On Feb 5, 3:39 pm, mkkuh...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
(Mary K. Kuhner)
wrote:
> In article <ccvcs2hsvir78f22qibqke9uembv23i...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
> Erol K. Bayburt <Ero...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>
> >On Sun, 4 Feb 2007 23:57:53 +0000 (UTC),
> >mkkuh...@[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."
>
> The other way around this is not to run such earth-shaking scenarios.
> I did a campaign in grad school which ran for a year, following
> the adventures of a gypsy caravan. It ended triumphantly with the
> marriage of the ne'er-do-well younger son and the defeat of a
> rival caravan. There was no "why don't the authorities deal with
> this?" because the gypsies' problems were not of that kind.
We had a campaign that lasted quite awhile where the PCs were the
roadies and security for a wildly succesful touring band. "Why don't
the authorities deal with that?" was not asked because the band was
out of favor with authority figures almost everywhere it toured. Since
the lead singer and one of the lead instrumentalists and the mage in
their security force were all Elves and they were touring some very
human-centered areas, their problems sometime came FROM the
authorities.
>
> My experience, however, is that campaign problems tend to escalate.
> Even when GM and players are not deliberately angling for "the big
> stuff" it is hard to prevent the PCs from becoming engaged with it.
> The gypsy campaign is probably my only success at this, and Jon
> has also only had one, out of many games over 20+ years.
The above campaign lasted about a year as what I described and then,
when the PCs were high-level by our standards, all Hell broke loose
and what has been sometimes called the Second Demon War or DW2 became
partly their problem. It wasn't nearly as much fun and we all
regretted leaving the lower-challenge campaign behind after DW2 was
over. However, the players had been pressing for ways to use their new
powers and stuff. The general reaction in our after-campaign
evaluation was that DW2 was a pretty good adventure but Touring with
the Wild Hunt was much better.
Will in New Haven
--
>
> >[1]Another reason to nerf fast trans****t magic. With casual
> >tele****tation, etc. the entire game-world becomes "the spot."
>
> Yes!
>
> I actually had a nightmare about Elminster the other night, despite
> not having played anything but video games in the Forgotten Realms
> for years, and never having actually met Elminster in a regular RPG.
>
> When there are no remote locations, no unreachable areas, and no
> *secrets*--and v3.5 is very much like that, though Arcana is even
> worse due to the aka****cs--it is hard to find a niche for PC problem-
> solving, other than problems only the PCs care about.
>
> >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.)
>
> Chernoi is one of the people who *are* supposed to deal with weird
> ****, now; but the game didn't start there, and yes, we allowed some
> "weirdness magnet" effect. But the PCs weren't asked to deal long-term
> with things that should have been done by the authorities. Even when
> Chernoi was made a Magistrate, one of the other Magistrates said firmly
> to her, "You've got to realize when something is a Fleet problem, and
> *call in the Fleet.* No heroics."
>
> >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.
>
> I don't mind scrambling so much, but I mind horribly if the PCs are
> asked to *deliberately* tackle things they are the wrong people to
tackle,
> and I mind even more if the world abdicates all other responsibilities.
>
> I am comforted to read on-line that mine weren't the only PCs to say
> "Why are we *doing* this? Why are *we* doing this?" more and more
loudly
> to the GM during the current SCAP arc.
>
> Mary Kuhner mkkuh...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
|
