| From: | "Victor Rodriguez, Jr" <sedahdro@*****.COM> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Re: munchkins and game masters |
| Date: | Tue, 22 Aug 1995 05:14:00 EST |
>[anything less is stifling to their creativity]; they not only expect to
>win, they fudge dice rolls to ensure it; they're not only willing to bend
>and stretch rules, they make them up out of whole cloth to further their own
>ends.
>Whaddya think?
Terry, Terry, Terry, Terry, there is ancient saying in the gaming community:
"the GM is always right." After all it is his game, and if you don't like
it you can always leave and find another GM or GM yourself. Unlike board
games, there are no "winners" or "losers" in roleplaying games there
is only
success and failure. The players usually have a common goal, they either
succeed or they don't (sometimes success can lead to death and so can
failure). I don't understand how a GM can "win". The GM is the judge,
jury, and excutioner in his game, thus, in a way, he is "all powerful". But
a good GM will always do his best to keep players alive, even if he needs to
"fudge" the dice rolls to do so. BTW fudging the dice rolls could be
interpreted as using Karma (afterall the GM as an ifinite amount of Karma).
He will also listen to his players disputes of his version of the rules.
And about making up rules, I have to agree with some of what you said. I
once knew a GM, by the name of Keith, that never owned any of the books. He
made up the rules on his own. Many of his players, thought that his rules
were the rules to Shadowrun, until they bought books themselves. Then they
realized that they weren't playing Shadowrun. They dubbed his version
"Keithrun". In Lafayette, IN he is known as a major "munchkin". I
almost
made the mistake of entering his campaign when I was first introduced the
"Shadowrun". Fortunately I found a different GM. I don't know what
experiences you have had with "Shadorun", although it seems to me that you
have had rather poor experieces with the game. As far as the rules of the
game go, think of them like the Constitution of the United States, they are
left open for interpretation and changes.:)
---Sedah Drol
