[UA] Powergamer != Munchkin

[Shachar Langbeheim]

well, it seems that everyone kinda forgot that we're talking in the UA
mailing list here.
The reason i'm saying this is that most examples for powergaming were
given from D&D and Champions (a system i'm not too familiar with),
both of which are rather fixated about combat.
now, in any game in which one attribute/ability is more imoprtant than
the rest, powergaming works. one of the things I like about UA is that
almost EVERYTHING is important for your survival. but, to the point:
so, you're annoyed about people min-maxing for combat? lessen the
amount of combat scenes. add diffrent factors and events to the fights
- being able to punch through concrete is nice, but not when your
girlfriend is hanging above a vat of lava. or not while the mechanism
for creating more kill-o-mats is still on.
if combat is a stragiht, no-bullshit, one dimensional thing, and the
game is mostly centered about this one dimension, don't be surprised
when people try to fit the biggest part of their characters to the
biigest part of the game.
diversify, that's the best thing against powergaming. make the game a
non-linear, multi-dimensional thing. when the players don't know what
is going to happen and how, they'll have to choose whether they'll be
ready for the widest list of dangers, or whether they'll be execcelent
against a limited list, but better at it.
also, another good thing against munchkinism is asking your players
for reasons. "why is your character such a good fencer?" is a valid
question, but "why does your innocent civilian character in my horror
campaign know how to use heavy machine guns and why does it have a
stack of rocket proppeled grenades in his backyard?" is an ESSENTIAL
question.
if some one can't give a reason for his extra high skills &
attributes, he can't have them. also, when the characters gain XP and
advance, the players can't just spread the points by their whims -
they have to justify it by their characters actions in gaining that
XP.
so, to make a long mail short: reasoning defeats munchkinism,
diversifiyng defeats powergaming.

oh, and engineers are no-where as bad as computer programers when it
comes to power-gaming.

-- 
ah.