Kilroy Wrote:My impression of the third example was similiar to the distinction between player knowledge and more limited character knowledge in a RPG campaign. The reader knows that the outlandish theory is correct, so the author has the characters accept it even without any logical reason for them to do so.As far as your third example goes, I think it's reasonable to expect the characters to roll with the situation (no matter how outlandish the situation is) whenever its expedient for the story and as long as the characters remain true to their established selves in the process. Getting to the meat of the story, whatever that is, is the important bit.
Personal example: Candle in the Dark, the Fenspace/Battletech crossover, really doesn't waste a lot of time with the broader metaphysical implications of the crossover mechanic. It's very much a "well, that happened. Shit, what next?" sort of deal because no matter how ridiculous the setup is the wider brain-breaking philosophical issues take a back seat to what people really want out of the crossover: fanboys breaking things.
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery
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