(UA) The Problem With Magick

[Stimson, Aaron]

I guess when it comes down to it, John Tynes, Greg Stolze, and those people
willing to play in our games, all trust us as GM's to have one thing that
balances the 'lack of variablility' for the 7 schools of magic, or the
seeming conflictless separation of the different groups, npcs, etc.:
Imagination.

I'm currently in a game of UA that to my or my character's knowledge hasn't
even brushed on the big groups or movers and shakers, and yet it has
tension, suspence, and interest in excess.

Just because the authors didn't write it doesn't mean it doesn't exist.  I
think this is the lesson that most of us have learned in years of gaming.
In fact, the UA community seems to be made of the type of Gamers who no
longer feel bound to game systems that define every nuance, or have a source
book for each skin color, occupation, or orientation.  Though those games
can be fun, the allure of UA (to me at least) is the potential that each
game, episode, one shot, etc. can explore a different world and still be
tremendously enjoyable.

A GM doesn't need to have a Boston source book to run adventures there.  Any
GM worth his salt can get ahold of a street map, populate the city with
generic people and groups, sprinkle lightly with nonentities, dukes, small
cabals, etc. and breath life into the city.  And if the group runs into
Eponymous, so be it.  The benefit of expansions is to boost creativity,
allow a GM to get the writers's opinions and ideas, and integrate them as
they see fit.

If you don't like the magick rules, modify them for they character they
reflect.  If you want a new magick school, invent it.  I have contributed a
magick school to this list myself, and though I would be willing to allow a
player to use it, I don't think it's the be all and end of Magick schools.

In like ways I have conflicting views with others on this list.  For
example, Kevin Mowry put forward a Wounded King archetype, and I put forward
another a couple of days later.  Though they both have the same name, they
are radically different, born of different mindsets, existing in different
worlds of plausibility.  I respect Kevin Mowry, and know that playing in any
game he would run would be far different than playing in any I run.  These
variations are perfectly allowable, because each is the fruit of the mind,
freely given, open to acceptance or rejection by all.

To sum up: If you think this game is too limited, perhaps you are limiting
yourself. If you want to run everything in one city to up the ante, do it.
Enjoy.  If you see the potential to create a whole new world of cabals,
groups, or npcs, go for it, and more power to you.  For those who see this
as a realm of possibilities, anything can happen.

Aaron Stimson