Re: (TFT) On experience

[Joe Hartley <jh@brainiac.com>]

J&S <strngcrgonyc@earthlink.net> wrote:
> SILAS CHIMES IN WITH HIS 2 CENTS WORTH----
> I have to agree with both of you. The system can lead to outrageous
> characters, BUT ONLY IF there is a complete lack of common sense used by
> the gm that hands out a 14 hex dragons worth of exp. per character week.
> Thats just bad Gm'ing.  ALL CONSULT THE HOLY BOOK OF ITL---Page 3,
> column 1, para 3, last sentence. "The gm is the final arbiter; he should
> strive to be FAIR (emphasis added), but his word is law. IT IS HIS TASK
> TO KEEP BALANCE IN THE GAME....."

Silas has hit the nail on the head here.  After playing Melee/Wizard and
some Microquests, I had the chance to play D&D with some folks who had
some characters that had been around awhile.  It was amazingly unbalanced.
My beginning character had problems with a couple of guards, while these
guys breezed in, walked on hot lava, slew giants with a toothpick,
levitated the treasure out of its hiding place, and killed all enemies
within two miles by crossing their eyes.  (OK, I'm exaggerating a bit.)

It's the Master's role to keep things balanced.  ITL says that it's *hard*
to become a superman - but it's not impossible.  Maybe 14-hex dragons become
worth fewer EPs, or even have EPs based on a formula, like 
baseEP - (totalAttributePoints - 31) = awardedEP.  That way it's a lot
harder to battle your way up to the top.  (The preceding was an example, and
is probably too biased against an experienced character, but you get the
idea!)

The point is that the MicroQuests and adventures like Tollenkar's Lair
assume a basic level of character - maybe some experience, but not Ahnuld S.
Having Ahnuld as a character takes the challenge out of the game.  I'd
rather play a game with a Master where my character might get killed, but
the Master pulls a deus ex machina and saves his sorry hide so that the
game continues, but the battle was lost.  It's a lot more interesting than
going in with Ahnuld, killing everything and winning the game without
breaking a sweat.  That's not playing - that's going through motions, and
to me that's boring.


======================================================================
         Joe Hartley - Computer Consultant - jh@brainiac.com
     12 Emma G Lane, Narragansett, RI  02827 - vox 401.782.9042
Without deviation from the norm, "progress" is not possible. - FZappa

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