[UA] Players screwed over

[Royal Minister of Stuff]

What the hell is it with this punishment mentality
gaming seems to have developed.  I quite liked that
little statement I still find in some more
lighthearted games.  This is a game where nobody
loses.

Now, I know failure is a big element in UA, but
there's a big difference between exploring the aspects
of being "down and out" and being an absolutely piker.

A game where everyone is doomed to failure is inately
humorous (to quote Mel Brooks: "Tragedy is when I cut
my finger, Comedy is when you fall into an open sewer
and die") or innately tragic (if you allow that magic
has some aura of greatness and wonder to it.)

I prefer the funnier aspects of any situation, myself.
 It doesn't make it any more tragic, but dooming my
players to a cycle of unending double standards and
crippling loses just reminds me too much of the life
and times of planet Earth.

I volunteered at a place called "The Bridge School" in
Portland for a while, trying to help teach ESL without
even a clue how to set up a syllabus.  My students,
hardworking emigrants with and without brains (and
totally without any luck what-so-ever) busted their
butts to learn ridiculous-but-neccessary English
concepts like the schwa and homonyms and it didn't do
them a lick of goods.  They lost jobs because of their
accents, their upbringing (NAFTA wants to keep the
people making out underwear poor, sick and in one
place) and their skin color.  I live in superwhite,
superconservative Colorado Springs now and I've seen
Latinos get a fairer shake than they probably ever
will in Portland, Ore.  Not a real fair shake, but at
least they have a chance.

And that's the entire point.  Players have spent so
many years not having a chance to express themselves
-of being slapped down by GMs who can't or won't
introduce consistent rules or plot elements into their
games (and I admit that I'm guilty of this)- that,
when it comes time for them to let loose and do some
serious exploring, you always have to spend the first
few sessions saying "it's okay, this won't really
hurt.  I'm not going to embarrass you, I'm going to
tell a sad story with you." (or a funny one or
whatever.)

Players need knowledge, confidence and focus to be
good, to entertain eachother, and you can't acheive
knowledge with "clues and hints" that just you think
are obvious.  You can't acheive confidence by pulling
the rug out from under people with a knowing grin
every couple of minutes and you can't acheive focus
with double standards and a manic glee in character
failure.

So there.

--- Kevin Elmore <kelmore at rocketmail.com> wrote:
> 
> --- Patrick Joynt <deadairis at hotmail.com> wrote:
> > The beauty of UA (well, one of them) is that the
> system
> > screws players for 
> > you.
> 
> I tell you; the first time I played Mage, I made my
> mage
> character screwed up.  I had UA on the brain at the
> time,
> so when I made my Cult of Ecstasy guy, I thought,
> "Hmm,
> he's just not screwed up enough.  I think I'll make
> him
> addicted to gambling but have a superstition where
> he never
> uses magic to affect the outcome of a game of
> chance.  So
> he'll be poor.  But he still isn't screwed up
> enough.  I
> think I'll have him be reduced to being a charlatan
> palm
> reader in the shit side of town."  
> 
> That mentality was so ingrained in me, that when my
> character encountered a pretty stable, with-it mage,
> it was
> quite a surprise that he could use magic well
> without being
> screwed over.  The GM loved my messed-up character. 
> Too
> bad I won't see him again; I'd show him the books
> that
> inspired that sort of thought in me.
> 
> Damn you Stolze and Tynes.  Keep it up.
> 
> Kevin
> 
> 
> 
> =====
>
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
> Beavis & Butthead do not cause fires; stupid people
> do.  Role-playing games do not cause mass cultish
> suicides; stupid people do.  Homosexuality does not
> lead to societal and moral decay; stupid people do. 
> God does not condemn or place false blame on these
> things; stupid people do.
>
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> 
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=====
-- Rp Bowman, Royal Minister of Stuff
The Electronic Nation of Yokeltania:
http://www.geocities.com/yokeltania/

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