| From: | Mark A Shieh SHODAN+@***.EDU |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Jak Koke E-Mail (Concerning the SR Novels) |
| Date: | Fri, 16 Jul 1999 02:57:52 -0400 (EDT) |
> In a message dated 7/15/99 10:02:01 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
> JonSzeto@***.com writes (forwarding Koke's letter):
Thanks, I missed the original.
> > So my question is, finally, what role do you believe the SR novels should
> > play in the larger plots of the SR Universe?
> >
> > Jak Koke
Ooh, a chance to rant and present opinions! I can't pass this
up. :)
For me, I desire two things from a SR novel.
1) I want neat toys to plagiarize and use in my own campaigns. Toys
refer to anything from character background or neat plot bits.
2) I know they're sci-fi, and RPG system sci-fi at that, but I hope
that they're legitimate pieces of good fiction. I'd much rather have
an author come up with interesting characters, a non-cliched plot
line, and execute it well, rather than make sure that he's listed the
model # of the latest Ares Pistol and it's firing rate correctly.
(I'l take both, mind you, but these are my priorities)
Not to belittle DHS, but take the example of Ryan Mercury...
He was the center of all sorts of interesting plot, and had all sorts
of mysterious background, but I didn't feel like I really got to know
him. He felt childlike to me, apart from a very strong sense of duty,
and that's about it. Maybe Dunkelzahn was to blame, but he felt more
like a preprogrammed drone than a human being. Too perfect, perhaps?
OTOH, the characters of Dead Air felt more human to me, so I
enjoyed it more than DHS.
> And, above all and I say again: STAY AWAY FROM THE SOURCEBOOK PLOTS!!!!
> They are for the gamers. Novels that use the sourcebook plots eliminate GM
> options and become boring in continually seeing the same perspective in both
> products.
I mostly agree, though I can think of one notable exception.
I don't mind it if preexisting characters pipe up and submit articles
for a Shadowland collection, or if they participate in Shadowtalk.
It was a pleasure seeing newer and older deckers appear in the
beginning of R:AS for the initial dialogue. You got to see what some
of the people you met in novels and other sourcebooks were up to, but
it was in a separate story.
Still, you can't do anything without ruining continuity
anyways. Either I tell FASA that the game world is too detailed, stop
and let me handle the details, or I accept new sourcebooks as canon.
I'll give my friend's example of a campaign he ran recently. He
figured that Rowena O'Malley was going to make Dona, and based his
underworld campaign around it. What do you do when Target:UCAS comes
out? Revise in-game history? (all your contacts were mistaken) Ignore
it? (diverging parallel universe)
We just accept that our game universes are going to diverge
after we begin, though we reset every few months with a new party.
Mark
