Sometimes, it’s tempting to add detail to an RPG in order to better simulate this or that concept. Armor and weapons may be modified in order to simulate how they might actually behave in combat, systems may be implemented to emulate survival situations in more detail, and so forth. This extra level of crunch is often intended to achieve a higher level of realism, but the truth is granularity doesn’t necessarily accomplish this. All granularity truly accomplishes is to add resolution.

Granularity Equals Resolution, Not Realism

Granularity, i.e. drilling down to more detailed rules to govern game procedures, is often equated with realism, but the two really are not the same. Granularity equates to detail and resolution, but that detail may not necessarily be realistic. For instance, you can spend time at your game table calculating the exact results of an explosion in a hallway using detailed game procedures, but the end result may not actually behave anything like an actual explosion.

All granularity truly does is concentrate more game time on resolving specific situations. Adding granularity to certain systems makes your game more about those systems since that’s where you’re going to spend your time. As an example, D&D 5E is a monster-slaying game. Most of the detail in class options, feats, spells, etc. have to do with encountering and fighting enemies, and any concept of “game balance” is generally determined in terms of combat effectiveness over anything else. It has a higher level of resolution than anything else in the game, so the game is ultimately combat-focused (at least in terms of design).

Realism Doesn’t Require Granularity

Furthermore, that detail may not actually be necessary to create a realistic simulation. A low-detail system can still be realistic. It’s just viewed with a lower degree of resolution. The rules may simulate generalized results of actions that are still realistic, just not very detailed. Additionally, some outcomes may be left to GM adjudication, relying on imagination and sensible rulings as the table interprets dice results on the fly. In this case, detail comes from the people playing the game rather than from the game’s rules as written in the book.

Realistic Low-Res Combat: An Example

To illustrate how it might be possible to have realism while using low-resolution systems, let’s take a look at a possible combat system designed to simulate the interactions between weapons and armor. In an actual medieval combat scenario, weapons either bypass armor, compromise it, or batter the person inside the armor through percussive force. How do we simulate that without getting too into the weeds?

Armor Class already does this. If they beat the AC of their target, it’s presumed that they found a gap or compromised the armor in some way. The higher their attack bonuses, the more adept they are at doing this (assuming damage represents physical trauma in this game, of course).

Armor also serves to reduce damage. Perhaps a simple workaround without getting into the math of damage reduction would just be doubling damage against unarmored targets. Quick. Simple. Efficient.

High impact weapons could also still deal some small amount of damage if they don’t overcome the AC of a target (as with shock damage in Worlds Without Number), simulating the kind of battering someone might receive when being hit with a mace, hammer, or large polearm. In that case, beating a target’s AC would be analogous to finding a gap, while dealing shock damage would simulate sheer impact against the armor.

Of course, at this point we are adding more granularity than might be desired in a low-res system, even if these additions would still play pretty quickly at the table without the need for extra math.

Summing It Up

To sum everything up:

• Granularity = resolution and detail, not realism
• Resolution = game’s overall focus
• Realism can still be simulated by fairly abstracted systems

Anyway, if you find this concept interesting (or appalling), let me know!

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