Re: (TFT) back from the olympics

[Lloyd Weber <laweber3@yahoo.com>]

Mark, this is very insightful, touching on many different levels of the gaming
world! Thanks.

Lloyd



________________________________
From: Mark Tapley
<mtapley@swri.edu>
To: tft@brainiac.com
Sent: Wed, March 24, 2010 4:52:54 PM
Subject: Re: (TFT) back from the olympics

At 19:19 -0500 3/8/10, Jay wrote:
>
In these type games, traditionally there is at least one or two "critters"
>
that it is considered a-okay to dispatch at will.
> Without digressing too far
into the details (as is my want) I'm pointing out
> the psyche diff of the
whole deal.
> Base the whole thing on killing, and killing is what you get...
give a few
> more "PLAYABLE" options that have rule support and you as a
game-master may
> find that you have to create a "Dark Lord" to spur the
players into
> defending against such an a-hole...

    Trying to catch up on
all sorts of things, sorry for the delayed response.
    One of the reasons I
like TFT is that it *does* supply non-lethal options. Several spells (Freeze,
Sleep, Drop Weapon, Avert....), "Subduing Blows", and potions and magic items
all enable you to overcome your opponents in such a way as to leave them able
to learn from the experience.
    When I'm playing with the kids, I pretty
much *insist* on that behavior from them when they have a chance, and when I'm
refereeing, well, I make it clear that if they take a kill-or-be-killed
mindset to the world, they might well not end up being at the top of the food
chain. That seems to help a lot with getting the spousal unit interested in
the game, and it presents more and more interesting challenges to the kids
than a simple "hack them before they hack you" approach would.
    Healthier
than video games that way too, IMHO.
    This connects to the "do we have the
moral high ground" discussion I allotted in my "ideal gaming session" timeline
a few posts back, too.
--                         - Mark    210-379-4635
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