| From: | Frank Pelletier (Trinity) fpelletier@******.usherb.ca |
|---|---|
| Subject: | "Re: [Karma] Rich in Fate, Poor in Marvel |
| Date: | Wed, 14 Apr 1999 12:08:00 -0400 |
(snipped)
> And this level of identification with a character is hard to have with
> new ones, for me at least I get realy into the char after maybe 100
> karma are down the river, very seldom right at the start. it needs time
> to figure a char out by yourself as player, to know how she will react
> in a given sit, to have a developt personality.
Ack. I don't find that's the case at all. At best, if you can't develop a
personality before you start playing, all your characters end up like you.
That's the whole point of roleplaying. Thinking, acting, living in a way
that you couldn't or wouldn't in real life, letting it go loose for 3-4
hours. I always type up 5-10 pages of background before starting a
character, because 1) I enjoy writing and 2) I think they're the most
complete characters when they have definite personalities before they start.
> One of the things I enjoyed most with her was playing her (planed) death
> and rebirth.
> I was crying, laughing sweeting with her, I realy enjoyed my time.
> And that is the most importend fact in playing.
Hey... I did the death/rebirth thing with Haze. Once. Then when he
finally died, people asked "Is he really dead? He's coming back." Never.
It actually crossed my mind, for a brief moment. You always hate it when
long-time characters buy the farm. But then I read this email from PlotD,
and I quote:
"On the contrary, actually, I'll have a lot more respect for Frank and his
character Haze if Haze does stay on the other side of the great beyond.
Haze has already cheated Death once, twice and you start hearing echoes of
that infamous phrase "Dead as a Marvel mutant." "
And that's exactly right.
> Do you enjoy it? if the answer is yes then is there no need to retire,
> put away or give a char a final deathblow. the point is to play out the
> live of someone who you created, the development, the changes this
> 'person' goes through.
See? That's the problem with immortal characters. Not the players, but
the characters themselves. I ask to players like you Barb, and K with
Padre, doesn't it seem like you've done everything? Your characters are
probably rich beyond belief, have the craziest stats/gear/magic (and I know,
since I have Barb's character sheet right here :) ), probably kicked most
major players ass, probably laughed in the face of death a couple dozen
times. Isn't there a line you cross, a time you say to yourself "That's
enough?". Even if the character has a developped history, personality and
relationship with the game world, you start hearing that dreaded "munchkin"
chant.
Retiring doesn't mean death. Retiring can mean exactly that, retiring. A
remote island somewhere, anything. But I think that after a while, the
"this character is interesting" angle fades away, and like it or not, the
main motivation is "How can I acquire more power?"... and that's a munchkin.
> and if you wonder why she died and was rebirthed, well it was mainly
> done to reduce her power and make her comform with the campagin rules,
> after all she came from a highpower, anime styled game into a more
> sinister horror based campagin, she could had whiped the floor with all
> other 19 PCs in a turn without breaking a sweat, was this a prob while
> playing?
Hmm. That last statement there was really the problem. "Don't worry about
her, even though she could kill you all within 3 second." You may not play
her like it, but damn, it did cross my mind when I played with you.
There's a limit somewhere, where players, not characters will refuse to play
with someone because of that "power" gap they can't possibly fill. Barb,
even yourself, you've been told to trim down your characters just to get
into games. And you did, and I applaud you for it. But why did they ask
you that? Can I tell you, truthfully, that I would have enjoyed playing
with a character who could finish the run all by him/herself?
Nope
> Don't get afraid or pissy when a char is more powerfull then yours in
> agame, even if one or two chars in a game are way more powerfull then
> the rest, a good GM should have no prob dealing with that, you create
> most of the time more problems with bitching and pissyness about this
> then actualy would happen in the game itself. if you go pissy only
> because of Ic reasons thats fine and fully justified.
And you get your head torn off. Not a good idea. And you do runs with
them. And you can't even fire a shot because they're all casting
MegaHellblast at 48 ini. Explain to me how that is somehow "fun".
Trinity
---------------------------------------------
Frank Pelletier
fpelletier@******.usherb.ca
"Let them hate me, provided they fear me" - Atreus
Trinity on the Undernet and EFNet
