[Glorantha] How we play II

[Mikko Rintasaari]

--- Mikko Rintasaari <rintasaa at mail.student.oulu.fi>
wrote:

> Player x's character is trying to take over a city.
> My character comes
> accross this plot and doesn't think it's a good
> idea.

:I just re-read that - they're trying to take over a
:city? You must be playing at far higher power levels
:than I'm used to. How's it going? What rules system
:are you using, and is it working?

That particular example (like the charactere Ravin) is from a Shadow World
game http://homepage.mac.com/terbob/  that is run using a somewhat
modified Hârnmaster system. The most unusual aspect would propably be that
in most of our games the GM handle's all the game-mechanics. In that
Shadow World game the GM has the character sheets on his laptop, and us
players just roll dice when we attempt things. Works really well. It's
immediately more real when you can't (and don't have to) count wound
points and know the exact skill percentages.

: And if your character "comes across this plot", presumably you're
:not doing conventional "party" play?

In that campaign my character and his companion made up a party, but there
was 10+ players in the campaign as a whole. Some played more frequently
than others, but we all inhabited the same world. There was a lot of
conflicting interests. My character was a spy for a Dragonlord. Something
that would have gotten him executed in most places he visited, if it had
become known.

We do traditional one party games, as well, but if somebody leaves the
party, it usually becomes a solo game for him/her on the side. At least
for a while. The individials are important, not keeping a "party" together
at all cost. The extent to which players are willing to metagame for the
sake of the party and other players varies. Mostly our metagaming is on
the level of "let's wrap this bit up quickly so the other's don't get too
bored (when there is a private bit during the session). I'll just tell him
everything, except for the moose insident."

I've been advocating a bit of metaplay, but the reasoning is somewhat
different form Jane's. The idea is that "RPG characters tend to do extreme
actions very easily. It's easy to misunderstand things slightly in play,
and to act very dramatically. When doing something irrevocable, take a
moment to think about it. Is the action (insult, murder, leaving in a
huff...) really what your character would do? Is it possible that you are
overreacting? If you are still convinced, then go for it.

Oh, and for my own games I usually use Unisystem, with rather a lot of
modifications. Definitely a simulationistic system, like GURPS. the
players don't have to worry about it. They just roll 2d6 when needed.

	-Adept

Thinker, dreamer and adventurer