From:	Paul Jonathan Adam <Paul@********.DEMON.CO.UK>
Subject:	Re: gamemastering
Date:	Wed, 23 Aug 1995 00:55:34 GMT

> > I have to agree. When I GM, "winning" is the furthest thing
from
> >my mind. Usually, what I'm thinking of is: "Wow, they blew through the
> >place and STOLE THE FRAGGIN OD, now what do I do??? I sometimes wish I
> >DIDN'T have such CREATIVE players. But, frag, it's fun...";)

> Great, this is as it should be IMHO. And its exactly because you didn't
> fudge dice rolls or 'bend' rules so the players couldn't blow through the
> place and steal the fraggin OD because you were 'attached' to having things
> occur in a particular way [your way].

Unfortunately, "it depends". In one run, I was playing a samurai (an
approximation to a "proper" samurai, bushido and dai-sho and attitude aplenty)
and Johnson made several inappropriate jokes during the initial meeting, then
was downright rude when this was pointed out to him.

The GM persuaded me to go out of character by allowing him to get away with
it, and merely seethe in a corner while still accepting the run. Good thing
too, because it was an excellent run: it would have been a real waste to have
blown it out because the Johnson was an arrogant git with a loud mouth.


SPOILER SPACE - DIVIDED ASSETS








In Divided Assets, suffice it to say we did it "our way" which was to keep
the child fed, watered, and plugged into either the trideo or his Nintendo
for the duration. No conversation, no heart-to-heart, nothing. Were we
"meant" to talk to him? Yes, most of the run depended on it. Would those
two characters have cared even slightly about some rich brat's parent
problems? Not at all. It was a short run: but we wouldn't have had any
fun if the GM had made us do it "properly". Instead we got it out of the
way and did some other, more interesting, work in Denver instead.

The point? The GM may fudge dice, let bullseye bullets "miss by microns",
turn flesh wounds into massive damage, et cetera, as much as he or she wants.
As long as they do so with the intent of improving the enjoyment the players
get out of the game.

I agree wholeheartedly that a GM fiddling dice to keep a preferred NPC alive,
after the NPC was foolish enough to be captured (a role-playing result) was
so ludicrous as to be funny, ending in "I put my gun to her head and pull
the trigger." <GM rolls behind screen> "Oh, your gun jams.".

Other player - "I cut her head off with my axe." <GM rolls dice> "You
miss."

Third player - "I stuff a white phosphorous grenade inside her armour."...
You guessed it already, a dud.

And on and on and on. When the woman's security arrived, we used her as a
human shield on the way out, then tied her to the hood of our car in case
we had to ram any roadblocks. If the GM was determined to preserve this
woman, we were damned well going to get that immortality to rub off on us... :)

And we didn't let that guy GM again for a while, either.

--
When you have shot and killed a man, you have defined your attitude towards
him. You have offered a definite answer to a definite problem. For better
or for worse, you have acted decisively.
In fact, the next move is up to him.

Paul J. Adam paul@********.demon.co.uk