Re: [DL] Fudging

[Brett Dixon <balance@tubas.net>]

On Thursday, March 13, 2003, at 05:56  PM, Greg Vose wrote:

> Go away if you are one of John's players...
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> Once you have asked these questions you will probably have a better 
> idea of
> what she wants.  If the issue is with effectiveness compared to the 
> other
> players then you have a sticky situation.  You need to bring her
> effectiveness in line with the other players without completely 
> unbalancing
> the game.  I like several of the suggestions so far.  To me the best 
> one
> was a relic.  I'm not certain that harrowing her for the sake of 
> giving her
> abilities unless she really WANTS to play a harrowed character is the 
> right
> way to go.  A whip relic (hey, she likes those, right?  She's the only 
> one
> with skill in whip, right?) might be a good possibility.  Mull these 
> over
> in your mind, match them up against the questions you have asked her.

You know, the part of me that loves the Indiana Jones films... Well, 
that's most of me... suggests that a whip destined to make the wielder 
lucky and fortunate as long as they are exploring has a certain appeal.

Although another direction could be more Zorro-like. Make it useable 
for ridiculously precise strikes, even marking an individual if desired.

Just a couple of ideas. Upping the creepiness level is always good,

The whip is potentially a great option. As mentioned it is doubtful 
that there's another posse member skilled with such a weapon.

> 2) Relic as has been discussed. I like the idea of a whip of some sort
> because it is unlikely one of the other three would pick that item up. 
>  You
> could give it the ability to move on its own in a limited manner, you 
> could
> give it additional damage, you could give it a choke or grab attack, 
> you
> could make it a cat o' nine tails rather than a bullwhip and give it 
> some
> wild ability based on that. Other possibilities exist as well.  Special
> six-shooters have been done to death but they are quick and easy.  A 
> gold
> pocketwatch that adds 2 dice to her quickdraw rolls only on the first 
> roll
> of a battle would be another possibility, you'll have to determine what
> works for her here.  Ideally a relic should complement and reinforce
> whatever she is already very good at or cover a deficiency that has 
> cropped
> up far too many times.  It sounds like everyone else acts well before 
> she
> does.  Perhaps something that helps with that so she can at least do
> something before the rest have all killed off the nasty?  What about a
> six-gun that raises her top action card by two steps? That means she 
> can
> never go slower than 4 for her first action and if she drew an ace or 
> king
> she could go faster than anything except a red joker.  This only 
> applies to
> the first action of each quickness roll and shouldn't be too 
> overpowering.

These ideas are interesting... Perhaps it could give an extra card 
(potentially breaking the five-card-limit) allowing her to be 
ridiculousy fast if she's got a good quickness.
> I suppose the main thing I am suggesting here is to work with her.  You
> don't need to give her everything about what is going on but you need 
> to
> find something she'll be happy with.

I think he wants to, which is good. Players (and GMs!) who won't admit 
when things are broken can be bad... and it's hard for a GM to admit 
things sometimes.