Starting from the ground up

3 posts ยท Oct 28 1999 to Oct 28 1999

From: Charles N. Choukalos <chuckc@b...>

Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 09:31:39 -0400

Subject: Re: Starting from the ground up

Hey,

why don't you take a peek at/pick up the Earth Force Source Book.  Its
for Camelion Electrics Babalon 5 RPG. I believe that a lot of the interface

q's are awnsered in it. You could pick it up and hack the RPG interface to
align more with the rpg system that you are using. This way you'd get a quick

and dirty awnser to the problems. Also If you want fighter pilots, and they're
mostly player characters... then the hell with the rules right?

I mean really who cares about balance... your players are hero's... allow
smaller fighter groups ( if players are in them)... just bend the rules

a bit... make up some hokey explinations. Throw in karam or luck points

and allow them to do some ludicrous stuff.... and fudge it on the fly. Its
more fun that way.

chuck

From: Roger Books <books@m...>

Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 09:46:24 -0400 (EDT)

Subject: Re: Starting from the ground up

> On 28-Oct-99 at 09:31, Charles N. Choukalos (chuckc@btv.ibm.com) wrote:
allow
> smaller fighter groups ( if players are in them )... just bend the

> Its more fun that way.

I'm going to have to disagree with many of you. As GM it is occasionally OK to
fudge the rolls, but it should occur rarely. If player characters go into
combat every once in a while one should die. How can you feel heroic when you
know you are going to win? Again, as GM, in a game where combat is involved if
you don't occasionally hear "Oh sh*t, we are all going to die" by someone who
believes it then you are failing in your job.

While you can accomplish this with fudging dice (and I have fudged my share)
the PC's catch on rather quickly. At this point the feeling goes from "I live
or die by my luck, roleplaying, and intelligence" to "I live and die at the
GM's whim."

I get the feeling that much of this feeling of the rules don't matter come
from playing WW games where the rules are just one butt cheek because they
didn't want to put the effort into finishing them. I don't
run that way, I _may_ fudge one or two die rolls a game.  That is why
I would like a decent space combat mechanic for an up and coming Traveller
game (GURPS variety). Probably FT crossed with the old FASA ST rules modified
to fit GURPS. I want FT kills to be mission kills in Traveller so the PC's can
survive. I want little ships to behave like cruisers do now.

I don't want "spend a character point, OK, you get a lucky shot and the
destroyer you are shooting at from your scout blows up, your all clear now."

From: Eli Arndt <emu2020@c...>

Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 07:29:35 PDT

Subject: Re: Starting from the ground up

> I get the feeling that much of this feeling of the rules don't matter

It would appear that this is a matter of personal style and choice. You

have missed the point of WW rules. They are quite finished, but rather than
stress rules for rules sake, they stress rules for when you absolutely need
them, not lettin them get i nthe way of a good story.

> run that way, I _may_ fudge one or two die rolls a game. That is why

If story is more important to you than the raw logistics of the game, then by
al lmeans fudge the rolls.

Style of game also plays HUGE part in it. In anime such as Gundam and
Macross, the fighters/mecha (when yo uget down to it, they are pretty
much the same accept one has limbs) slash apart the smaller warships and can
do a
number o nthe big boys.  In Star Wars, a run-away ilot takes ou the
biggest ship of them all, because it worked i nthe story. In movies like Top
Gun and Iron Eagle (admitedly both hoaky as heck) the pilots get away with
murder.

It all comes down to how you like to play.

Eli

> Roger