(UA) The first critical review

[Carl L. Congdon]

Anyone who saw the reviews on this week's rpg.net probably noticed that
UA received it's first critical review. Before we rise up and attack the
reviewer, let's look at the message and ask how much was wheat and how
much was chaff. (THEN we hunt him down and kill him! ;-P No, that would
be silly.) ;)

First, he mentioned the character's ability to flip-flop rolls. Didn't
seem to understand why they (or the GMC's) should be allowed to do that.
I'll call this chaff, as it was explained by John and Greg that the
point of the game was that 1) it's our actions (and the motives behind
them) that have consequences for us and the world around us, and 2) in
this game, people are largely passion-driven, and thus the downside of
being a sociopath.*

Second, he mentions some of the flaws in the magick system. The first is
the confusing hodge-podge that is the Dipsomancy school. While the
Random Magick section seems easy to intuit to me**, what the hell is
spirit-magick (except as a bad pun) doing in there, or even in
Entropomancy for that matter? (And why aren't entropomancers given some
more control over entropics? I had a spell for my Phobomancy school that
thematically fit Phobomancers, but could easily be turned over to
entropomancers.) Sorry, but I see quite a bit of wheat here. Hopefully,
a big book explaining and expanding postmodern magick will straighten
this all out. Also some wheat with the gaining of significant charges
for Dipsomancy: isn't historical drinking mugs kinda cutting into
cliomancy? Do habitual drunks really care what they drink out of, as
long as they're drinking?

Second magick issue was that even a rank novice, in the right place with
the right tools, could pull off a major charge and lay down some serious
shit. Where were the limitations? Personally, this seems like chaff to
me. I *like* that, because it allows an inexperienced adept to fuck up
big time, in a way that Mage couldn't quite simulate (ie. The Soceror's
Apprentice, or "I see your Schwartz is as big as mine, but how well can
you handle it?") What exactly happens if a major charge gets miscast?

The next issue was about using Soul as the governing attribute for
magick. Personally, a chaff issue for me. Magick types tend to be
artsy-types anyway; check out Osman Spare, Crowley, Comte-St. Germaine
(the historical version, who seemed to be a well-versed and articulate
fraud), and any cult leader who has a magnetic personality as an asset.
I have no problem seeing magick, especially postmodern magick, as an art
form.

A similar issue was about using Mind as the stat for Stress-checks.
IMAO, a chaff issue, even though there are those on the list who agree.
In my defense of the Mind stat, I offer you one word: rationalization.
The Mind attribute not only recognizes the ability to grasp the truth of
the situation, but also it's ability to deceive itself, or juggle
paradoxes until a compromise (however tenuous) is reached. IRL, this
explains the paradox of the "intelligent idiot," who knows what s/he's
doing is wrong and won't work, but convinces him/herself to go ahead
anyway. Slower people end up being more honest with themselves, not
because they want to be, but because they don't have the talent for
lying to themselves as convincingly. I agree it's not a perfect system,
but it's no worse than the POW stat in Call of Cthulhu by any means.
It's what happens when you try to keep the system as minimal as
possible: sometimes the cracks show through.

And I do not say this to slap Messrs. Stolze and Tynes about the head.
Even the best rpg's have holes in them, some of them big enough to drive
a truck through. It's enough to acknowledge them, patch what can be
patched, and move on. It certainly shouldn't dampen anyone's enjoyment
of the game. After all, I loved Feng Shui, and when the hell did that
game and realism have even a nodding acquaintance?

--
Poets, priests, and politicians
Have words to spend for their positions
Words that scream for your submission
And no one's jamming their transmission...
And when their eloquence escapes me
Their logic ties me up and rapes me
 -The Police, "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da"