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Message no. 1
From: Jonathan Wright <jwrigh01@********.CA>
Subject: Playing Smarter (was Intelligence of 12!)
Date: Fri, 25 Oct 1996 12:07:58 -0400
On Fri, 25 Oct 1996, G.F.BURKE wrote:

> snip...My last AD&D character had an intelligence of 4.
> Hmm, not much different than real life, huh? :) Just kidding Bull.
> -Oni
> P.S. How does a person play a character that is smarter than he(her)?
>

This is an interesting point. I once had a samurai in my group that
raised his intelligence to 8 (using an encephalon if I remember
correctly). The job of playing the character "smarter" usually fell on
me (the GM) as I had to take into account that his character would notice
small details and interpret information, draw conclusions, etc. at a
greatly accelerated pace.

My question to the list is how they would handle it? Do you think you
should give characters who are "smarter" than their players more info so
that they can appear to be "smarter"? (This is a pretty extreme case of
the character running the player isn't it?)

Jon Wright
Message no. 2
From: David Buehrer <dbuehrer@****.ORG>
Subject: Re: Playing Smarter (was Intelligence of 12!)
Date: Fri, 25 Oct 1996 11:25:38 -0600
Jonathan Wright wrote:
|
|My question to the list is how they would handle it? Do you think you
|should give characters who are "smarter" than their players more info so
|that they can appear to be "smarter"? (This is a pretty extreme case of
|the character running the player isn't it?)

Yes, I give the smarter characters the chance (role some
dice) to notice things (from the simple, "you hear
footsteps" to the subtle, "the bum in the alley looks out
of place for some reason"). Basically, the smarter
character has more dice for perceptions tests. Also, I'll
give the smarter characters chances to notice something
before the other characters.

I make it a point not to run the player's character when
doing this. I just give them information and let them run
with it.

-David

/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\ dbuehrer@****.org /^\/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\
"His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking
alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free."
~~~http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/1068/homepage.htm~~~~
Message no. 3
From: Shad Owens <shadow@******.LINFIELD.EDU>
Subject: Re: Playing Smarter (was Intelligence of 12!)
Date: Fri, 25 Oct 1996 14:57:38 -0700
On Fri, 25 Oct 1996, Jonathan Wright wrote:

> My question to the list is how they would handle it? Do you think you
> should give characters who are "smarter" than their players more info so
> that they can appear to be "smarter"? (This is a pretty extreme case of
> the character running the player isn't it?)

I play a character with a level 8 intelligence (and so do several
of my team-mates). I play her pretty normal, though -- well, ok, as
normal as a decker ever is -- and the GM doesn't give me any extra hints
(although he does often roll his eyes at me) or help. When we roll
perception, we get the benefit of the extra dice -- and her decking
ability is better off, for her high intelligence. But other than that?
She's considered an airhead... *sigh* IQ tests don't always measure
_common sense_....
I've often wished, though, in those games where the GM has some
wretched plot going, and the clues we find make absolutely No Sense, that
I could say, Look, she's a genius! Couldn't she pick up on Something?
but I know my GM would just laugh evilly, then think of something else to
torment us with...

Jennie (the decker who's GM has an intelligence of 12... )
Message no. 4
From: Mike Hartmann <hartmann@***********.M.EUNET.DE>
Subject: Re: Playing Smarter (was Intelligence of 12!)
Date: Sat, 26 Oct 1996 18:59:09 +0000
On 25 Oct 96 at 14:57, Shad Owens wrote:

> I play a character with a level 8 intelligence (and so do several
> of my team-mates). I play her pretty normal, though -- well, ok, as
> normal as a decker ever is -- and the GM doesn't give me any extra hints
> (although he does often roll his eyes at me) or help. When we roll
> perception, we get the benefit of the extra dice -- and her decking
> ability is better off, for her high intelligence. But other than that?
> She's considered an airhead... *sigh* IQ tests don't always measure
> _common sense_....

And IMO Cerebral Boosters or Encephalons don't actually make you
smarter, but they provide some sort of "more processing power". Thats
why in our game perception tests dont get the extra dice and you
don't have to play your character like Einstein (a little bit strange
in behaviour from time to time). It helps to adapt to new situations
faster (that's the reaction bonus you get) or for example when looking
at technical devices (or building some new) - actually that's what the
task pool provides.
So these devices don't make your character a genius per se
> I've often wished, though, in those games where the GM has some
> wretched plot going, and the clues we find make absolutely No Sense, that
> I could say, Look, she's a genius! Couldn't she pick up on Something?
> but I know my GM would just laugh evilly, then think of something else to
> torment us with...
>
Often I let my players roll intelligence (with those extra dice) to
see, if they just missed that connection between two events..


cu Mike
Message no. 5
From: RAY MACEY <r.macey@*******.QUT.EDU.AU>
Subject: Re: Playing Smarter (was Intelligence of 12!)
Date: Wed, 30 Oct 1996 16:01:43 +1000
> > ability is better off, for her high intelligence. But other than that?
> > She's considered an airhead... *sigh* IQ tests don't always measure
> > _common sense_....
>
> And IMO Cerebral Boosters or Encephalons don't actually make you
> smarter, but they provide some sort of "more processing power". Thats
> why in our game perception tests dont get the extra dice and you
> don't have to play your character like Einstein (a little bit strange
> in behaviour from time to time). It helps to adapt to new situations
> faster (that's the reaction bonus you get) or for example when looking
> at technical devices (or building some new) - actually that's what the
> task pool provides.
> So these devices don't make your character a genius per se

I'v always thought of Intelligence as nothing more than mental quickness.
Doesn't mean your 'smarter' just that you can think things through
faster. So adding encaphlons and the like just make you quicker still.


Ray.

_______________________________________________________________________
| 'The Universe is a big place, and whatever happens, you will not be |
| missed.' |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

EMAIL: n1565842@*******.qut.edu.au or
r.macey@*******.qut.edu.au
Message no. 6
From: Rick St Jean <stjeanr@********.CANADOREC.ON.CA>
Subject: Re: Playing Smarter (was Intelligence of 12!)
Date: Wed, 30 Oct 1996 14:50:19 -0500
At 04:01 PM 10/30/96 +1000, you wrote:
>> > ability is better off, for her high intelligence. But other than that?
>> > She's considered an airhead... *sigh* IQ tests don't always measure
>> > _common sense_....
>>
>> And IMO Cerebral Boosters or Encephalons don't actually make you
>> smarter, but they provide some sort of "more processing power". Thats
>> why in our game perception tests dont get the extra dice and you
>> don't have to play your character like Einstein (a little bit strange
>> in behaviour from time to time). It helps to adapt to new situations
>> faster (that's the reaction bonus you get) or for example when looking
>> at technical devices (or building some new) - actually that's what the
>> task pool provides.
>> So these devices don't make your character a genius per se
>
>I'v always thought of Intelligence as nothing more than mental quickness.
>Doesn't mean your 'smarter' just that you can think things through
>faster. So adding encaphlons and the like just make you quicker still.
>
>
> Ray.
>
>_______________________________________________________________________
>| 'The Universe is a big place, and whatever happens, you will not be |
>| missed.' |
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>EMAIL: n1565842@*******.qut.edu.au or
> r.macey@*******.qut.edu.au
>
how smart you are is reflected by your skills, how many, and how high they are.
intelligence is your memory, perception, and and mental quickness.

munchkin pres
Message no. 7
From: John Pederson <Canthros@***.COM>
Subject: Re: Playing Smarter (was Intelligence of 12!)
Date: Wed, 30 Oct 1996 22:27:10 -0500
In a message dated 96-10-30 01:04:51 EST, you write:

>I'v always thought of Intelligence as nothing more than mental quickness.
>Doesn't mean your 'smarter' just that you can think things through
>faster. So adding encaphlons and the like just make you quicker still.
>
>
> Ray.
>
>____________

That's always how I've viewed it. Especially since astral _Quickness_ is
Intelligence...in the game, Intelligence really relates more to how
_powerful_ your mind (hardware) is, while skills represent your character's
_knowledge_ (the software). Your skills (knowledge skills in particular)
relate to how "smart" your character is in the normal sense and has no real
relation to how perceptive your character is or isn't, which is why
perception and observation are not represented with skills (like in WoD,
where Intelligence is directly related to how smart your character is).
OTOH, I could see allowing a character to take Alertness, etc. skills to be
used for extra Intelligence dice in certain, appropriate situations, or to be
used like centering dice for reducing target numbers for Surprise tests,
Perceptions tests, etc. I just wouldn't set them up as separate skills to be
used _instead_of_ Intelligence for those tests...

John Pederson
canthros@***.com
http://members.gnn.com/lenoj/johns.htm

PS: Since AOL has absorbed GNN, I don't know how much longer my page will be
where it is...
Message no. 8
From: Ashelock <woneal@*******.NET>
Subject: Re: Playing Smarter (was Intelligence of 12!)
Date: Fri, 8 Nov 1996 13:22:47 -0005
On 30 Oct 96 at 22:27, John Pederson wrote:

> In a message dated 96-10-30 01:04:51 EST, you write:
>
> >I'v always thought of Intelligence as nothing more than mental quickness.
> >Doesn't mean your 'smarter' just that you can think things through faster.
> >So adding encaphlons and the like just make you quicker still.
> >
> >
> > Ray.
> >
> >____________
>
> That's always how I've viewed it. Especially since astral _Quickness_ is
> Intelligence...in the game, Intelligence really relates more to how _powerful_
> your mind (hardware) is, while skills represent your character's _knowledge_
> (the software). Your skills (knowledge skills in particular) relate to how
> "smart" your character is in the normal sense and has no real relation to
how
> perceptive your character is or isn't, which is why perception and observation
> are not represented with skills (like in WoD, where Intelligence is directly
> related to how smart your character is).
> OTOH, I could see allowing a character to take Alertness, etc. skills to be
> used for extra Intelligence dice in certain, appropriate situations, or to be
> used like centering dice for reducing target numbers for Surprise tests,
> Perceptions tests, etc. I just wouldn't set them up as separate skills to be
> used _instead_of_ Intelligence for those tests...
>
> John Pederson
> canthros@***.com
> http://members.gnn.com/lenoj/johns.htm
>

I agree. In my own game we've renamed the intelligence attribute to
Perceptiveness. Since I'm also printing my own character sheets I've change
the sheet to reflect the name change. It's cut down on some confusion about
how the attribute works. In my own game it is possible to earn college degree
(specific skill rating requirements, whick skill depending on the degree
desired, exact ratings dependant on the degree), it's become generally accepted
that SR doesn't deal directly with intelligence. Perception (formerly
Intelligence) measures a character's ability to notice things, intuition and
how fast their mind works. Skill ratings represent the level of education the
character has had, whether formal or "on the street training." and experience.
Combined the two reflect the character's intelligence, but it isn't really
defined in my own games.


Ashelock


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