Re: (TFT) Hanging Magic in TFT.

[Jeffrey Vandine <jlv61560@yahoo.com>]

Thank you.  Because my reaction to that screed was to say two things; 
one, lose the thesaurus, stop trying to be clever, and just tell us what yo
ur point is; and two, proper use of punctuation and grammar are your friend
.
You've at least solved the second objection.
v/rJeff

      From: Meg Tapley <barnswallow@sbcglobal.net>
 To: tft@brainiac.com 
 Sent: Tuesday, April 28, 2015 4:28 PM
 Subject: Re: (TFT) Hanging Magic in TFT.
   
Replying mostly just to add paragraph breaks. Some of us (me) suffer 
from acute apathy triggered by long walls of text. So, for 
handicap-accessibility and all:

On 4/28/15 2:58 PM, Jay Carlisle wrote:
> When considering the athletic magic user in TFT I find it interesting tha
t
> in most instances the Figure is contemplated en tant qu'individu or as a
> single individual. Why wouldn't a Wizard be accompanied by a few
> apprentices with knowledge of the Aid spell in the manner of a Knight wit
h
> their retinue of squires and pages?
I've seen it happen, if someone can be suckered into playing a walking 
ST battery, or if players get more than one character apiece.
> As to the deep magics capable of
> cracking stone tables this begs the question of sourcing magic to begin
> with IMHO such that the addition of hanging magic on nothing is given
> a raison d'etre that explains why this is possible when the more commonly
> accepted method is the creation of magical items which would seem to suff
er
> a value hit in the face of such advanced methods with the creation of suc
h
> items itself an advanced aspect of study that would loose some appeal for
> many magical methodologists mayhaps a minority making mercedary mercantil
ism
> the mantra of magical mastery mindful of mammon and modus decimandi
> as modus operandi.
Maybe the wizard himself becomes a "magic item", similar to a wand with 
charges?
> This of course opens up a entirely new arena of conflict
> and engaging the wealthy merchant on financial footing without fortune is
> the same folly as fighting a martial master in the combat arena without
> arms or challenging the master of magics to a duel of spells when the way
s
> of mystical manipulation are a mystery unto You.
/
> Another approach to finding more balance might be the addition of fatigue
> costs for fighter types allowing athletic Actions along similar lines as
> spells. This method opens up a myriad of options for play that flow
> naturally from fST and in allowing fighter types feats of physical prowes
s
> that temp Players to expend fST to preform the Wizards main dynamic for
> effective Action becomes mirrored in the martial Hero's options. It's sti
ll
> the addition of new mechanics but without hanging the burden on magic if
> You take My meaning. Just spitballing by the by. Discussion fodder FWIW n
ot
> fault finding of anything put forward so far. Far be it from Me to berate
> the addition of mechanics after My own folly fully indulges in the same
> again and again.
Can't remember what battle this was, but I think the Spartans at one 
point surprised their enemy by sprinting up a hill and then fighting at 
the top of it, something they were only able to do because of their 
intense training. Spending fatigue for combat actions seems like 
something worth inventing a game mechanic to cover. Also, I've heard 
that armor is less encumbering than fatiguing to wear, as well, though I 
imagine this varies with the type of armor.
>  My only caveat concerning such tradition is the lack of
> any formal system to help with the translation from one table to another.
> I'm lazy and look to make My work as simple as possible to pick up from M
y
> table and drop onto another in a straightforward fashion. Home-brewed
> additions harbor the effect of pushing the game to a same in title
> only separation that flies in the face of such efforts. As home-brewed
> additions are traditional to the point of a necessary feature of white-bo
x
> D&D to even play the thing at all it flies in the face of RPG roots to
> imagine attempting such additions were it not plainly folly in the first
> place but I've seen little in the way of offering any objective procedure
> for making these modifications and see the possibility not so much for
> solutions as for a few small steps toward objectivity in addressing rules
> additions in a more formal sense.
/
> More important still is the possibility
> for improved communication such added definition can bring which is
> fundamental to the mediums unique strength of a cooperative experience of
> shared imaginative creation which hinges on clear communication that
> focuses each Players imagination on the same mental image in it's importa
nt
> details. The impossible perfection that is the goal is for all the Player
s
> to be imagining is such agreement that there would be no difference betwe
en
> the mental images imagined by each if they were projected upon a screen i
n
> the manner of a motion picture. See mirror neurons for a foundation of th
is
> concept in Our physiological makeup.
/
> I'm on a direct path to ending up tits
> up in a field with one ear and a sucking chest wound over this but not
> without referent for the methods to My madness. I've been avoiding making
> My philosophical apology for My occupation with a passtime in public
> perception but there is issues of very real import at play in this play a
nd
> the model of destructive action as the only path to advancement is purely
> unacceptable as a defining aspect of play to pass on to those who come
> after us. Better that gaming go the way of the dodo than continue with th
at
> model much less hobbled with aspects that are the strengths from other
> creative mediums cooperative play models poorly instead of featuring the
> strengths the table-top holds as the primary elements of focus.
...I note the consistent capitalization of "My". So You've achieved 
apotheosis, then? *bows down*
> If D&D editions were in service of the Player community the ruleset would
 evidence
> a refinement of established concepts rejecting only what proved fatally
> flawed and in its core evidencing continuity and consistently less change
> instead of essentially a completely different game the same in name only
> which is evidence of a marketing ploy to sell a new set of product in an
> endless cycle (note 5th edition is double that or more in actual editions
> offered over the course of its 4 decades history)  that preys on the
> community with such pointless reworking of its foundations then
> regurgitating its add on material cloaked in new artwork and statistics
> rather than taking the more challenging path of perfecting its base syste
m
> and growing in the content it offers in supplement. Four decades of the
> same destructive focus evidencing no growth is a horrible misuse of the
> mediums potential and a moral affront to the soul of the hobby and the
> community of highly imaginative people drawn to its potential for
> imaginative expression but arrested in the development of the full
> flowering of that expression by the frozen innovation cloaked in the guis
e
> of the continual reworking of the destructive play concept that never
> ventures further in its depth or focus. As We near a half century of RPG
> history We deserve a concept that exhibits some growth and a grasp on the
> possibilities offered by constructive models added to play and some
> downside to the destruction that still fails to even require a cleanup of
> the corpses from all the killing.
Hear, hear. If we liked D&D, we'd be playing that popular and 
well-supported game, rather than an obscure one long out of print.
> I don't mean that the model should be
> abandoned entirely. The classic hack and slash dungeon crawl is a valid
> form of entertaining play but I'm trying to point out that the potential
> for so much more continues to remain unexplored coupled with real issues 
of
> underling message when serving as the sole example of what a RPG is (and
> the medium IS the message to quote McLuhan) that I find Myself tilting at
> the ever cycling gristmill of the RPG marketing monster in a vein hope th
at
> others might see the importance of taking responsibility for their hobby 
as
> well and demand the progress and growth that should have been evidenced
> long ago from what in potential is in fact a new medium capable of artist
ic
> expression in its full application. Not every daydream is fixed upon
> violence and plunder.
/
> I can not believe I'm the only one capable of
> imagining far beyond such narrow confines. This cannot continue to stand.
 I
> owe it to all I have invested of Myself in My chosen hobby I hold so dear
> to see it free to be more than this hobbled Harrison Bergeron harnessed w
ith
> the constraints of those that would hamper its fullness to control it in
> pursuit of profit for profits sake knowing that unfettered the dominate
> model repeating and repeating the same established cycle suddenly fails t
o
> encompass the whole and as the carefully crafted control is lost so goes
> the profit coupled to it and thus it falls to the likes of You and Me if 
We
> are to ever see more from Our hobby that can be if freed to be. Screed
> fini. Pardon Me.
Thus endeth the reading of Jay's Holy Word.
...all right, now I'm going back to cleaning up my own paragraphs 
(mumble mumble stupid English paper - procrastinating on that thing is 
90% of why I'm spamming the list recently, I swear). Thank You for Your 
divine wisdom, and also for the excuse to do something else for a while.




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