Quote Originally Posted by Darrin View Post
The butterknife example is about game balance, which in my mind is the goal of gamist play. There are people who would get really bent out of shape if they designed a character to do a lot of damage with a huge anime-style greatsword, only to watch some scrappy kid do more damage with a butterknife. Feng Shui is designed to place a great deal of power in the hands of the players, and things start to break if you try to come at it from a game balance point of view.
Actually, that strikes me as a Simulationist issue (whee!).

Having a butter knife do the same damage as a greatsword has no impact on game balance; in fact, it makes for a better balanced system, since the butter knife fighter is balanced against the greatsword fighter. So it's not a problem from the Gamist standpoint. From a Narrativist standpoint, it's weird, but certainly it can make for an exciting story, and I suppose you could explore the theme of the Secret Way of the Butter Knife. It only becomes a problem when you try to imagine how, exactly, you're lopping someone's head off with a butter knife...