| From: | keith@***********.com (Keith Johnson) |
|---|---|
| Subject: | The new SR4 map (removed spoilers) |
| Date: | Fri, 19 Aug 2005 15:22:25 -0700 |
>to run and play.
And in my twenty... whatever years of gaming, SR is
my #2 or #3. HERO is my all time favorite. I love
SR and Rifts/Nightbane/Palladium for similar reasons,
ease of game play, and a complex fleshed out world
with which to interact.
>...not everything the game designers give us fits well.
>For example, SURGE will probably never see the light
>of day in my games. Seems a bit hokey.
Yep.
>I have found that the more plausible one's storytelling,
>the more the player's are willing to forego the nitpicky
>rules like percentage chance of breakage.
And I've found the same thing from exactly the opposite
direction... when everyone has a firm grasp of the
rules that guide their lives, the stories become richer.
An example: a Shaman tries to summon a spirit. The
player knows the TN, throws his dice, and blows the
roll. Then he rolls for Drain, and blows that too...
Everyone looking on knows the rules too. They see
the dice, they know what's coming...
The player, in character, performs his summoning,
performs the failure, and performs his collapse into
nose-bleeding catatonia. All the other players react
in character because they all know how bad what happened
was.
Excellent role play by everyone because everyone
understood the rules and their impact on the gaming
world.
>By keeping the cause and effect relationships if
>the game reasonable and believable, the GM earns
>the player's trust that things will be fair.
>Maybe not pleasant all the time, but fair.
I totally agree.
>Actually, I prefer to keep things even more flexible.
I keep the plot relatively open in games I run. I let
the players do what they want, and I have the world
react accordingly. A require players to make characters
with realistic motivations and backgrounds. That way
the characters tend to drive the story, and as GM, all
I have to do is react and set up.
> > The plotline is saved, but not by entirely
>>realistic means, without sending the Holy God of
>>Realism to heck.
>
> Except for this. Plotlines shouldn't need saving.
>They should be dynamic, allowing for even failure.
Yep... failure is a really good plot device!
>>I personally abhorr the social interaction rules.
>>That's why I am at the gaming table.
>
>I much prefer the players actually try and roleplay
>the social interaction.
And the reason I like them is that I'm a heck of
a lot more likeable than most of my characters.
Oh wait, it's the opposite. Social interaction rules
exist so that we can play differently socially able
characters than ourselves in exactly the same way
that players aren't expected to be physically similar
to their characters.
-k
