| From: | Doctor Doom <JCH8169@*****.TAMU.EDU> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Cornucopia of Copious Commentary...rather long |
| Date: | Fri, 29 Oct 1993 00:23:31 -0500 |
Various and sundry topics have been raised, and thus I have decided to respond
to them within one simultaneous post:
1. Gender Benders
I believe The Reverend's post was prompted by a rather unusual former
member of our group. A male bisexual played a female bisexual Cat shaman.
To his credit, his portrayal was superlative, that is to say, devilish
annoying. And before anyone proceeds to get offended, understand it was NOT
his/her sexuality which was annoying...it was his/her insistence upon
continually raising it as an issue. Bast's presence created significant
friction within the group, to the point that Doctor Doom once vowed that should
she e'er cross his path again, he would KILL her--although this was not the
product of a Player Conflict, we remained rather amiable, rather a Character
conflict.
Eventually, Bast chose to "tone her style down" a significant degree,
fostering greater cohesion betwixt the players. And, no, Doom's and Bast's
conflict ne'er came to blows.
Remember, Reactions to Real Roleplayers:
*Real Roleplayers* sigh in the knowledge that they are not alone, and
get their characters involved in romantic affairs and death feuds
Which brings me to my next topic:
2. Inter-Character Relationships
I am not of the opinion that romantic attachments betwixt players are
not necessarily an undesireable complication. True, cases of unrequited love
or lust after another character can be an inconvenience to the degree that it
unnecessarily complicate matters [Bast's continual pining for Maze proved to be
far more of an annoyance than any substantial contribution to good roleplaying]
It is true, however, that Doctor Doom did marry following his essential
semi-retirement from ShadowRun [translation: The Party members were becoming
potent to a order of magnitude that it required that they be "shelved" except
in the case of a particularly special "run"]. Given his personality, I
considered it well within character; furthermore, the object of his desire was
more than inclined towards this course of action. In reality, we possess no
romantic attachment--'tis merely role-playing.
3. Samurai Code of Honor & Politics...
Let us not forget the other major Code of Honor, that of Chivalry.
Doctor Doom, was an adherent of that ancient code, and as such, objected to
being termed as a Samurai, due to the fact he was aware of what constituted a
*true* Samurai. Understand that this was not due to any particular dislike of
the Japanese feudal warrior class, rather he was aware of the significant
disparity betwixt the Oriental Samurai and the Occidental Knight, which he
considered himself. Consequently, his perspectives had a singularly "lawful"
bent to them, although only in terms of Imperial German laws or matters of
Honor; he had little save contempt for the UCAS and its laws, considering it
to be "a nation-state which sold it soul to corporate devils."
>Also, it's always been my policy that the further away you kill the enemy, the
>less likely they are to hurt you before they die.
>"Besides, all that hand-to-hand stuff gets blood on your clothes, and messes
>up the shine on your shoes" -- Robby Jackson, in one of Tom Clancy's books
>(Patriot Games??)
I personally place a great deal of stock within melee combat. True, it is not
quite so efficient, but it is so much more personal: one may see one's
opponent's eyes. Which reminds me of an interesting anecdote, from the same
evening the Sasquatch Wolf Shaman went berserk.
As it happened, my character was also in dire threat of losing his life
in the same period of time, if not the same manner.
I had decided to reconoiter another of the various (deserted) rooms.
Upon my satisfactory completion of searching the room in question, I was walked
in upon by a gang member toting a submachine gun. As I was aware of his
presence, surprise was not achieved (at least not for the character). With my
one free action, I drew my cavalry sabre.
Initiative was rolled...Fate deigned that it would fall to me to
proceed first. I slashed to the gangers midsection, but was not entirely
successful in my dice roll. Merely succeeding in wounding him (Serious Wound),
my opponent was given the opportunity to respond. At this juncture I was
experiencing considerable trepidation...pacing up and down the room muttering,
"That is it...the technomancer shall be riddled with bullets...*sigh*...
technomancer is going to be filled with holes..."
My fears were not--thank God--borne out by the course that events
adopted. The ganger, due to his +3 modifier, only succeeded in barely
registering a hit upon my person, which was subseqently absorbed by my armor
(ShadowRun I). It was, however, the Mage, with a particular sense of
mischieviousness who suggested to the Game Master to roll a "luck di". The
result was a 1, the mage stating with glee that, "Hey, Doom, that means it
ricocheted off of one of your medals!"
Needless to say that I was rather vexed...which was quite in character,
"That is it. He dies." I immediately annonced to the Game Master my intention
to perform a called shot and proceeded to roll my dice--which was quite
fruitful. The other players, all caught in the moment excidedly asked me,
"WHERE did you hit him?"
I simply pointed to my eye...to which they replied with wails of
sypathetic pain for my recently-deceased opponent. Doom had to step upon the
ganger's face to generate sufficient leverage to withdraw the saber as I
recall. 'Twas quite an experience. As Winston Churchill so remarked with such
insight, "There is nothing more exhilirating that to be shot at without
consequence."
Colonel Count von Hohenzollern und von Doom, DMSc, DSc, PhD.
Doom Technologies & Weapon Systems -- Dark Thought Publications
>>> Working on solutions best left in the dark.
<<<
[ Doctor Doom : jch8169@********.tamu.edu ]
^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^
"A man's greatest pleasure is to defeat his enemies, to drive them before him,
to take from them that which they possessed, to see whom they cherished in
tears, to ride their horses, to hold their wives and daughters in his arms."
-- Genghis Khan
