[UA] Powergamer != Munchkin

[Donald]

> I played Champions with engineers.  The only thing worse than playing 
> Champions with engineers armed with graphing calculators is playing 
> Champions with CPAs and bootleg copies of Lotus 1-2-3.  They'd pull 
> their characters over to the sideline after a game session, and tweak, 
> tweak, tweak.  Were they trying to understand how the game works, to 
> test its strengths and weaknesses?  Nope.  They were raping every point 
> they could, so that no matter what I threw at them, they had a leaner, 
> meaner variant, with one or two tricks that could trump any 'balanced' 
> foe I set against them, forcing me to cheat just to challenge them.  I 
> think that a true powergamer never lets the dice have a chance to screw 
> them over.  They find a way to make a character so effin' dreadful that 
> the minute he steps on the field of combat, it's already resolved.  
> Since you always cared about the dice, powergaming just wasn't your 
> 'thang'. 

Okay, I've put up with powergaming being bad mouthed just a bit too many times and
on behalf of all the engnineers out there with graphing calculators (self-included) I feel
a need to speak up here.

(1) There is no need to use a graphing calculator for Champions. If you can't manipulate 
all the requisite math in your head (or at best a scrap of paper and a pencil) you aren't 
worthy of title "powergamer".

(2) More seriously, somewhere along the way the attributes of a munchkin have been 
ascribed to powergamers. A munchkin treats RPGs as if it something he can win, and 
winning is something that must happen at all cost. Powergamers are more benign, 
wanting a character that meets the player's definition of competent. Mind you this is a
bit like the difference between a square and a rectangle--a square meets the definition
of a rectangle (four sides which meet at right angles) but has other qualities as well that
rectangles don't necessarily have. Likewise a munchkin may optimize his character, 
but there is more than just that at work that differentiates him from a powergamer.

(3) I'm not sure what a 'balanced' foe is outside of comparing him to your players,
but then I don't get too wrapped up in looking for balance. I prefer making sure the
players have enough information to judge their situations appropriately, which sometimes
means running as fast as they can the other way.

(4) I regularly play heavily optimized characters (hence the powergamer label). That 
does not mean that they are James Bond crossed with Conan with a dash of Superman 
thrown in. They do something they do well enough but they don't do everything and 
have whatever weaknesses of character and capability that I feel is appropriate (or leak
through from my personality). As example, the D&D character I had who as a matter
of background was focused on sword play and had a shady past due to his family 
having lost their livelihood (shipping) when he was young. He did indeed have the feats
and skills to fight well with a sword. . .and didn't wear armor heavier than leather as
preference even though not going with the heaviest armor you can find in D&D is
generally not healthy for those who find themselves in melee. And yes, he had skill points
to represent his seafaring past invested in a number of skills even though the campaign
was land based and I'm unaware of ever seeing more water than a river or lake--that's
part of why optimizing had to be done, to stretch what points he did have to cover his
background. FWIW, he met his death at the hands of a pack of lycanthropes. Guess
that armor would have been handy. . .or maybe I did not powergame enough?


Anyway, just trying to get you to go easier on those of with engineering backgrounds.