So I ran a
5-1/2 hour adventure yesterday. Based on a DC Heroes module and the
heroes accomplished both goals in the adventure, which I wasn't too
sure they were going to do. Fulton killed one of the villains,
accidentally of course. He was quite surprised, though other people
noted that I have been both telling people that knockback can kill
people and I was giving hints in that very adventure that knockback
could hurt someone into negative BODY.
Maybe I was a bit harsh but he needed a slap of reality. His character
was getting out of control, just firing full blast at everyone.
Definitely depending on the rules to make sure that people didn't die.
And I don't particularly like that, though it's only now that I think
about it that it occurs to me that he was being kind of annoying. Don't
play the rules, play the universe. That's always been something I want
the players to do. And that's one reason I come off as being quite
arbitrary and capricious.
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I guess my
main goal in running a campaign is to get a certain feel. BattleTech,
LUGTrek, DC Heroes -- in all three campaigns I know deep down inside
what I want the universe to be like, what tone I want, what mood. It's
based on extensive reading of novels (BattleTech), watching television
and reading novels (LUGTrek), and reading comic books (DC Heroes). I
know what I want and somewhat subconsciously that's the feel that I try
to enforce, mostly via the rules.
The problem is that I have a hard time conveying what I want to my
players. Part of the problem is that I don't really know what I want.
As I wrote, it's buried deep in my subconscious. If I try to describe
it I'll forget lots of things. What it comes down to is that when we're
playing, I can spot the elements that I don't like and I'll try to fix
those elements. I can't define pornography but I know when I see it…
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