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Mailing List Logs for ShadowRN

Message no. 1
From: dbuehrer@****.org (David Buehrer)
Subject: Re: Bad Luck (was Geezers)
Date: Mon, 23 Sep 1996 15:06:00 -0600 (MDT)
Adam Treloar wrote:
|
|Which brings up a point. When you're outta karma pool and team karma,
|should someone die like that so many times just cos the dice say so?
|It's all very well to go by the rules, but rules don't account for a run
|of bad luck. Conversely, if the dice say someone continually gets 12
|successes on firearms tests, what's the point of putting the person
|against anything requiring a skill test? The point of the game is to
|have fun, so a challenge is good, but a walk-thru or a death march
|quickly becomes boring or frustrating for players and DMs alike.
|
|Some DMs (One that we no longer play with comes to mind) have to realize
|that rules are there for framework and fun, but they're never unbreakable
|when the situation calls for it.

In cases of severe bad luck I'll figure out a way to let
the character live (if I can), but with the understanding
that I'm going to mess with that character later on to
balance it out.

-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. 2
From: Guardian <s777317@*******.gu.edu.au>
Subject: Re: Bad Luck (was Geezers)
Date: Tue, 24 Sep 1996 08:06:36 +1000 (EST)
> |Which brings up a point. When you're outta karma pool and team karma,
> |should someone die like that so many times just cos the dice say so?
> |It's all very well to go by the rules, but rules don't account for a run
> |of bad luck. Conversely, if the dice say someone continually gets 12
> |successes on firearms tests, what's the point of putting the person
> |against anything requiring a skill test? The point of the game is to
> |have fun, so a challenge is good, but a walk-thru or a death march
> |quickly becomes boring or frustrating for players and DMs alike.
> |
> |Some DMs (One that we no longer play with comes to mind) have to realize
> |that rules are there for framework and fun, but they're never unbreakable
> |when the situation calls for it.
>
> In cases of severe bad luck I'll figure out a way to let
> the character live (if I can), but with the understanding
> that I'm going to mess with that character later on to
> balance it out.

But would you WANT to play a particular character after a few stuff-ups
from bad dice rolling? There's a point where any character is no longer
fun to play.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"It's called tourist season, so why can't we shoot them?"
Adam Treloar aka Guardian
s777317@*****.student.gu.edu.au http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/1900/
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Message no. 3
From: dbuehrer@****.org (David Buehrer)
Subject: Re: Bad Luck (was Geezers)
Date: Mon, 23 Sep 1996 17:18:24 -0600 (MDT)
Guardian wrote:
|
|> |Which brings up a point. When you're outta karma pool and team karma,
|> |should someone die like that so many times just cos the dice say so?
|> |It's all very well to go by the rules, but rules don't account for a run
|> |of bad luck. Conversely, if the dice say someone continually gets 12
|> |successes on firearms tests, what's the point of putting the person
|> |against anything requiring a skill test? The point of the game is to
|> |have fun, so a challenge is good, but a walk-thru or a death march
|> |quickly becomes boring or frustrating for players and DMs alike.
|> |
|> |Some DMs (One that we no longer play with comes to mind) have to realize
|> |that rules are there for framework and fun, but they're never unbreakable
|> |when the situation calls for it.
|>
|> In cases of severe bad luck I'll figure out a way to let
|> the character live (if I can), but with the understanding
|> that I'm going to mess with that character later on to
|> balance it out.
|
|But would you WANT to play a particular character after a few stuff-ups
|from bad dice rolling? There's a point where any character is no longer
|fun to play.

Oh, I don't ever stuff-up (is that British?) characters
physically for bad luck (at least nothing that can't be
fixed). I make them the focus of an NPC's attentions.

I've only ever had one player make a lousy character in my
SR game. The PC was a pretty miserable Rigger. But, the
player took him out of the game in style. The runners had
been forced to land their helicopter by three gunships in
the middle of the Sahara Desert. A fourth helicopter
landed in front of them and a robed man got out and waited
for the runners to come outside. It was one of those
encounters where the only way out was to roleplay it. So
the Rigger walks up to the robed man, pulls out his
monowhip, and slices the guy in half. The gunships opened
fire on the Rigger with their HMGs (I didn't even bother
rolling) spraying blood and sand all over the place. The
player had gotten rid of the character, while at the same
time putting the other PCs in a very nasty position. We
still bug him about it (in a friendly sort of way).

-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~~~~

Further Reading

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