Posts made by Ganymede

@Ghost said in PC vs Player Assumptions:

If you are playing a role, then should your decisions for the character be based entirely from the perspective of the character itself?

This is a matter of personal choice.

I have been able to solve this issue by focusing on perception/knowledge rolls to help feed information or determine what the PCs know. This leads to successes and my players have stopped trying to "guess what the GM is up to" and now focus on "the PCs solving the puzzle".

This is a matter of GM fiat. This is unrelated to the dilemma identified, which is not really a dilemma in my opinion. No matter which way a player decides, it is a matter for the GM to decide how success on tasks shall be determined and how conflict will get resolved.

If you, the GM, want a player to roll to see if his character knows not to hit a rust monster with a sword, you have the right to ask; if otherwise, then the player decides that outcome. If the player complains that her character knows not to hit the rust monster with a metal weapon, and that she should not have to make a roll, you, the GM, can determine if the proffered explanation is sufficient or not.

Not really seeing a problem, sorry.

February 2020.

@surreality said in RL things I love:

It really is pretty good. (And he is neat to listen to.) I don't know if I'd call it $$$/bottle good, which it seems to run these days, but the bottles are probably not cheap to make, and it is admittedly good.

Meanwhile, I drink my Johnnie Walker Blue Label, and scoff.

@Thenomain said in PC vs Player Assumptions:

These games need more chase scenes.

I made a character specifically to take advantage of the chase system.

Times used? Zero.

@Thenomain said in PC vs Player Assumptions:

coughDoorscough

Or the Chase system.

@Taika said in PC vs Player Assumptions:

I like grabbing clues and scattering them far and wide to drag more people in.

And this is why the Chronicles of Darkness has a robust Clue system for solving mysteries.

That no one seems to ever use.

@Arkandel said in PC vs Player Assumptions:

It's why generally speaking I advise against non-physical stats. You can't really really screw up playing someone who's 'strong' or 'fast' or 'a good archer'. You can fuck up playing a master detective who fails to pick up cues time after time even after the GM is hand-feeding them over.

On the other hand, without non-physical stats a player has little system recourse if they may have difficulty comprehending language or expressing themselves, e.g., ESL, dyslexia, etc. Being allowed to check those stats, which a character by concept may be proficient at, would allow the player to ask for clarification as to what's going on, and gauge the accuracy of such clarification.

@Admiral said in Staff scrutiny during CGen:

I believe that staff's role in CG is what I said. To ensure that the player creates a workable concept, and the player creates a concept that won't damage the fun of others.

I concur, so I'll amend.

I think the point of staff in the process is to ensure all players have a good time, and this sometimes means rejecting a concept that would foreseeably affect the rest of the players in a negative way.

@Auspice said in PC vs Player Assumptions:

How do you know if a character's read on a plot/scene is the character getting it wrong or the player getting it wrong?

You don't, unless you ask.

And do you correct them or not?

No. I presume a player understands what is happening. If they don't, it is incumbent upon them to ask for clarification.

As I just did.

@Arkandel said in Staff scrutiny during CGen:

What do you want staff's role to be in that process?

I want staff to have a look at what I've presented, consider it against their current player base, and let me know if my PC fits their expectations or not.

What kind of CGen are you in fond of or what do you dread seeing?

I like Faraday's FS3 CGen, as well as Thenomain's "set it your damn self" WoD CGen. I dread vagueness in the directions on how to prepare a background, if one is necessary.

What, if anything, does it tell you about how a MU* you're just starting on is being ran?

On the issue of vagueness, it shows me that they have not put much thought into their game, or that they are unsure of what they would like to see. Both are not good signs.

How much staff oversight or scrutiny do you want to be there right as new PCs are being rolled and what should the limits to that be - if any?

Oversight is a better word, and review is even better. I think the point of staff in the process is to ensure the player has a good time.

I have said this many times before, but when I review applications I use the background to figure out the "who" in the character before I check out the "what" in the proposed stats. If the "who" and the "what" don't match up, I'll provide guidance as to make the two things match. Finally, I like to converse with the player a little, if I don't already know them, to see how familiar they are with the system (not the setting); if they are new, I'll make some suggestions on how to optimize their character so that they are better able to accomplish the tasks that they see their character being good at.

@Auspice

I really don't understand the question.

Can you clarify succinctly?

@Lisse24 said in What Types of Games Would People Like To See?:

I've been playing with the idea of a peer-confirmed process. So you complete an asp, it publishes to the room, people then confirm that it happened or not.

I think it might be better if the function would start up a +request on a separate board, to which players may confirm when they get the chance. This way, the player seeking the beat does not have to immediately ask for it, or have to worry about people disconnecting or heading home at the end of the scene before they can use the function.

I'm having a bit of trouble getting to the server. I know that Shem was working on moving. Does anyone know if there is a new address for the site?

@Aria said in Real World Peeves, Disgruntlement, and Irks.:

ETA: PS -- Check your boobs for weird lumps. Please. It takes, like, two minutes.

I did this once for my partner, but when I told her I found some on her face she kicked me in the stomach.

@Ghost said in What Types of Games Would People Like To See?:

Because it's ethical to try to coach less experienced players on what might be a fruitless Aspiration selection or may be too large in scope for the game.

Fair.

I don't think "get the Nobel Peace Prize" is an inappropriate long-term aspiration. As Thenomain said, you can apply for a beat if you have engaged in RP that might push you further towards that goal. For a vampire, this might mean resolving a political dispute among the Kine. For a werewolf, this might mean cleansing a Wound that is threatening to cause affected mortals to engage in open warfare with one another.

Within a scope of a city, which is the normal setting, a seemingly-unattainable goal that is confined to the location is probably most appropriate. Something like "control the media in the area" presents such a goal: you could attain more control than others, but the aspiration also implies being able to maintain that control, which is an endless endeavor.

Much depends on your staff's understanding of the system, and how that understanding meshes with those of other staff. Having a single supernatural sphere would help narrow the scope and keep Aspirations simple to devise and monitor.

@Auspice said in What Types of Games Would People Like To See?:

I didn't understand them until I was staff and the light-bulb went off.

Fair.

I should probably explain RfK's system for those who didn't play on it. You requested beats every week based on your activity. After every scene, or whenever, you make a claim for a 'type' of beat, be it social scenes, in furtherance of aspirations, etc. And at the end of the week, Shav would review the requests and award the beats. There was a cap as to how many of each kind you could get every week.

When you start to hit certain benchmarks, such as 250, the number of beats necessary to get an XP went up. This meant that PCs with more XP would have to go out and play more in order to claim beats and match the XP growth of newer PCs. I recall that the benchmarks were basically every 250 beats. So if you had 1,000 beats, it cost 9 beats to get 1 XP, whereas it cost only 5 beats if your XP was less than or equal to 250.

As far as I could tell, the system worked. New PCs could get close to the older PCs, but older PCs could keep ahead if they were more active. That pushed the older PCs to get out and RP more often, which is sometimes not the case on other games. It was a stroke of genius, in my opinion, but the system required a lot of staff maintenance to run.

@Auspice said in What Types of Games Would People Like To See?:

The two issues I had with asps:

people who would set a long-term to something utterly unachievable. ('Get the Nobel Peace Prize') and when I would try to explain no, that's not what a long-term is, they'd have a pissy fit and then I'd shrug and be like 'your funeral' and later they'd come back and have a fit because 'omggggg why is everyone else getting long-term asps and I'm nooooooot'. Well buddy I tried to help you.'

See previous comments about not catering to very stupid people, and how very stupid people do not make a system broken or undesirable because stupid is as stupid does, Lt. Dan.

And I always felt like there should maybe be a cap on how many you could earn in a week.

Hence, RfK's policy, where you could only get a certain number of beats every cycle for a particular kind of activity, including meeting or fulfilling short- and long-term aspirations.

@Jennkryst said in What Types of Games Would People Like To See?:

What they did have were the Aspirations. Like full on 'get XPz for doing the thing' along with the quick squirt of happy brain juice that goes along with that.

Which I admit I maaaay have over-used/abused.
Literally every scene involved fulfilling a short-term aspiration, or work towards fulfilling a long-term aspiration.

This isn't abusing the system.

This is what the system is fucking for. The Aspiration system provides something for your PC to do. It is quite frankly one of the best systems for online play, especially on MU*s that would otherwise be sandboxes. Staff can watch out for over-abuse, but also allow incentives for activity by letting the reins go.

The only thing I liked more was Requiem for Kingsmouth's beat system, but that requires an awful lot of staff-power to maintain.

@Ghost said in RL Anger:

I want to like them so badly.

Why?

Does not compute.

Why does anyone want to be friends with anyone?

Seriously, does not compute.

Friendship does not mean asking that person for help. It simply does not. I do not loan people money. I do not pick people up from work.

I’m not unfriendly; I simply have limits. I may break them for emergencies or humanitarian reasons, but I am not here to make you feel better. Don’t ask.

I’m here to present solutions and offer advice. If you don’t take it, so be it. And if you don't want honesty, don’t ask for it; I’m happy to lie to your face if it’ll make you feel better.