RE: Nth Society update - fork to tabletop RPG
There is then another type called pen and paper RPGs, and the distinction is not clear to me
"Pen and paper RPGs" and "tabletop RPGs" are basically synonyms. There's not a universal term because originally these were the only kind of RPGs; computer RPGs were created later but got more popular than the tabletop kind and therefore many people's first encounter with RPGs is with the video-game type and they assume that's what the general category of "RPG" refers to.
If you're interested in exploring some other indie games that might be relevant to your project, Shock: Social Science Fiction might be something you want to look at. It's structured more around dramatic stories that highlight the issues of created settings rather than the "realism" focus you seem to be aiming for, but the way it tries to get the stories to explore "issues" related to a core premise seems a bit similar to what I think your goal is with your game so it might be of interest to you. (Personally I didn't enjoy it the one time I played it, but different people have different tastes). You might also find some things of interest in the Burning Wheel family of games. There are conflicts about things other than combat, and there's a focus on trying to make the situations revolve around the "Beliefs" of the players' characters. (I have some examples of some ways that can work if you scroll down to the "The GM’s mission-preparation procedures" in my Mouse Guard review).
Thanks for clearing that up for me regarding terminology. I had thought of namedropping you too by the way but decided against it as I haven't had that much contact with you. Anyway thanks for your input here.
I definitely am interested in exploring relevant existing games. I was unable to find very much in the way of a voluntaryist tabletop RPG (or even "ancap", though I wouldn't find my the general goals there super aligned anyway).
Those games sound like interesting case studies. What I'm interested in is a system without much more than physical or historical restrictions on users. By physcial I mean strength, skills, dexterity, etc., and historical restrictions like people who may know you in the wider world and have a claim to you, etc.
This was a big point in the original computer game design, to not give PCs things like "beliefs" or non tangible attributes and let that come out in RP behavior. In some ways that's anti-RP, or at least it makes things perhaps too unmoored so I would perhaps replace them with goals, aspirations, etc. which might be secret for a player but they'd be encouraged to keep them and could even use something like "inspiration" feature, as in DnD 5e rules.
I know that players will be interested in violent conflict being sensible even if they choose to not engage in it too much. To make a lot of assumptions about where we'll end up, my ideal game would have some people take on antagonistic roles for the sake of testing some of the ideological positions the "good" characters might take.