Re: mechanics of surprise

In article <20070304202920.I55611@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>, John Morrow wrote:
> On Mon, 5 Mar 2007, Neelakantan Krishnaswami wrote:
> 
>> In the first case, a character is killed with a single mighty blow,
>> and in the second case, lots of attack attempts are made (none of
>> which are fatal). The same game rules are being used for everybody;
>> it's just that you apply the rules so as to produce genre-appropriate
>> results in different kinds of scenes.
> 
> That doesn't illustrate a high pace of decision for NPCs/monsters
> and a low pace of decision for PCs.  In fact, I'm not sure this
> really shows any change in the pace of decision at all, since the
> number of mechanical events before a character loses remains the
> same.

The number of mechanical events has no correlation with the pace of
decision. For example, in the game Nine Worlds, you determine who will
gain and lose in a scene with a card draw at the start of the scene,
and then play through the scene in a freeform way subject to the
constraint on the final outcome.

If you choose to narrate in a very high-level, abstract way, then
you'll have a very fast pace of decision. On the other hand, if your
narration is very detailed, then you'll get a much slower pace of
decision.

>> If you're running a Frazetta-style post-apocalyptic fantasy, the
>> warrior princess might interpret damage as bad tactical positioning,
>> and the evil cyborg sorcerer might interpret damage as minions being
>> hacked to bits. That way you get the princess fighting off mutant
>> nasties while standing on a hill made of her victims.  [...]
> 
> In that case, you aren't using the same rules for the PCs and minions. 
> The minions are being treated as manifestations of hit points, not NPCs
or 
> monsters that use the same rules as the PCs.  Yeah, that's one way to 
> solve the problem but it doesn't mean the condition specified, which
many 
> players and GMs find desirable, for better or worse.

Personally, I'd say that you're applying the same rules to all of the
characters, because part of the rules is establi****ng how to apply the
results of the die mechanics to them. I think that's a philosophical
disagreement, though; I don't think I disagree with the factual point
you're making.

-- 
Neel R. Krishnaswami
neelk@[EMAIL PROTECTED]