From owner-dq@dq.sf.org.nz Mon Jan 3 15:31:36 2000 Received: (from bin@localhost) by mail.sf.org.nz (8.8.6/NZSFI-19980830) id PAA27852; Mon, 3 Jan 2000 15:22:01 +1300 Message-Id: <200001030222.PAA27852@mail.sf.org.nz> Received: from smtp2.ihug.co.nz (tk2.ihug.co.nz [203.29.160.14]) by mail.sf.org.nz (8.8.6/NZSFI-19980830) with ESMTP id PAA27848 for ; Mon, 3 Jan 2000 15:21:39 +1300 Received: from jimarona.ihug.co.nz (p236-tnt7.akl.ihug.co.nz [203.109.203.236]) by smtp2.ihug.co.nz (8.9.3/8.9.3/Debian/GNU) with SMTP id PAA32115 for ; Mon, 3 Jan 2000 15:19:56 +1300 Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2000 15:22:32 +1300 Subject: Re: Black Circle: Raising Some Defenses From: "Jim Arona" To: dq@dq.sf.org.nz Sender: owner-dq@dq.sf.org.nz Errors-To: owner-dq@dq.sf.org.nz Precedence: bulk X-Loop: dq@dq.sf.org.nz X-Requests: To unsubscribe from this list, or change your subscription address, send a request to dq-request@dq.sf.org.nz. To unsubscribe from all lists on this site, send a request to all-request@dq.sf.org.nz. Reply-To: dq@dq.sf.org.nz Jacqui Smith wrote: > >I was just telling him who to ask... Is this such a problem? Well, that's not how it reads. It reads 'Jono and MTB should (ought to) have the answers' (my periphrasis) > >And I do have a problem with this assumption that characters who are not >actively involved in a game are walking around with hoods over their heads >and their hands tied behind their backs, quite oblivious to events occuring >in their immediate vicinity and unable to react in a reasonable manner. > >I'm sorry, but it's reality check time... > Here's the reciept for your reality check, then. This is a roleplaying game. Your characters ONLY exist when it is being played in a game. Otherwise, it's just a piece of paper in a drawer somewhere. A device such as this is just that. A device. It is used to provide DMs with some rationalisation of a shared campaign. If you choose not to play your character, then your input on what impact your character can have on the game is limited, if it has any at all. The assumption that is being made here, is that a character has some kind of existence out of a game. It's true that the Guild encourages players to seek other players who have skills that character wants to make use of. Some of these get to be sought out when they are not being played. That's fine where it comes to things like potions or invested or perhaps the use of an unusual ability. Whatever else happens, though, a character who is sought out for their ability to provide a particular potion is not having the same kind of impact on the game that some players seem to expect. I don't care if your character has in their pack a device called a 'Light Circle generator, sovereign against Dark Circles'. Unless they are actually being played in a game, that character has bugger all impact on any current game. It may have an impact on a game that you play in, but it cannot have an impact on the games that are being run. Clearly, there are too many players, let alone characters with far too many unusual abilities, for whoever chooses to organise such a thing to keep abreast of. You would have them know all of this stuff? The only sane rationalisation is that for whatever reason, your character is not available for the various game, because they are involved in something else. It is up to you to come up with the rationalisation. You have two choices in front of you. You can choose to sulk, and come up with a pathetic rationalisation, or you can get involved in the situation and do something that adds to the game. It is bootless to suggest that players don't have any responsibility to the game. Admittedly, the lion's share of this irksome task lies mostly with DMs, nevertheless, players can contribute as well by adding something to the game, not presenting possible 'instant solutions' that will just destroy the device. That doesn't do anything interesting at all. Except for one person, who happens to have the right thing in their bag. It's not even something you can brag about as being really cool... Jim -- see unsubscribe instructions in message headers --