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Message no. 1
From: Gurth <gurth@******.NL>
Subject: Tell new players the rules? (was Re: High powered elementals)
Date: Fri, 7 Feb 1997 12:27:13 +0100
Arno R. Lehmann said on 4:14/ 7 Feb 97...

> Obiously you're right. But I thougth of experienced players, of course.
> Things that are known to everyone in the world should have "open" TNs,
> and then you know if you can manage it or not.

I don't think it necessarily has to be this way... You can keep TNs secret
from experienced players too, and only tell them if their character
believes whether it's easy, hard, totally impossible, or what. This would
be based on character experience, not player knowledge, so a new player
with a character who's been a shadowrunner for 10 years would be able to
determine the difficulty of a task much more easily than an experienced
player with a green character...

--
Gurth@******.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
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-> NERPS Project Leader & Unofficial Shadowrun Guru <-
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Message no. 2
From: "Arno R. Lehmann" <arlehma@***.NET>
Subject: Re: Tell new players the rules? (was Re: High powered elementals)
Date: Tue, 11 Feb 1997 01:33:12 +0100
On Fri, 7 Feb 1997 12:27:13 +0100, Gurth wrote:

>> Things that are known to everyone in the world should have "open" TNs,
>> and then you know if you can manage it or not.
>
>I don't think it necessarily has to be this way... You can keep TNs secret
>from experienced players too, and only tell them if their character
>believes whether it's easy, hard, totally impossible, or what. This would
>be based on character experience, not player knowledge, so a new player
>with a character who's been a shadowrunner for 10 years would be able to
>determine the difficulty of a task much more easily than an experienced
>player with a green character...

First, I was still thinking about experienced players.
Second, you are again right, of course. When the player does know less
about the world than the PC, then the GM and the other players have to
help.
(After all it's a game, and we're trying to have fun _together_).

But, referring to the new subject line, new players should not be
expected to know "the" rules. I'm just introducing a new player (sorry,
but I'm luckier than you at this ;), and it seem confusing enough to
him. Since he's never played a RPG, it's all very new to him, and so
I'm trying to only confront him with as few rules as necessary.
Basically that means he must know how many dice to roll or, in other
words, using abilities / attributes, understanding TN, and that's all
concerning rules. Then there is the usual book-keeping on equipment,
and only telling what he does or wants to do. That's enough for a new
RPGer (I hope).

So once again: tell them as much as necessary, and as few as possible.

--
Arno
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