>We have indeed. But I still think that players mistreating other
>players like that is a social problem rather than a gaming one.
>Anyone can be marginalised if the rest of the group thinks only
>of the character's usefulness rather than the player's fun.
>
>Hmm, maybe I just answered my own question there? That's how you
>get "balance" to work. Cooperation and courtesy.
"Mistreating" implies intention to me. I don't think that's true in a typical group. Players will inevitably concentrate on what their characters are doing. It's the GMs responsibility to ensure that all players have a fair share of the spotlight.
There's the same problem involved in writing freeform games. You can have the most wonderful idea for a character but if the author doesn't write enough plot for the game length the player won't have a fun game.
The difference is that in a freeform game the author has to get it all written up in advance as there is only a limited opportunity to affect what happens during the game. Whereas in RPGs most of the interaction is between the players and the GM.
>> To be honest, Jane, I don't think you need rules much.
>
>Me, no, but my players seem to like them, so I use them. "Descriptive
>rather than restrictive" is my preference, but they do help. Still,
>in-game power balance isn't dependent on rules. If one PC is the town
>mayor and another is the newest beggar, we don't need rules to see an
>imbalance.
In-game power balance isn't the balance we are talking about here. The mayor may be sitting through an interminable banquet while the begger steals the town regalia. If that takes a whole session it's the mayor's player who is losing out.
In-game power balance needs watching because it may give one player too much control over another player's character. But one way of resolving the healer problem is to make the healer of higher social rank than the fighters. So they have to defer to the healer in many situations.
The ultimate in rules free gaming is the way you and I write stories. That involves one of us proposing a scene with some characters and we then discuss the possibilities until we have a fun story. Somewhere along the line one of us will work out what the numbers would be and the dice rolls needed to make the events happen.
-- Donald Oddy http://www.grove.demon.co.uk/
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