Mike:
>.... And, in fact, it's just slightly possible
> Munchkin is a dangerously loaded term to use, and
> has lots of different local meanings.
Yeah....
Almost thinking aloud here, so bear with me.
The GM's job:
1) find out what the players want
2) give it to them.
So, "I want a big powerful magic sword". OK. Fine. But the next question for me would be "do you want it right now, or do you want delayed gratification, and story leading up to it? If so, how much?" And also "what complications and potential problems do you see arising from this?"
It's finding out what the player *really* wants. If they want the big powerful sword, right now, they're showing some symptoms of munchkinism.
So.... I think my real question to players is "what do you want the next bit of story to be about?"
Often, the answer is that they want to face a certain sort of challenge. To explore what happens to their character in a certain set of circumstances. Fine, that's easy to handle, and fun. Sometimes they want to have a bit of showcasing how good they are at something. Again, fine. If *all* they want is to show off how good they are, with no challenges, then I'd class them as a munchkin.
But, I now wonder, is this a problem? If that's what they want, why not give it to them, as long as I can do so without messing things up for others? They'll have to take their turn at the limelight, whether they use it to kill everything in sight and be praised by hordes of admirers, or to deliver a soliloquy, but that's the only limit I can see.
What am I missing?
Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com
Powered by hypermail