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Why low/funky mana areas aren't (always) unfair
Ed Note: This post is based on previously posted material (by yours truely) which I have edited and expanded upon. If you get deja vu, that's why.
A cruel, bored or irritated GM can abuse their editorial powers to heap misery upon suffering on their players, up to and including terminating the game via horrible in-game events: Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies. This kind of adversarial play style is pretty unpopular these days, but sometimes I wonder if we've over-corrected for sins past. Making things more difficult for your players is not the same as using the magnifying glass of your GMly powers on their ant-like paper men.
This concern comes up quickest in GURPS when Low Mana zones, or other weird magic areas, are discussed - "-5 to all your spells" is a pretty purified "Here, lets make all the wizards lives difficult today" mechanic, and it only gets worse if you have something like Twisted Mana, where even succeeding can be worrying.
( Read more... )
A cruel, bored or irritated GM can abuse their editorial powers to heap misery upon suffering on their players, up to and including terminating the game via horrible in-game events: Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies. This kind of adversarial play style is pretty unpopular these days, but sometimes I wonder if we've over-corrected for sins past. Making things more difficult for your players is not the same as using the magnifying glass of your GMly powers on their ant-like paper men.
This concern comes up quickest in GURPS when Low Mana zones, or other weird magic areas, are discussed - "-5 to all your spells" is a pretty purified "Here, lets make all the wizards lives difficult today" mechanic, and it only gets worse if you have something like Twisted Mana, where even succeeding can be worrying.
( Read more... )