| From: | Cobra <wgallas@*****.FR> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Re: FASA's On/Off Course? |
| Date: | Thu, 7 May 1998 04:21:19 +0200 |
>>added by such things as immortal elves, always helps.
>
>Frankly, having enormously powerful (in relation to the PCs) manipulators
>behind the scenes tends to strip away the illusion of free will, and the
>idea that the PCs are important to the campaign. It's the SR equivalent of
>high-level types tagging along with low-level adventurers in AD&D. It can
>be overdone _so_ easily. Let the PCs live their lives, involved in
>intrigues on their level, etc. Let them meet a degree of magic that is 1)
>appropriate to their power level, and 2) that is consistent with the world
>(i.e., 1% magically active, and varying types of magicians and adepts
>divide it up from there, it's rare with a capital R).
1) I don't consider like this. I give an opposition (magic or not) based on
the guys who send it, whatever the power of PCs. If they mess up with one
of the big 8, then they must prepare themselves to suffer big assault. My
players are quite used to it. So, if they deal with a minor group and have
to suffer a big reply, they can think about something strange.
2) I do agree with it but you also must consider that makes them important
people and so are more likely to deal with runners. You must also consider
that this proportion is bigger in some areas (I'm not sure but I remember
Tir having 3% of them). Also, mages from other countries tend to go to UCAS
because they hope they can gain some power/money/whatever there and they're
most likely to be right...
The last point is that there must something like 1 runner per 10,000 or
100,000 but runners tend to encounter a lot of them ! :)
>The IEs are just too much of a good thing, if used at all it must be
>-sparingly-, the same as, say, dragons, or vampires... There is enormous
>potential for intrigue in SR even if you are only talking about your
>street-level group of runners, their fixers and contacts, and the local
>crime scene. Yakuza, Mafia, Seoulpa, the Star, corps muddying their hands
>hiring the various 'mobs', gangs... there is plenty of room for intrigue
>there without ever bringing in magic, metahumans, or Immortal Elves. Throw
>in an old enemy or three, or a questionable romance, etc. ...
>More intrigue than you can shake a stick at.
>
>I can imagine Harlequin making -an- appearance in a campaign with your
>average group of street runners. Beyond that, their lives 1) should get
>very difficult, as Harley is involved in shite waaaay out of their league
>["What do you know about this elf? Don't tell me you know jack, you've
>worked with him at least twice..."], 2) they should have their heads
>examined if they willingly get involved in this stuff: "And never, ever
>cut a deal with a dragon."
I totally agree. However, I massively use dragons and IE... But they almost
never see them. It's kind of GM pleasure. I imagine big plots from some of
them and the way they fight against each other with the runners in the
middle. They think that runs are anodine but they are linked in some way to
the other ones... And yes, mystery is definitely something that makes
things interesting to players. That's the main reason why my players never
read SR sourcebooks. After some years, the PCs (the favorites because I
GMed 3 campaigns) have become quite powerful. Now, they have to face them
and to play with them. Actually, that makes things a bit different...
That's why I started an other campaign. But, from time to time
(approximately once a month), they play these characters and they are a lot
more comfortable with their situation because they're powerful but do not
have sufficient knowledge to really be able to handle that...
- Cobra.
