toasty

From: Al Harrison <aharriso_at_coe.neu.edu>
Date: Tue, 13 Apr 1999 19:44:13 -0400 (EDT)


Bloody hot in here.

Maybe this problem of munchkin gamers is a peculiarly American thing. Maybe it has to do with a certain lack of imagination, or lack of education. I know I've played with bunches of minmaxers in my time. I've also been privileged to play with a very few true roleplayers.

Sounds to me that a game where Storm Bull is all that matters is ... well, a game where Storm Bull is all that matters. If Brian _wants_ to play a more like civilized or societally oriented version of Prax, then he should take on the unhappy part of a GM's role - reining in unruly PCs through NPC reaction.

Recently, I played in an AD&D campaign run by the best (2nd best? maybe) GM I've ever known; set in Ravenloft. Lots of crazed stuff happened. At one point, our "neutral good" (gods I hate those pop terms, on the other hand they can serve to direct the more proteate visions of players) ninja decided to poison an entire town because it was run by ... gasp ... thieves and assassins. Nevermind the innocent populace.

So of course the miscreant ninja was captured after about fifteen minutes of guards scurrying around, asking questions of PCs and NPCs. And several PCs were drafted to sit on the kangaroo court jury, and the case was argued back and forth.

Next time your Storm Bulls disrupt a feast, try something similar. When they get unruly and kill a tribe leader, have _other_ Storm Bulls begin sensing them as chaotic. Or have all the nearby tribes put them on the vendetta list.

Waha or other less out-there cults will quickly become acceptable to your players, and the society of the game world will grow larger than the geology of monster cave #6.

Al Harrison
geocities.com/Paris/Tower/9143
harrisona_at_asme.org


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