Currently the reality-check tag exists on three questions:
- How Should Speed and Range Affect Hit Probability?
- Non-Cinematic DR of Advanced Body Armour
- Using the slide recoil of a semi-auto pistol as a weapon
The last question (the oldest at 5 months old) has the following two comments below it:
What is the new "reality-check" tag you just created for?
A "reality check" is (or at least used to be) one of the core principles of GURPS -- used to check whether a rule or ruling made sense. Perhaps they're irrelevant with the emphasis on "cinematic" play in recent editions, add-ons, and "powered by GURPS" publications. To me, the question appears to be as much about "would this even work" as it is about "how can I model this in-game."
A tag description was made 9 hours ago, and it states:
Questions relating to how closely a given mechanic (or, rarely, some part of lore) approximates the outcomes expected in reality (or of what reality would be with adjustments that are part of the premise), and/or how such approximation be improved, as distinct from concerns of balance and of emulation of genres of fiction.
I'm honestly just unsure what (if anything) should be done about this tag, I haven't seen other similar tags and I'm a bit confused as to where the description came from. I'm unsure whether the tag should stick around or not; though perhaps it's just a lesser-used tag.
I'm especially confused given that the simulation tag exists; its description states:
For questions relating primarily to simulation in RPGs, the aim to approximate situations, creatures, or actions in a realistic-seeming manner, as a primary focus or virtue of an RPG.
Simulation, simulationist, or simulationism refers to games or play styles that focus on rules that produce consequences that approximate observed reality. Rules of the game generally result in events or consequences that could occur in observed reality, or reality given some modification, like magic.
Simulationism is often contrasted with narrativism and gamism. There are three significant RPG theory models that deal with the relationship between and application of these terms: the Threefold Model, GNS Theory, and The Big Model.