time in the fiction, I’ll interpret this as the first attempt at summoning a new entity, whether from a grimoire or in FREE INT but never used. The following extract from Elric of Melnibone provides an insight into how apt this mechanic is:

When he had meditated for more than five hours, Elric took a brush and a jar of ink and began to paint both walls and floor with complicated symbols, some of which were so intricate, that they seemed to disappear at an angle to the surface on which they had been laid. At last this was done and Elric spreadeagled himself in the very centre of his huge rune, face down, one hand upon his grimoire, the other (with the Actorios upon it) stretched palm down. The moon was full. A shaft of its light fell directly upon Elric's head, turning the hair to silver. And then the Summoning began.

Elric sent his mind into twisting tunnels of logic, across endless plains of ideas, through mountains of symbolism and endless universes of alternate truths; he sent his mind out further and further and as it went he sent with it the words which issued from his writhing lips—words that few of his contemporaries would understand, though their very sound would chill the blood of any listener. And his body heaved as he forced it to remain in its original position and from time to time a groan would escape him. And through all this a few words came again and again.

One of these words was a name. 'Arioch'.

The rulebook adds that if even one of these multiple rolls is failed, the process must be restarted. For example, if you’re summoning Donblas, Lawful Lord of Commerce,  for whatever reason, you need 5 rolls. If you succeed at 4 but flub the last one, you must start the whole process over. You’ve spent 4 hours gametime, as well as lost the 5 POW cost for summoning a Lord of the Higher Worlds.

This is fine by me. But wait, there’s more!

4 THE COST OF FAILURE

However, the rules continue that there is a heavy price to be paid if you fail a New / Long first time summoning, one that might render a character useless as a sorcerer. For example, if you’re trying to summon a Type 3 entity (Elemental Ruler) for the first time, the rules state:

“For every roll he fails, the sorcerer loses 1 off of a random characteristic. Roll ID8 to see which characteristic is reduced: 1 = STR, 2 = CON, 3-4 = INT,5-6=POW,7=DEX,8=CHA.” [5.3.1 in 4E]

WHOA. This is a big incentive to NEVER do sorcery. And I LIKE it. Since sorcerers are stated to start with one entity already, this means they have one safe with no risk. It is when they try to call new ones that they may damage themselves.

In game terms, older Stormbringer is often derided for allowing sorcerers to quickly load up on demons and fatally unbalance the game. With the risks of summoning failure this high, you can expect players not to tempt fate overmuch, or for sorcerers to survive doing so.

One last thing to remember, is that whether a summoning attempt succeeds or fails, the sorcerer still has to pay the cost in POW loss equal to the entity level.

CONCLUSION

When you are updating and clarifying old rules like these, you have to look at the big picture. Was the reason for the original rules sound? Does the rule or mechanic stand up for modern people playing an old game? Does it evoke the IP, or take away from immersion? Is a change necessary, or just a clarification or tightening up of mechanics?

In a way, I feel like Fuzz on Car SOS, taking a vintage vehicle and making it run faster and smoother on modern roads with as much of the original body intact, but with power steering and other necessities added in seamlessly.

I hope you agree it is worth the effort.

Stormbringer Redux # 18 Sorcerers & Summoning

I never got to finish this post last year as my life fell apart and I had to move to the other side of the world to build a new situation for sonny and myself. Now it is time to shake the rust off and get this posted.]

What I'm Talking About

In previous Stormbringer redux posts I outlined how to determine the motivations and conditions of entities summoned (post # 5 HERE), and how to create randomized lesser demons (post # 15.2 HERE). I also proposed a Summoning skill (post # 15.1 HERE).

Now in this epic two parter, I hope to make sorcery clearer, simpler, and more evocative of the source material.

WHO CAN BE A SORCERER?

So, this is a good place to review the official rules, as they are somewhat convoluted and always grow dimmer in my mind as I age. I will examine both the 1E and 4E rules, then give my take on them.

The rules of 1E and 4E tell us this,

“Player-characters with INT and POW adding to 32 or more, with a minimum INT of 16, have the potential to be sorcerers or wizards (the names are interchangeable). A Melnibontan, Pan Tangian, or Priest character of any country with a combined INT and POW of 32 will have been trained as a sorcerer. A Noble or Merchant character has a 50% chance of having been trained as a sorcerer if he qualifies as one.” [5.3]

Honestly, I have no problem with these rules, except maybe also including the Noble or Merchant chaances in the Character Generation rules would have been useful. After this follows an explanation of how other characters with the requisite INT and POW to be sorcerers can learn to do so during play, which is both a great piece of world building and an excellent adventure seed.

RANKS OF SORCERY

Here is the first great split between the editions of classic Stormbringer. 1E ranked the sorcerer’s power based on the entities they could summon [5.3.1 Sorcerous Abilities], while 4E ranked the entities [5.3.1.2 Types of Magical Entities].

1E Ranks

4E Ranks

I understand the reason for the change, to incorporate the 4E demon power point-buy system, but I prefer the elegant 1E system of sorcerous ranks. Also, since the requirements for summoning Elemental, Beast, and Chaos Lords are the same as 1E but scattered throughout the rules, the 1E ranking works best.

To simplify, here are the ranks again:

1st (INT + POW = 32) Can summon one type of elemental.

2nd (INT + POW = 36) Can summon two types of elemental, one type of demon.

3rd (INT + POW = 40) Can summon three types of elementals, and three types of demon. 

Can try summoning 1 Elemental Ruler if near the element.

4th (INT + POW = 44) Can summon all types of elementals, and five types of demons. 

Can attempt to summon two Elemental Lords, and if Melnibonean, one Beast Lord.

5th (INT + POW = 48) Can summon any elemental or demon type. 

Can summon any Elemental Ruler, plus any one Lord of Law or Chaos if ceremonies performed & entity is willing. If Melnibonean, can summon three Beast Lords.

NB: As I noted in a previous post, I have modified this ranking in a few ways for convenience:

1. I strip out the various percentages and just use the straight Sorcery roll (INT x 3% to start).

2. I would let noble sorcerers from any nation summon the entities listed in their Nationality & Religion description [2.3.7.2]. Pan Tang sorcerers could summon Chardros or Pyaray, for example.

3. Similarly, noble sorcerers from any nations with ‘none’ or ‘other’ written choose an appropriate Beast Lord, so a noble sorcerer of Oin or Yu could try to summon a Lord of Jaguars, for example. The GM could also allow them to summon minor godlings or entities from different mythos.

4. Priestly sorcerers could also attempt to summon entities if in great need and of great service to the deity. Sorcerors who are neither noble nor priest would have to make great sacrifices or become noble to have a chance at summoning lords.

STARTING SORCERY SKILL

This is somewhat vague and muddled in the text, so here is how I break it down.

1. All sorcerers start with INT x 3% in Sorcery skill, which replaces the varied percentages in 1E tables [5.3.1] and [5.3.3.1].

2. During character creation, if they succeed at the roll, they may start with one bound elemental or demon of their choice.

3. They can either have grimoires for each type of elemental or demon they can summon, as well as for each high lord they know how to contact, or have them memorized, which takes up their FREE INT.

FREE INT

Although I didn’t quite ‘get’ this rule in my younger days, it now makes complete sense. By limiting the number of demons a sorcerer has memorized by INT, game balance is preserved, and the player has to choose which summonings to keep ‘active’ in their Memory (which would have been a better term than Free INT), and which to transfer to a grimoire. 

Since I won’t be using Chaos Value (CV points, ugh), instead I’ll tie used FREE INT to the summonings possible at each caster level. Strangely, the 4E rules omitted CV values for Lords, so this also rectifies that oversight.

FREE INT Costs

Each elemental type = 1 pt

Each demon type = 2 pts

Each Elemental Ruler = 3 pts

Each Beast Lord = 4 pts

Each Chaos (or Law) Lord = 5 points

NB: For spell like effects (ie summoning Stormbringer’s brothers), or calling entities not in the list above (ie calling the Grahluk), a blanket 2 pt cost seems sufficient.

Since Elric has a supposed INT of 25 according to the rules, let’s see how he works out:

Arioch 3, Air elementals 1, Grahluk 2, Strassha 3, Creature of Matik 2, Stormbringer’s Brothers 2, Weakening Belbane 2 (and others I have doubtless forgotten)

Total = 15

So Elric has used a little more than half his FREE INT, which can be turned to impromptu spells and learning new summonings in the course of gameplay. I like the low point cost of unique summonings or spell effects, as it frees up the player and GM to make the game more freewheeling and like the books. If the sorcerer eventually fills up or exceeds his FREE INT, he must ‘download’ some summonings or spells into a grimoire.

Speaking of grimoires…

GRIMOIRES

In review, the grimoire rules of 4E integrate very well with my suggested houserules.

First, if we take the stated “10, 000 LB per spell contained” and change it to “per FREE INT point stored within,” we get an idea of how pricey and rare grimoires are. Elric’s sorcery calculated above would thus cost 150, 000 LB, a proper sum for the magic of a Melnibonean emperor!

In addition, the reference to a blank grimoire costing “500 LB per 1 FREE INT” also means a 25 FREE INT spellbook will cost 12, 500 LB. These are thus rare works of craft, and should only be purchasable from Chaotic bookbinders with skill of 90% or more, although being a member of a Chaotic clergy may provide a discount in cost offset by limits in size and restrictions on content.

Finally, there is the reference to grimoires giving a bonus to summoning any of the entities locked therein, but without any details. If we take + 5% per point of FREE INT used in this way, we get a neat way to use up the extra FREE INT of a grimoire - to reduce the chance of summoning failure. Since sorcerers can attempt to summon from any grimoire, this could give starting sorcerers a leg up and a reason to adventure for discovering old grimoires.

Aesthetically, I would rule that the pages used for inscribing summonings or spell effects would be 8 pages per 1 FREE INT, and full of arcane scribblings and mind bending illustrations. Conversely, grimoires giving a bonus to summonings would be embossed with gems in equal number to the bonus they give. Removing the gemstones would also destroy the bonus. 

However, there are also some weird grimoire rules in the Stormbringer rulebook that need changing. There is the 1E rule that you can raise your sorcery level from a grimoire by studying it for 40 - INT game months and making a successful Sorcery roll, with the risk of dying if you fail it [5.3.2]. This seems rather harsh, in that it takes the character out of the game, and penalizes a simple roll with instant death. I would instead give the player the choice of studying the 40 - INT months, during which time they must play another character, or instead make the Sorcery roll resulting in death if failed. Of course, this death could just be being dragged to a hell plane, giving other characters an incentive to go rescue them.

Meanwhile, 4E Stormbringer says grimoire doubles summoning time, and that summoning from a grimoire requires intense concentration [5.2.1.2]. As we shall see in the summoning times rules below, I think the length of summoning is already long enough, and concentration is a given, so I will ignore this.

At some later date, I might consider rules for cursed spellbooks and sample grimoires, but I think this is enough for now. As a final note, Moorcock’s work describe High Melnibonean as “the language of high sorcery,” but I would like to think this is insular Melnibonean arrogance, and that other tongues have their own sorcerous traditions in their own languages.

SUMMONING TYPES, TIMES, & COSTS

Funnily enough, 1E had a makeshift summoning times insert called simply ‘Magic’ that disappeared by the time 4E was published. It vaguely suggested 2D10 minutes for elemental or demon ‘quick’ summoning, and an unhelpful ‘hours’ for longer summoning. The only reference in 4E to summon times was 1 hour per type of entity according to [5.3.1.2], with this referring to the first time ever summoning.

To clarify this and link up to my rules suggestions, let’s split summonings into two types.

TWO TYPES OF SUMMONING

1) Quick or Short Summoning - For entities already memorized and previously summoned. Also applies to impromptu magic spells. 

2) New or Long summoning - Applies to entities memorized but never summoned before. Also applies to summoning from a grimoire, whether for the first time or previously memorized but transferred to a grimoire and no longer in FREE INT.

SUMMONING TIME & SUMMONING ROLL

Next, time to summon and the number of Summoning rolls required depend on the type of summoning. 

For Quick / Short Summoning, time is 1D8 minutes per entity level. (Elementals = 1, Demons = 2, Elemental Lords = 3, Beast Lords = 4, Lords of Higher Worlds = 5). So summoning an elemental would only take 1 to 8 minutes, and could conceivably help in a battle while allies held off foes. Conversely, trying to summon a Beast Lord would take between 4 to 24 minutes, a risky proposition on a battlefield, but useful if imprisoned in a dungeon teeming with rodents and insect life.

(NB: Spell like effects should be on GM fiat, both in terms of time and effect. Just as Elric supposedly used spells to keep a magical door open or temporarily weaken a monster, such effects should be instantaneous and of small scale)

For New / Long Summoning, time is 1 hour per entity level (Elementals = 1, Demons = 2, Elemental Lords = 3, Beast Lords = 4, Lords of Higher Worlds = 5). If summoning from a grimoire, the sorcerer can choose to enter the summoning into FREE INT, or leave it unmemorized.

As stated in the rule book, the sorcerer must make one roll EVERY HOUR, and has to start the process over if one is failed.

NB: This fits well with the Elric novels, where the first time contacting Arioch cost Elric much in time and energy, but became much quicker as the saga progressed. Also, the GM should feel free to shorten times if the entity wants to come or has urgent business with the summoner.

SUMMONING COSTS (POW & SACRIFICE)

There are two types of costs, 1) temporary POW drain, representing fatigue and 2) a sacrifice if the sorcerer is not a noble or cleric, or is not affiliated by nationality to the entity summoned.

POW drain is equal to the level of entity summoned (Elementals = 1, Demons = 2, Elemental Lords = 3, Beast Lords = 4, Lords of Higher Worlds = 5). If a sorcerer’s POW is reduced to 0 by multiple summonings or spells, they collapse unconscious for 3D8 hours.

Sacrifices are as follows:

Elementals require the sacrifice of a life from an opposing element (ie an Earth elemental would require a fish, Fire a bird, Water any land animal, and Air a salamander or fire beetle. 

Demon sacrifices depend on the type of demon, and prefer humans close to them. A Combat Demon would prefer a soldier, Passion a harlot or casanova, Knowledge a scholar, Transport a charioteer or boatman, etc.

Elemental Lords require human souls lost in their element (ie drowned sailors, those burnt in volcanos, thrown off mountains, buried in sand, etc).

Beast Lords require the sacrifice of a giant version of their prey, or else a human trussed up to devour. 

Lords of Higher Worlds may answer a summons accompanied by the sacrifice of a few souls, but demand a much higher price. Once you deal with them, they expect fealty and will interfere with your life forever.

SUMMONING PROCEDURE

(NB: This is for Summoning without Binding. Bargaining and Binding will be covered in part two)

Each elemental type - First, prepare a handful of the element. Follow with 1D8 minutes (short) or 1 hour (long) of undisturbed chanting. Sacrifice at the end if required. As stated previously, elementals will not oppose their Elemental Ruler, and may not be 100% cooperative or competent.

Each demon type - First, prepare burning herbs, then the octagon of Chaos (unless you want to be immediately attacked). Follow with 2D8 minutes (short) or 2 hours (long) of undisturbed chanting. Sacrifice at the end if required. As stated previously, demons have their own agenda, and may not be 100% cooperative or competent.

Each Elemental Ruler - First, the summoning can only be done in a biome of the element. Follow with 3D8 minutes (short) or 3 hours (long) of undisturbed chanting. Sacrifice at the end if required. As stated previously, Elemental Rulers seek to preserve their element first and foremost, and protect the world second. They may not be swayed from these goals.

Each Beast Lord - First, the summoning can only be done in a habitat of the creature. Follow with 4D8 minutes (short) or 4 hours (long) of undisturbed chanting. Sacrifice at the end if required. As stated previously, Beast Lords seek to preserve their species first and foremost, and protect the world second. They may not be swayed from these goals.

Each Chaos (or Law) Lord = Follow with 5D8 minutes (short) or 5 hours (long) of undisturbed chanting. Sacrifice at the end if required. As stated previously, Lords of the Higher Worlds only contact summoners when they want to, and if it suits their mysterious agendas.

SORCERY SUMMARY

                        QUICK / SHORT vs NEW / LONG

SOURCE         Memorized From grimoire

TIME 1d8 minutes per level 1 hour per level

ROLLS         Once Once per hour, restart if failed

Next time, we take a deep dive into the muddled rules of BARGAINING and BINDING!

Michael Chabon & Story RPGs

 From the The Martian Agent, A Planetary Romance, from McSweeney's mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales.

"Jefferson Drake was an inveterate reader of novels for boys. In these tales there were ever only three possible destinies available to those who found themselves in such a grave predicament. For Heroic Britons, there were the Fighting Martyrdom, guns blazing, and the Impossible Stand, holding out till help arrived. For a noble enemy - Russian, German, Pathan, the odd renegade Frenchman or Iroquois - there was only Defeat Without Surender, choosing to end one's own life rather than face the ignominy of inevitable capture. (For "savage" enemies such possiblities rarely arose, for these traveled almost exclusively in Swarms or Hordes, and so never found themselves Surrounded.) 

Sounds a lot like PbtA moves to me.

Levels of Abstraction, Complication, & Versimilitude in RPG Rules

So, you're making an RPG and need rules, or else re-evaluating an old RPG that doesn't suit your needs. You've got your numeric skeleton, your narrative flesh, and somehow you've got to sew them together with silver threads of reality.

(NB: This is for old school games. I understand that 'story games' often compose the corpus in a different way)

There are a few ways to think about different levels of abstraction, their attendant complication, and the verisimilitude they engender.

Level 1 = Bitter reality

At this level, the rules are made to emulate the real world as faithfully as possible. D&D's meticulous calculation of weight coin by coin fits this, with Encumbrance as lbs of objects. This may be great for modern games, but as I've noted before, it is a mismatch for fantasy. How does an elf know how many kilograms something is? Also, counting the weight of coins is about as much fun as watching paint dry.

Abstraction - low

Complication - high

Verisimilitude  (to reality) - high / (to gameworld) medium

Fun - low

Level 2 = Inside A Simulation

At this level, the rules are made to emulate reality as it should exist within the game system.

For example, if Encumbrance is a number of items based on STR, and the size of the item modifies how many Encumbrance points are used. Daggers are 1 ENC, short swords 2, long 3, and greatswords 4, to give rough examples. Takes some getting used to, but by excising real world units the integrity of the game world is preserved, at the expense of learning the new system of measurement.

Abstraction - medium

Complication - medium

Verisimilitude 1 (to the game) - high

Fun - medium

Level 3 = World-Based Reality

At this level, the rules are made to reflect the reality of the game world. In D&D, wizards cannot wear armor. Why? Because it is a trope of that world.

Similarly, if we make Encumbrance as number of weapons and armor carriable according to class, then this buys into the world, but ignores mechanics such as STR. This is the site of conflict between story conventions and mechanics.

Abstraction - high

Complication - medium

Verisimilitude - low

Fun - medium

Level 4 = Pure Roleplaying, aka We Don't Need No Stinkin' Rules

At this level, players are expected to ROLEplay, and thus no rules are made. The old Stormbringer and Cthulhu went this way. Open to abuse unless GM and players are big fans of the genre / source material and police themselves accordingly.

Abstraction - high

Complication - low

Verisimilitude - medium

Fun - medium

Conclusions

From health to abilities, all aspects of an RPG can be seen this way. Add to the fact that different GMs and players want or expect different things, the choice becomes fraught with potential for division.

As for me, when RL abates and I can return to my project, Level 3 will be my aim. For an IP, world based reality is the goal.