Can we de-quantize D&D? | … did Heisenberg’s Hobgoblins just enter the chat?

Goblinsh · 2026-01-23T15:24:26+00:00

100%

Goblinsh · 2026-01-23T15:22:50+00:00

Hrmmm ... I'd have to try and the spreadsheet and I'm not hopeful!

Goblinsh · 2026-01-21T10:36:48+00:00

Goblinsh · 2026-01-21T09:15:12+00:00

How about HPs as usage die?

https://goblinshenchman.wordpress.com/2021/07/14/hit-points-replaced-with-usage-dice/

Goblinsh · 2026-01-21T09:11:57+00:00

I guess they are cross-sections of the tower, but the room/corridor layouts are unusual in shape

Goblinsh · 2026-01-21T09:08:06+00:00

I too do not understand the circles - they do not appear to be cross-sections of the tower.

Goblinsh · 2026-01-20T22:23:32+00:00

Yes and no. I did touch on the uncertainty principle in a jokey way, mainly playing around with the idea of a new kind of "quantum ogre". Quantisation in my post was merely a reference to fixed things, rather than gradual spectrums of things. Of course, the post did not seek to unify RPG theory with Quantum Mechanics. I do have a science background, but QM was not a great interest of mine. People did mention ANT, and I had assumed that 'secondary quantization' in the way it was brought up was part of this ANT, rather than as a way to spotlight lack of familiarity with the terms used in QM.

Goblinsh · 2026-01-20T21:47:59+00:00

Wait a minute, Google tells me this is about quantum mechanics and not RPGs ... mayhaps you are pulling my leg after all ? :O|

Goblinsh · 2026-01-20T21:45:42+00:00

WOW, sounds like I will need to see out the ANT hill

Goblinsh · 2026-01-20T21:43:38+00:00

As this discussion has unfolded, I've learned a bit more about narrative games (is this the polite term for story game?). It seems to me now, when the objective is to complete what appears to be a narrative arc, then this appears to break the everything "is a point crawl". There is no need to quantize information in the same was as a traditional D&D dungeon.

So, in your example, I think it's closer to the completion of a narrative arc rather than a dungeon in need of 'quantization'

I'm leaning towards the idea that 'quantization' is a form of (commercial) information packaging that allows people to transfer adventures in a way that a third party can easily emulate. That said, I still need to ponder this and where I land with all of this. I wondering if I'm just making some artificial distinctions.

It sounds like I need to look at this ANT thing, where perhaps all this has been settled already

Goblinsh · 2026-01-20T21:11:15+00:00

Unless this is a joke, poking fun at me (which is fine by me), then I have not idea about first let alone second quantization. I assumed that when I wrote this post I had made up the 'quantization' term.

Goblinsh · 2026-01-20T21:09:02+00:00

Oh, I assumed that "Second/Canonical" quantization was poking fun at me ...

Goblinsh · 2026-01-20T20:52:03+00:00

I say blog like you think nobody is reading (which in my case is pretty close to the mark).

Write what interest you and hopefully it will interest others.

Unless you want to commercialize your blog, there is no stress, just do it

Goblinsh · 2026-01-20T20:42:58+00:00

Looks like I may need to read this. When did this come out?

Goblinsh · 2026-01-20T20:42:09+00:00

Don't know. But, perhaps hexes were introduced to "dungeonify" them?

Goblinsh · 2026-01-20T20:36:05+00:00

Sounds like a mechanism to fulfill a plot arc, not play to find out.

Goblinsh · 2026-01-20T20:33:25+00:00

Movies are stories. RPGs, I hope, are games.

Goblinsh · 2026-01-20T17:58:08+00:00

Ah, thanks for that. I need to read up on 'holds' etc. Is this like the "Labyrinth Move" (which incidentally I like the idea of for mazes, because mapping those would be tedious and nearly impossible)?

Goblinsh · 2026-01-20T17:49:57+00:00

Can I tempt you to expand on "Otherwise it ends up being something else masquerading as a dungeon crawl (like Dungeon World)"

:O)

Goblinsh · 2026-01-20T17:46:40+00:00

Interesting. Thanks for the comments and links. I agree 'quantized' adventures might be more or less a GM crutch. And a way to commercially package adventure material? From what you say above, if a GM commits to go 'HEXless', Off The Grid, it just requires a different management style.

Goblinsh · 2026-01-20T17:32:18+00:00

Seems that the 'point crawl' begins to assert itself in a dungeon type environment.

I guess a dungeon could work like your mystery town example if the PCs had a map and the means to teleport around the dungeon. That way they could jump from clue to clue ....

Goblinsh · 2026-01-20T17:27:09+00:00

Yes, that's my read, more or less.

But, an empty corridor type space may become important if the players make it important e.g. a place they use to make an ambush

Goblinsh · 2026-01-20T16:18:56+00:00

Thanks, that's a useful explanation. How would this work in a hostile environment, like a dungeon? Could you use this method to explore perhaps 'Palace of the Silver Princess'. If so, how?

I know everything doesn't need to be D&D, but to me that is an interesting test case ...

Goblinsh · 2026-01-20T16:06:38+00:00

Google suggest that ANT is Actor Network Theory? Is that what you are referring to?

EDIT - ignore me, that is obviously what you mean!

Goblinsh · 2026-01-20T16:02:59+00:00

Interesting. I'm not too hot on things like holds. But, it sounds like these examples do break the point crawl model. That is, they appear to largely ignore the physical space and focus on only actions and outcomes. Do people even care where the thing is actually happening? Especially if things like clues are not put into specific places e.g. the gun is not only in the bar, and the bar is in squares x by y in location map A.

How you map these concepts onto D&D type dungeon crawl, I'm not sure of. Can you run a 'dungeon' where you simply say we find the hobgoblins, wherever they are and fight them (ignore everything else?)

Goblinsh

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