Re: GM-controlled Bad Luck points

Peter Knutsen posts regarding gamesmaster judgement and his bad luck
mechanic:

  It still seems to me that you, and others in this
  thread, are overlooking a crucial factor of the Bad
  Luck mechaic: That it is extremely regulated, and
  that Bad Luck points are partitioned to each
  character.

The gamesmaster still has discretion as to what events to apply them
to.  To me, that's an overwhelming factor.

Here's an example:  suppose the heroes are all fallen but one, who has
one final shot at downing the big bad guy; if he succeeds, the heroes
win, if he fails, the earth falls into the sun and is destroyed.  He
has a moderately good chance of success.  A single gun jam in this
situation can pretty much determine the outcome of the campaign.

Contrast this to the situation where the heroes were all still up and
had to down the random guard at the front gate.  A gun jam in this
situation is inconsequential, because there are still five more heroes
to back up the first one to shoot.

These are extreme examples, but they serve to illustrate how
gamesmaster judgement can become a major determinant of results here.
While actual play may not come up with variations so extreme, I think
it is likely to result in variations big enough for the gamesmaster's
judgement role to become critical.

Now, while I personally don't like the mechanic, I do actually think
it could be good for a cinematic campaign.  The very gamesmaster
judgement I object to could certainly be used to create dramatic
turning points and make a seemingly more exciting story, at the cost
of reduced world consistency and mechanical objectivity.  That just
doesn't happen to be the kind of game I prefer.

Warren J. Dew