Re: what is it about angels?

On Sun, 4 Feb 2007 23:57:53 +0000 (UTC),
mkkuhner@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 (Mary K. Kuhner) wrote:

>That comes around to the basic question:  if you want to run a
>scenario (and Warren, I know you don't do this) that involves the PCs
>tackling great threats by themselves, you somehow have to avoid
>NPC intervention.  People are uncomfortable with doing this in the
>natural way, which would be having PCs whose natural role this is
>(top people in their fields, with official standing).  

Or even unofficial standing. Or just the best of the people who happen
to be on the spot[1]. But even then PCs need to be at least good
enough to act as understudies for the "top people."

[1]Another reason to nerf fast trans****t magic. With casual
tele****tation, etc. the entire game-world becomes "the spot."

>So various
>workarounds are tried, but most of them are more or less difficult
>to make work sensibly at campaign length.

The problem shows up often enough in read-only fiction that it
deserves, IMO, its own entry in the Tough Guide. 

Although I have to admit that I do sometime reify "PC glow" - giving
the PCs the equivalent of the GURPS "Weirdness Magnet" disad, with the
NPCs knowing that the PCs are so jinxed. But even then, the PCs really
do need to be competent enough to deal with the weirdness that comes
their way. (IIRC, Mary, you've said that you do a little of this in
your space-opera-with-demons setting.) 

The business of in-over-their-heads protagonists, scrambling to stay
alive, and only succeeding because of GM/author-fiated "luck" makes my
teeth grind, both in games and in read-only fiction. GM,
module-author, and story-author advice for such a setup ought to be
"You can make it work if you're Tolkien - and you're not Tolkien." 

-- 
Erol K. Bayburt
ErolB1@[EMAIL PROTECTED]