Yes.Originally Posted by chirine ba kal
You know, I think you've really articulated the truism, here. I think we're all agreed on what counts as the kind of antics that Shemek and his players had to endure, and the kind of really good role-playing that can be pretty obnoxious. I've seen both the former and the latter, and the latter - while it might be annoying at the time - comes to be a treasure to behold. Gronan, for example, has done some truly obnoxious stuff in character, and it was very, very obvious that it was the character - not him. He did a wonderful send-up of the character 'Miles Gloriosus' from "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum" (see YouTube) and we all just roared with laughter as his character dug himself in deeper and deeper. For us, back in the day, that was all part of 'role-playing'; just as 'don't be a dick' was as well...
And since it wasn't a treasure to behold, I suspect it wasn't that. Just a nonsensical routine that worked before...
I like those kind of players as well. I hope more of my players will eventually learn how to be like that, too.1. I'll tell you Asen, those guys when they were on their game, I had to run to keep a step ahead of them. They were all a bunch of extremely smart, very competitive, and well read people. They tried, and used, every trick and tactic in the book to try and "beat me". To them "winning" in D&D was handily defeating everything that I threw at them, in as short a period of time as they could. When we talk about those days they always say do you remember when we defeated that demon in 2 rounds, or when we did this in 3 rounds.
2. I see it at work all of the time. To me it's just strange when people behave this way.I once had another "one session player" who accused me fudging die rolls, because "he always got hit" in combat, which of course, was complete bullshit. Or the other time a player called me a "killer DM" because characters actually died in my game. To which I replied:
"I don't kill the characters. It's the dice that kills the characters".
Shemek
And I've had to make both of these statements as well. Only my answer was "why are you even surprised when you chose to accept a fight that would normally be difficult, but fight under conditions where you're at extreme disadvantage?"
It was a jaw-dropping moment for the guy, I'll tell you, seems like his previous GM didn't account for the environment and stuff like slippery terrain didn't screw over people that depend on manoeuvre to keep alive...
I'm really glad for youChirine,
Even though as gamers and DM�s we have to occasionally deal with pests, sometimes there�s light in the darkness. The storm clouds part and an absolutely brilliant session is played out by folks who, for a brief moment, become their characters. Like your recent grand gaming session, and the Glorious General�s channelling of Miles Gloriosus, something happened last night that truly demonstrated to me why I like this hobby. Recently I started a new campaign. I think that it�s been about 3 or 4 years since I last tried to run a game. I�ve tried gaming with different individuals, and new groups, but the results have always been the same: a couple of game sessions, and the campaign is quietly folded away never again to see the light of day. This time I was determined to set up a regular campaign. I decided to go back to basics, and a major part of that was getting as many of the original members of my old group together as I could, and going back to Tekumel. It took me about half a year to lay the groundwork, and get the commitments from the players. All this work and persistence finally paid off! Yesterday the group clicked, and it was like I was transported back to 1985. Although only two of the original players are playing they really tapped into the old vibe that was such a basic component of all those sessions we gamed 30+ years ago. The slipping into character and staying there was a joy to behold. One of the �old guys� � characters got deafened after coming out the worst for wear in a combat with a Hli�ir. I told the player that he had become deaf, and without missing a beat he turned to the rest of the party and at the top of his voice said �WHAT! WHAT DID YOU SAY? SPEAK UP, I CAN�T HEAR YOU!� I almost fell off my chair laughing, to which he replied: �WHAT�S SO FUNNY? I THINK THAT THING DEAFENED ME! He kept this up for another three hours, always in character. Sneaking up on things wasn�t really an option until they managed to keep him quite.
Similar to what you used to experience with Phil and the Thursday Night Group.
Shemek!
And it was obviously a very good game for gamers worldwide, since yesterday I played in a very good session, too. Details at the end of this post
I suspect you'll either have the time of your life, or be disappointed. What I don't see is a middle option...
Try it, I'd say. If you don't get the good option, politely decline the next session.
And that was a great session!This Saturday we're going on a session with a new GM. He has played a grand total of two session before, with me and has never GMed. During those, the guy also gave a run for our money to me (17 years of playing and Refereeing - Gronan, Chirine and Bren, please remember that I'm among the first generation/start of the second generation of Bulgarian players who actually had access to RPG books
I've asked him how he thinks people should run games. In response, he told me more or less that that they should be Referees, and present clues and opportunities if the players seem to wonder what to do next...
Yes, it was the Referee's 3rd session, ever. There was also a guy that we didn't know, but who was new to RPGs - some of my sister's Facebook friends, I think - and by the end of the night, he was hooked, too
I'd call that a success.
Gronan and Chirine would have definitely recognised the "system" being used. We had five stats, though we just got to spread 100 points among them. Then it was mostly "roll this die as indicated by the GM, add the stat or stats the GM tells you to, tell me the result" (sometimes the die was d20, sometimes d100, sometimes we added one stat, sometimes 2 stats).
Everything depended on player skill, because your description determines what happens. That applies in combat as well.
You'd all recognize the set-up, too. We started as villagers who decided to go to the big city, and try to join a guild or temple, or something...
The only guy in the group stronger than my character? I saved his ass, literally, after he brawled with some recidivist when we spent a night in prison. He lost, or course. I said I'll pull him aside and make sure nobody touches him, but not challenge anyone (despite playing a rather large guy, too).
Now I'm training for a temple mystic, my wife is training to be an assassin, the new guy is training for a marine, and my sister is training for a foreign trader. Well, she'll be sure to start at lower level, as we all do.
. And especially the fact that I got there after the character failed a test involving pigs, or I'd have joined my sister in the marine merchants.
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