| From: | David Buehrer dbuehrer@******.carl.org |
|---|---|
| Subject: | A perfectly acceptable reason to test the new list... |
| Date: | Mon, 8 Feb 1999 12:37:00 -0700 (MST) |
/
/ >Isn't that the definition of a munckin? Can anyone justify a mage of
/ >perfect health getting cyber, in the name of "character development"?
/
/ It's _very_ hard to justify a true roleplaying reason for having a mage just
/ walk into a chopshop and go "hey, doc, pop out my eyes, I want a new pair.".
Okay, there are two schools of thought on this.
A: The GM should enforce character development and should require players
to come up with good reason for character changes.
I don't ascribe to this school for a few reasons. One, it isn't my
character. Two, I don't believe in enforcing my will on others. Three,
telling a player what the can and cannot do won't teach him anything.
He'll learn much better by doing and making mistakes on his own.
B: The GM should let players do what they want and run his game with the
goal of having fun.
If you focus your energy on being a good GM and having fun, then everything
else will fall into place.
So what if the player has an unrealistic character? That problem will
resolve itself when the player tries to roleplay the character and
discovers that he has a mishmash statistics and toys instead of a
character. He will learn on his own that cyberware, magic, and high
stats and ratings do not make a character a character.
Let the players set their own boundaries.
/ I would recommend two things if a
/ player persists in doing this. One, slap a psychological penalty on them.
Why?
If you punish a player he learns that you will lash out at him if he
doesn't meet your expectations. He will stop playing for fun and will
start gauging your expectations and try to meet them, or he will feel
hurt and lash out himself by crossing the boundaries you have set.
Instead of penalizing poor behavior, reward good behavior. Reward
those players that roleplay well and work on good character
development. Give them that extra 1-2 roleplaying karma points. The
poor roleplayer will want to earn those same rewards. He will either
work on his roleplaying, or he will ask how he can get those rewards.
You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. However,
if he becomes thirsty he will drink from you trough with gusto.
-David B.
--
"Earn what you have been given."
--
email: dbuehrer@******.carl.org
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/1068/homepage.htm
