| From: | TopCat <topcat@******.net> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Re: PHIBERSPACE SUPPORT, & TAKE THIS! |
| Date: | Mon, 13 May 1996 19:32:31 -0500 |
>the fact that a Shadowrun mailing list should be concerned about:
>A)New stuff (humorous or less so)
There's very little new stuff to talk about. As far as SR goes, everyone on
the list picks up every new happening, dissects it, argues about it for
about 2 weeks, then goes back to the standard recycled list fare. We're a
fairly fickle, ravenous bunch.
>B)SERIOUS rule questions (what kind of GM are you if you can't keep your PCs
>under control when they go rule-lawyer crazy?) (and in all other occasions :)
Most all rules questions are answerable just by reading the books (RTFM).
The one's that aren't in the books aren't answerable, but are debatable.
You've probably seen many of these.
>C)Campaign, plot and background reviews and ideas.
Very little campaign info gets thrown out here. Many GM's don't need their
players knowing all about their campaign secrets (and there are a lot of
players on this list). It also takes a huge amount of space to throw out
campaign info and most of us don't want to type all of it out. Many
campaigns revolve around set runs from FASA, so those're all pretty much
self-explanatory. Perhaps the worst problem of all is that pretty much
everyone on the list has a slightly different view of the game. I see it as
dark, evil, and nasty all around. Others see it as a kinder, gentler CP2020
with all manner of fluffy things. I'd be interested in conversation on the
former, but would be sickened (more than likely) by the latter. Others
would feel conversely and the normally hostile, but hospitable air of the
list would get fouled.
>That said, I hope someone will reply to me telling either "and what is this
>list about?", "Frag off you newbie", or another insulting phrase at
random,
>to which I will reply that the Mage VS. Samurai discussion is pointless and
>does not belong here (maybe it did at the start, I subscribed only two days
>ago...).
The mage vs. samurai debate isn't really about mages fighting samurai. It
is about the fact that many of the people who will shout out "My mage can
kick anyone's ass!" have no idea what they're talking about. When asked
why, they'll usually say that they don't allow alpha, beta, delta, or
bioware for samurai because it makes them too powerful but will happily
initiate their mage til he can safely call the metaplanes his playgrounds
and build spells for him that fly in the face of the conventions of the game.
Then they say they do this by roleplaying, which samurai couldn't possibly
do. Why is it roleplaying? Because they have a sentence in their character
history that says that Howling Coyote is his guardian angel or that he used
to be a combat mage for Saeder-Krupp, but he left them to make piddly cash
by shadowrunning because he didn't want to be stuck with a corp (which is
who pays for his shadowruns, so he really just screwed himself).
And it would be impossible to roleplay a samurai with bioware or (heaven
forbid) alpha, beta, or delta grade cyberware. Even though bioware and
alphaware are readily available to anyone with the nuyen in 2057, betaware
is much easier to get a hold of than it was and delta exists (it should be
hard to get a hold of and is). Why is it impossible to roleplay him?
Because he's good at combat. Okaaaaayyyy...
>[snipped perhaps the most heinous stereotyping of mages and samurai that
the list has ever seen]
It's kind of hard to believe that anyone on this list could actually say
this. Usually it starts a war that makes even "grounding through
quickenings" seem tame. But I haven't seen you on the list until recently,
so I'll assume you've never been privvy to the subject before. I won't
flame you, though my heart tells me to do so, I'll simply say these things...
1) No character need conform to a stereotype set forth by...hmmm, I dont'
seem to really recall many stereotypes from FASA. Must just be in your
mind. Or maybe your players have no imagination, which is ok, there are
many people who lack imagination and force themselves into stereotypes.
2) "A mage is born and a samurai is created" is perhaps the least thought
out of statements I've ever seen. Samurai use 'ware, sometimes. There are
those who could call themselves samurai who don't use 'ware. There are
mages who use 'ware (believe it or not). There are cold-blooded comabt
mages and there are soft-hearted "protectors of the weak" samurai. Once
again, I'll chalk this up to an imagination deficit so I don't start getting
fired up.
>Flame me directly at my address :) Don't annoy others. I think I can reply
>to all objections privately :)
No, you annoyed over the list so face the consequences over the list. Such
a statement is cowardly and inconsiderate. Messages with this tagged on
them are as bad in my book as "Make money fast" ads on USENET.
-------------------------------------
"I was thinking of the immortal words
of Socrates, who said: I drank what?"
-- Real Genius
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TopCat at the bottom...
