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From:	Rob Kean <rkean@****.net>
Subject:	Munchins????
Date:	Fri, 15 Mar 1996 14:04:17 -0500

Message no. 1 I've seen references to these guys on the net in several places....

What in the world are they???

rob

From:	neon@******.backbone.olemiss.edu (Mike Broadwater)
Subject:	Re: Munchins????
Date:	Fri, 15 Mar 1996 13:29:59 -0600

Message no. 2 >What in the world are they???
>
>rob
>
It depends on who you ask. I consider them any player who power games a
character, doesn't role play at all, and then bitches when something bad for
the character but good for the story happens to them. Others consider it
any player with a character more powerful than theirs. Some, players that
don't role play and just want stuff. IM(not-so-very)HO, "munchkin" is the
term used by a lot of people who think that anything powerful is bad, and
can't run a good enough game to be able to take something powerful and turn
it into a good story and something fun for the players and themselves. I'd
like to think I'm not a munchkin (though people who don't know me have
called me it before, oddly enough, no one else I've ever met and played with
in the real world has ever said anything similiar) I have seen players who
would easily be called munchkins by some people on this list, but they had
fun playing their game, and the gm had fun running it, and while I didn't
approve, I wouldn't dare stop them.

Munchkin is a bitch used by too many people to describe too many things that
they don't like, don't want to use, and don't want anyone else to use either.

Hail Munchkins!
Munchkins Uber Ailes! (I think I spelt that right:)

Mike Broadwater
http://www.olemiss.edu/~neon
"You only need two things in this world. WD40 to make things go, and
duct tape to make them stop."

From:	"J.D. Falk" <jdfalk@************.org>
Subject:	Re: Munchins????
Date:	Fri, 15 Mar 1996 16:21:39 -0500 (EST)

Message no. 3 On Fri, 15 Mar 1996, Rob Kean wrote:

> I've seen references to these guys on the net in several places....
>
>
> What in the world are they???

Excerpted from the ShadowRN FAQ, section 3:

Munchkin

Either noun or verb. Munchkinism is exhibited in two primary
forms of expression, that of rules interpretation/implementation
and power.

Munchkins tend to interpret rules in either the broadest
possible sense or such that benefits shall be disproportionately
bestowed, especially in exclusive favor to their character. They
consistently push the envelope of the letter and spirit of the
law in an effort to gain the greatest (sometimes individual)
latitude. Usually, areas targeted for such pressure are
instances where the published rules are particularly vague or
may not specifically apply, i.e., loopholes.

Besides this, Munchkins are quite willing to take leave of the
game system to achieve their desires and demonstrate a great
willingness to alter, augment, or eliminate the rules without
paying due consideration to alternatives to or the ramifications
of their actions.

As has already been implied, the end product of all Munchkins
efforts lead to one thing: Power. Munchkins are driven by the
desire to become the most potent player in the
group/setting/world in which they are playing. Further, any
questions as to the believability (within the genre) or
feasibility of such exceedingly potent characters or are not
salient to the Munchkin. Also, Munchkins are generally very
reticent to create serious obstacles or problems for his
character, and typically they exhibit most grievous vexation
should the Game Master or other players frustrate his plans. In
line with this, they energetically seek to avoid any
disadvantages or costs in an effort to achieve their goals. A
Munchkin EXPECTS to win all the time.

True, it may be argued that the above behaviours are merely
natural tendencies, but they attain a certain fanaticism in
Munchkins.

---------========== J.D. Falk <jdfalk@************.org> =========---------
| "But still the screen is flickering |
| With an endless stream of garbage to |
| Curse the place |
| In a sea of random images." -Pink Floyd |
----========== http://www.cybernothing.org/jdfalk/home.html ==========----

From:	"'Spaceman' WD Lee" <galahad@*.washington.edu>
Subject:	Re: Munchins????
Date:	Fri, 15 Mar 1996 15:44:48 -0800 (PST)

Message no. 4 On Fri, 15 Mar 1996, Rob Kean wrote:

> I've seen references to these guys on the net in several places....
>
>
> What in the world are they???
>
> rob

I agree mostly with Mike..... It's an overused bitch. I tend to
use it for people who cannot/will not roleplay. My players are some of the
best role-playres I've ever had, but our campaign is so high-powered that
it has often drawn sniffs of "munchkin" oh well.
Mike's comments probably helped better
Bill

The Spaceman |Remember, Abraham Lincoln didn't die
spaced@*.washington.edu |in vain, he died in Washington, D.C.
galahad@*.washington.edu | -Firesign Theatre
http://weber.u.washington.edu/~spaced
GCC/GL d- s:++ a-- C++ U+ P L>L++ !E W++ N++ o+ K w !O M-- V--
PS+ PE Y+ PGP t 5+ X+ R+ tv b+++ DI+ D+ G++ e h r z+
MPA/SH/TA S G Q+ 666 y W C++ N+ PEC+++ D1

From:	"A Halliwell" <u5a77@**.keele.ac.uk>
Subject:	Re: Munchins????
Date:	Sun, 17 Mar 1996 18:04:05 +0000 (GMT)

Message no. 5 |
|I've seen references to these guys on the net in several places....
|
|
|What in the world are they???

The word is munchkins, and they are the type of people who don't know the
meaning of the word ROLE-PLAYING and always go for getting more POWER!!!!!
over everything else in the game....

Sexual favours from that really beautiful woman/elf/whatever, or a sword of
incredible power?..... Sword

They also try to find loopholes to benefit themselves and sometimes try to
twist the rules or even *gasp*, cheat.

Well, I think you get the idea
--
______________________________________________________________________________
| |What to do if you find yourself stuck in a crack in |
|u5a77@**.keele.ac.uk |the ground beneath a giant boulder, which you can't |
| |move, with no hope of rescue. |
|Andrew Halliwell |Consider how lucky you are that life has been good |
|Principal subjects in:-|to you so far... |
|Comp Sci & Visual Arts | -The BOOK, Hitch-hiker's guide to the galaxy. |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|GCv3.1 GCS/FA>$ d---(dpu) s+/- a- C++ U N++ K- w-- M+/++ PS+++ PE- Y t+ 5++ |
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From:	Lady Jestyr <s421539@*******.gu.edu.au>
Subject:	Re: Munchins????
Date:	Tue, 19 Mar 1996 20:42:19 +1000 (EST)

Message no. 6 > I've seen references to these guys on the net in several places....
>
>
> What in the world are they???

Well... put simply, munchkins (at least as far as I'm concerned) are
those who love their characters for their stats, not for the fun they
provide.

Here's an example... a few of the guys I play with recently merged with
half of another gaming group. We were all sitting around reminiscing
about fun role-playing experiences (you know, like the time the elf
starred in a porno simsense, or the time the samurai pinned a guy to the
wall by his genitals, using a toasting fork) and one of the new guys was
reminiscing about his rigger... "it had 10 intelligence... it had a
MIG..." etc...

(note the reference to character as "it"... good sign there)

Lady Jestyr

------------------------------------------------------
When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.
------------------------------------------------------
Elle Holmes s421539@*****.student.gu.edu.au
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/1503/
------------------------------------------------------
The opinions expressed are my own, unless you don't
agree with them, in which case they are my evil twin
sister's opinions.

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