Re: [WW] Re: Systems [Veering OT]

[LiveDaD@aol.com]

Hey all,

I don't care how well a system is designed, if your GM/DM/WM doesn't have the experience it will show. I believe everything should flow at the table. I heard the term cinematic tossed around regarding certain systems. It kinda hit me odd because the GM's job is to make it cinematic regardless of the system. If you say 'you hit him for four damage' that's not really the systems fault. I have been RPG'ing for a long time and I have my players make all of their rolls and they are still mystified at the 'plain' D20 rules. 

Why? Because when they roll a four for damage on the brutish orc I explain to them that 'Your stick your blade through the foul Orc's thigh and it howls in pain. It limps badly on its profusely bleeding leg but continues to press its attack with a murderous rage'. 

Now at this point the characters are usually mumbling to each other 'This one was just a guard right?' The point being that, thanks to d20, anything can be modified. This one guard might be a third level fighter. It might be a 'normal' Orc. Regardless of what it is they know they did four points damage and it is still standing. Does it have two or twenty hit points left? They truly don't know, and that scares them.

So I really don't care if one system is .03 seconds faster on initiative or not, what concerns me is if it flows or not. Can it keep a table of eight players engaged without having people fall asleep or throw things at me =)...

Which leads me to the fact of NPC's, Villains, and fibbing. The best thing about RPG'ing is that ALL of the factors are in the GM's hands. I never have more then a simple sketch and basic ideas of what I want to occur in an encounter before I play. 

For instance, I had this tiny little encounter where the characters met a Necromancer. One of the things I wanted him to do was animate this body and have its intestines shoot out and entangle people. There wasn't anything on the books that could really help me 'explain' how it could happen. Fortunately for me, I have no conscience =). When play time came around and the corpse animated, sluggishly stood up, and then had its intestine burst forth to entangle a PC, the players were revolted and shocked because they had never heard (or read) of such a thing. 

The more experienced a player is, especially the lawyers, the more it pays to be fair but vague (Sorry, I mean cinematic =). I subjected a very experienced group to the 'dancing intestine' and not one of them ever complained that it wasn't backed by the rules. They thought is was just cool and nasty.

So the only time I really encounter Problems with the d20 system is when 'officially' writing things down. Some things are just tedious, while others seem to suck the life out of the NPC (To this day I refuse to detail any NPC that is not vitally integral to the main plot. I find it to be a complete waste of my time and it frequently dilutes my vision of what the NPC is like or what they can do). 

I really look forward to seeing the Wild Card system for dealing with the peripherals like NPC's and villains. I think, regardless of how the system is accepted on a whole, that by introducing a new mechanic that treats them more like characters then stats, we will see a small revolution in gaming. 

I am really rambling tonight... Sorry =)...

Until Later.................... K