In role
playing games, I hate disadvantages, especially when I'm the game
master. The character gets bonus points during creation, then
afterwards it's usually the GM who has to make them into disadvantages.
When I ran MechWarrrior 2E there were no disadvantages so I didn't have
to deal with them. For LUGTrek I just wasn't using them enough so I had
the characters buy them off.
In DC Heroes I'm starting to do the same thing. In DCH if I'm using a
disadvantage it'll be as a subplot so the hero gets a Suplot Award and
at that point it's double points since they already got points when
they took the disadvantage in the first place. I'd rather have them
roleplay their disadvantages and give them extra Roleplaying Awards and
Subplot the rest.
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Thoughts on
writing adventures: it's hard. I ran the last adventure with about an
hour setup -- after I had been thinking about it for a week or two and
not getting anywhere. So I boiled it down to a few linear events on two
tracks and then ran with it. And it went well because Shannon is a very
good player. But I still would rather write up the five or six page
adventure and have everything ready. Even if the players immediately go
off the script, at least I have a script to steer them back to.
When players get off the track what can you do? One option is to give
them more clues to steer them back to the main plot. A second option is
to change the plot to match what the players are doing (it helps if the
players talk a lot and discuss things out so you know what they're
thinking). The third option is to do nothing and let them stall until
they get back on their own. I hate the third option because I've seen
it grind games to a halt as players get frustrated. Still, it takes
experience and knack to know which option to use.
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