[UA] Thoughts on LA riots of 1992?

[Chad Underkoffler]

Hidey-ho, all; I have returned.

> Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 08:31:50 -0500
> From: Gregory Paul Stolze <holycrow at mindspring.com>
>
> At 10:00 AM 06/14/2000 -0400, you wrote:
> 
>>> In UA, as in most RPGs, there's a tendency to give
>>> everything a "supernatural" explanation.
>>>
>>> There's a very good reason for that.
>>>
>>> Because you *can*.

> That's a reason, but I don't know that I'd consider 
> it a good reason.  

> > Presuming that we know what can be known, in the real world 
> > nothing has a "supernatural" explanation. Things happen for 
> > mundane reasons - complicated or simple. Roleplaying games 
> > like UA offer a chance to imagine fantastic motives for 
> > everyday things, and it always puzzles me that people 
> > complain when fans conjecture about them. (This is not 
> > entirely you. I subscribe to multiple mailing lists for 
> > modern fantasy games - In Nomine and Vampire among them - 
> > and this sort of thing comes up quite a bit.)
> 
> Well, I guess my feeling is that having there be a reliable 
> paranormal explanation every time encourages lazy thinking 
> and lazy roleplaying. If you know you're ALWAYS going to find
> a mage or critter or some odd thing at the bottom of weird 
> goings-on... well, then it's less of a shocking surprise when 
> do, obviously.  

[X-Files snipped]

Greg, how do you resolve this concept of lazy thinking and
roleplaying if the genre has less of a fantastic bent? Is it
applicable to any genre? 

> I guess part of it goes into the FEEL I wanted UA to have. 
> The paranormal elements of RPGs are so shiny and attractive 
> that they often overwhelm all the other elements of a setting.
> Soon you get a meal that's all dessert, and your tongue goes 
> numb.  

Hm. Interesting analogy. Personally, the fantastic/weird has
always been more a meat or potato than a sweet.

> I wanted magick to be present in UA, and for it to be an
> unpredictable loose cannon element, but I didn't want it
> to be the be-all and end-all trump suit.  
>
> Every time I wrote up a paranormal skill, I gave it the sniff
> test "Is this substantially more dangerous than a Firearms 
> skill at the same level?"  If the answer was yes, I threw on 
> more luggage--that's where taboos and charges came from.  I 
> guy like Eponymous, who's got no mojo but is good with a gun 
> and doesn't mind gouging someone's eyes out, should be able 
> to do very well in the UA setting.  Much as I like the WoD, I 
> recognize that no mortal gunslinger is going to make the cut.

I think you did a decent job balancing in game-wise. I'm not
sure if the setting elements (vampires, ufos, etc.) were
necessary for balance.

Heck, when I run UA again, I'll probably run vampires different
from UA canon... and mucho different than WoD vamps. Probably a
"everything you've heard is true" sort of vampire with every
single vulnerability from needing invitiations for private entry
to mustard seeds to cruciform avoidance, etc. It seems to fit
the "common knowledge"/modern superstitions aspects of UA a
little better, to me.

Ultimately, I'm NOT fond of settings where Everything Is A Deep
Dark Plot. Nor am I particularly fond of some of what Greg seems
to be promoting: that real, live magick has (essentially) no
effect on the world.

The way I see it, the LA riots were mundane: had a mundane cause
and initial burn. Magick stuff happened within and around it,
possibly fanning or dampening the flames. (Heck, as soon as 24
hour coverage began, Cobweb Farmers would have been zipping over
there to soak up all the mojo.)



=====
Chad Underkoffler [chadu at yahoo.com]
http://www.geocities.com/chadu/index.html
"Learn as though you will forever, 
Live as though you will die tomorrow, 
Laugh as though it makes no difference."

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