[UA] (no subject)

[Patrick O'Duffy]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Royal Minister of Stuff" <yokeltania at yahoo.com>
To: <ua at lists.uchicago.edu>
>
> Also, I HATE coins.  I don't like the idea of dice in
> a LARP any more than I like the idea of a GM in a
> LARP, but I really, really hate coin systems.  They
> are universally cumbersome, difficult to play (ever
> try flipping a whole bunch of coins at once -or just
> one over and over- when you're an uncoordinated geek?
> Oh wait, I forgot, gamers aren't sloppy misfits
> anymore!), time consuming and smarmy.

I designed the rules for an upcoming Shadowrun freeform (next weekend, in
fact), and I used coins. We've structured the plotlines and the characters
so that interactions are largely predictable - big troll guys will always
beat up little wimpy deckers - but for the uncertain cases, we're using a
coin toss.

Single coin, tossed once. Whoever calls it right wins. We put a coin on each
table in the bar we've hired for the game, and collect them when it's over.

Of course, this is a freeform, not a LARP; it doesn't have a _system_ of
rules, just a collection of isolated instances that have been cobbled
togther and eyeballed by the writer and myself. But it's still way simple
and can easily work.

I don't personally care for randomizers in live-play; I don't think they're
all that necessary. But if you have to include them, then I think a single
coin toss is the way to go.

--
Patrick O'Duffy, Brisbane, Australia

What are you fucking looking at? What? You think I'm one of the nutless
freaks you peddle your watered-down gnat's piss to? One of your mental
barflies gone bad? I'm a fucking journalist! I am working!

 - Spider Jerusalem, TRANSMETROPOLITAN #34


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