Editing RPG System Symmetries (section)

===Observable State===
A game has this kind of symmetry if all situations that cannot be distinguished by observations in-game are identical in game mechanics. Things like deterministic durations that cannot be measured in game (no observation may tell an effect that will be active a few more hours from one that will end in minutes), HPs that do not describe real wounds and fatigue or clearly meta-game resources break this symmetry.

This symmetry is only borderline unusual. Most games would exhibit traces of this without having been designed to do so. What makes it unusual is that few, if any, games were designed with this in mind as breaking this symmetry can make some design decisions much simpler.

[[Category:Game Mechanic]]
[[Category:Game System]]
[[Category:Resources]]