Ah, "Crunch" viene usato anche da Edwards per definire uno dei tipi di meccanismo presenti nel gamismo...
Qui il dizionario visto sopra segnala correttamente entrambi i significati:
Crunch
In broad usage, this refers to hard-and-fast mechanics which require little subjective interpretation -- aka "Crunchy". As defined in Ron Edwards' Gamism essay, "an application or type of Challenge, based on high predictability relative to risk."
References: Gamism: Step On Up
Dal Provisional Glossary:
Crunch, the
An application or type of Challenge, based on high predictability relative to risk. A feature of Gamist play.
Da "Gamism: Step on Up":
The Gamble and the Crunch
Challenge is the Situation faced by the player-characters with a strong implication of risk. It can be further focused into applications, which individually tend toward one of these two things:
The Gamble occurs when the player's ability to manipulate the odds or clarify unknowns is seriously limited. "Hold your nose and jump!" is its battle-cry. Running a first-level character in all forms of D&D is a Gamble; all of Ninja Burger play is a Gamble. More locally, imagine a crucial charge made by a fighter character toward a dragon - his goal is to distract it from the other character's coordinated attack, and he's the only one whose hit points are sufficient to survive half its flame-blast. Will he make the saving roll? If he doesn't, he dies. Go!
The Crunch occurs when system-based strategy makes a big difference, either because the Fortune methods involved are predictable (e.g. probabilities on a single-die roll), or because effects are reliably additive or cancelling (e.g. Feats, spells). Gamist-heavy Champions play with powerful characters is very much about the Crunch. The villain's move occurs early in Phase 3; if the speed-guy saves his action from Phase 2 into Phase 3 to pre-empt that action, and if the brick-guy's punch late on Phase 3 can be enhanced first by the psionic-guy's augmenting power if he Pushes the power, then we can double-team the villain before he can kill the hostage.
The distinction between Gamble and Crunch isn't quite the same as "randomness;" it has more to do with options and consequences. Fortune can be involved in both of them, and it doesn't have to be involved in either (see Diplomacy for a non-RPG example). Also, look out for jargon: "Crunchy" is a gamer term for detailed and layered rules; "crunching" is a long-standing term for maximizing Effectiveness by manipulating a system's Currency. Neither of these are Crunch as I'm defining here.
Quindi abbiamo che "The Crunch", "Crunchy", "Crunchy Bits", "Crunching" vogliono dire cose completamente diverse fra di loro (e solo uno è un termine forgita). E poi c'è gente che si chiede come mai per parlare di gdr e capirsi sia necessario usare esempi di actual play... :-)
