@arkandel I do indeed alter systems with problematic mechanics. Example: AD&D 1 & 2e with female characters having a cap on Exceptional Strength (the old 18/100 scale). This actually leaves the strongest possible female character with a To Hit in melee mod 2 points lower than the strongest possible male character; a 10% lesser chance to hit.

I also disallow negative penalties to Mental stats like Intelligence and Wisdom due to race, although I still keep racial bonuses to such.

With older, published modules, I try to balance out bandits and raiders so they're not all of a single 'bad' race like Orcs or Goblins or Gnolls. I try to present antagonist as not inherently bad due to race, but because of active choices the antagonist has made.

So yeah, I do try to GM according to my professed beliefs. And my players respect and appreciate those efforts

On another game, I set myself on fire as a magic user character because I as a player did not read the description of the spell I was using, resulting in my death.

Before you say, "Oh but the GM should have let you redo it because you as the player didn't know the effect of the spell!", I will add that we decided to run with the character's death because I was RPing him as incredibly absent minded to begin with, and it would only make sense that he would forget how his own spells work and take himself out of the picture that way. In fact, we joked up to that point that any other death would be unworthy of his legendary airheadedness.

@misadventure

Where does one get one of these invites?

It was a really awesome event, I'm sad I had to leave early!

@il-volpe

I was there, he hurt me, and he's one of my favorite people in the hobby these days. That is an absolutely untrue statement.

@prototart This one is closest, I think: https://discord.com/moderation/1500000178942-332:-Fostering-Healthy-Communities

And maybe:

https://discord.com/moderation/1500000178661-310:-Managing-Moderation-Teams#Problem-Solving

@prototart

Then I'll see you there on Monday, 8 AM?

@tat said in Meshing Groups:

Or just be okay with less interaction IN the scene, and build in time for those characters to connect around what happened later.

That's what I do. Like if the plot starts at 9 and I know that most players pumpkin by midnight, I'll make sure that the "meat" of the plot ends by 11 so there's still time for folks to do wrap-up and stuff afterward.

Personally I don't enjoy doing a lot of interaction in the midst of plot scenes (which tend to be action scenes on my games). It's hard enough to keep track of what everyone else is even doing without then also trying to respond to a bunch of different conversations. And it tends to bog things down.

@bear_necessities said in GMs and Players:

@ganymede said in GMs and Players:

If you are perceived as having bias then you should no longer staff.

So I'm going to disagree with that point, because I'm 110% positive that every staff on every game is at some point perceived as having a bias.

It's true. Run a MU long enough (and in this case, long enough is not long) and somebody will be bound to accuse you of bias.

But I figure Gany really meant 'if it's reasonable for reasonable people to perceive you as biased.' Somewhat like how cops can search your house if they perceive it as a likely crime scene, but said perception has to be something like a trail of blood leading to your door. The way your eyeliner gives Officer Fuckley the creeps won't cut it.

It's certainly a bad idea to dismiss any/all perception of bias. Fuckley being weird about eyeliner and a liar does not mean that Andy and Barney Fife don't really see blood.

Among my year's bumper crop of stupid shit said to me about MUs was that problems on MUs are "almost always just player perception." It wasn't a thanks captain obvious, yes, everything about games is pretty much about player perception, perceiving oneself to be having fun is the point kinda stupid, they meant that player perceptions are wrong and the problems not real.

@derp said in Decriminalise Pretty:

I need to finish Korra. Is it on Netflix?

Yes. So's Avatar and S:PoP.

I'm binging ATM on Fresh Prince of Bel-Air on HBO Max too.

@seraphim73 said in Testing the Waters for Battletech Interest:

There are a fair number of "modern MUers" who enjoy combat and risky actions, but who have no interest in PvP. It's perfectly possible to have a playerbase intensely interested in PvE combat, but not interested at all in PvP combat (beyond sparring).

See pretty much any of the BSG games, TGG, etc.

My experience with Battletech was effectively PVE. First there was us as tweens/teens playing against my dad (effectively acting as GM even though yes, technically, it was PVP). Then were the Crescent Hawk tactical RPG video games. Even in my foray into MWO, the other players may as well be AI bots for all I interact with them.

@seraphim73 said in Testing the Waters for Battletech Interest:

I would include significant combat elements

I wasn't referring to the quantity of combat so much as the depth of it. I don't think it's worth trying to recreate TT style BTech rules in a MU setting.

Isn't a pizzadilla a calzone?

The only message board system I've actually managed in the past was Vanilla Forums. It's nice, but I discovered pretty quickly it's geared more towards corporate support forums rather than anything that might be useful to MSB.

@kestrel said in Paying for a MU*?:

At this point, I kind of feel like I should be paid to play someone else's MU*.

That's the spirit.

You know, given that most MUs rely on higher numbers of people/bits logged in to encourage people to try the game, at the very least even the most unwanted player on those games should have some sort of sign-spinner salary.

Starting to think about sheet design now. There was a lot of deliberation over what system use for this. Freeform Universal by Peril Planet /almost/ won. In the end though, we needed something with a little more crunch for settling disputes without too much need for staff interpretation. So! We went with Chaosium's Basic Roleplaying system. One of my favorites for years. 🙂

sheet

No Rest for the Wicked!

@carma said in Balancing wizards and warriors:

Here's an idea for the Aes Sedai - make their magic work off intent. So if they're not doing something to directly harm someone, but in the mind of the caster, the intended outcome is to eventually cause harm to someone, it backfires and harms the caster instead.

Yeah, that's one I forgot.

Magic Has Standards of Conduct method - Magic is tied to the spiritual realm and using it requires you to abide by certain rules, beliefs, what have you. For example, using magic to kill is wrong, and, if you do it, you get to do it once, then you lose your magic. Or maybe now you can only use dark magic which can only do harmful destructive things. Even if you try to do good with dark magic, it warps and perverts your intention to still cause harm

@arkandel said in Weird or unrealistic gaming... stuff:

@derp said in Weird or unrealistic gaming... stuff:

@arkandel said in Weird or unrealistic gaming... stuff:

I wish I had invisible voices double-checking my dumb decisions in real life. 🙂

...isn't that what we're here for?

Yes, when I want to figure out something important in my life I always ask myself "what would MSB do here?".

We are no more or less reliable than your random friend who's out of heals!