Design Discussion: Pillars of T2k Gameplay

[Tegyrius]

In D&D design and theorycrafting circles, one area of intense discussion is the "Three Pillars of D&D" upon which 5th Edition's designers explicitly focused. This parallels the "core gameplay loop" concept in electronic gaming, which has also found its way into tabletop RPG design discussions. What stories is your game designed to tell? What is the intended player experience? What are characters supposed to do?

The internet holds a plethora of articles on this concept. I think Shawn Merwin's post here on adventure design does an excellent job of delving into D&D's pillars of combat, exploration, and social interaction.

Most of us here have played in a number of different systems and settings and are aware that every game engine and game world supports, either implicitly or explicitly, different modes of play. Some make this inescapably obvious. First edition 7th Sea, for example, recommends a campaign setup activity (what later theory calls "Session Zero") in which each player allocates 100 points between the game's five designed foci of action, exploration, intrigue, military, and romance. This tells the GM where the players' interests lie, both individually and collectively.

All of which is to set the stage for today's design question:

What are Twilight: 2000's pillars of gameplay?

- C.