Help w/ My Life With Batman

[cappadocius]

Hi all. Did chargen for a new game tonight, and things seem to be on track. Everyone's excited, which is a good thing, and the player of Dogwelder (actual Gotham City "superhero"!) seems to really get what MLWM is all about. However, I was unable to keep an eye on players creating their minions throughout the entire process, and ended up with a couple of MTH/LTHs that I'm not entirely sure are quite right for the game.

Here's what we've got. I've bolded the troublesome abilities below. The More Than Human for Catwoman seems like, given the expectations of the game, something all minions more or less have. Is this feeling correct, and should I have the player change her MTH? Alfred's LTH seems to have the problem of removing an entire half of what a minion does, unless I go after his connections relentlessly. Would he be able to succeed at violence if he were the one threatening his connection?

Any help that can be provided would be greatly appreciated!

My Life With Batman

Master: The Dark Knight, Batman

Fear: 5      Reason: 3

Beast-Teacher

Needs: VENGEANCE
Wants: Everyone to adopt his methods; to prove the inferiority of other heroes

Outsiders: Justice League

"I tell myself they want for nothing...Every one of them, touched by the consequences of my leadership. But I am not touched."


Minions:

Dogwelder
Tall, scrawny, constantly dressed in a welder's suit, carrying a welding torch and a number of dead dogs around on his belt. Completely mute, and indiscriminately violent for "justice!"

Starting Stats: Self-Loathing 3, Weariness 0, Love 0
MTH: Can weld dogs to people unless dog is alive.
LTH: Is completely mute unless luring dogs into one of his traps.

Connections:

1. Mrs. Hwin Jae Pok, the Korean owner of the neighborhood convenience store who does not care that he does not wear the same thing every day as long as he's buying, not browsing

2. the Littlest Hobo, the dog that will not be fooled into one of Dogwelder's traps.


Catwoman

Starting Stats: Self-Loathing: 1 Weariness: 2 Love: 0
MTH: Recovers from any injury unless it's made by someone who loves her.
LTH: Cannot be kind unless cats are watching.

Connections:

1. Bethany Fitzgerald, an old blind woman with a house full of cats.

2. Jesse Tokia, the stuttering clerk at the pet food store.

Alfred Pennyworth

Starting Stats: Self-Loathing 0, Weariness 3, Love 0
MTH: Can solve any social or etiquette problems except his own
LTH: Fails at violence unless a connection is threatened

Connections:

1. Boris Ivanoff, ex-KGB agent who feeds the ducks at the pond Alfred likes to jog around

2. Teena Williams, high school cheerleader, granddaughter of a deceased friend

[GB Steve]

I see injury as entirely narrative in the game and not the same as weariness. As such, that MTH doesn't give much of an active advantage. On other hand, you can view it as the player asking for violent situations where injuries matter.

I don't have a problem with Alfred's LTH. The player is asking for you to put him in situations where violence is threatened but will fail. His MTH seems harder to resolve as it's not very clear what it means (automatic success for villany?).

On the whole, MTHs and LTHs dictate the kind of situation that players will get for their PCs. These situations should give them a chance to use their MTHs and be afflicted by their LTHs.

In the case of Catwoman, she could try to get those who have injured here to love her, thus getting rid of the wound. Of course gaining Love points means that the PC gains a connection with the NPC and not necessarily the other way round. It's the capacity for Love that frees the minion, not the reciprocation.

[Mike Holmes]

Well said, Steve.

I think that this game is going to be hilarious. Note, however, that Batman has a code against killing to some extent - so I can't see him actually ordering the death of a connection. So, by narrative device, I think a good replacement would be that he'd order the minions to place their connections in danger, with the result of the violence or villainy being the "accidental" death of the character. People die around batman all the time this way, it just increases his angst.

:-)

You gotta have Superman show up at some point to debate Batman's ways, and get him all riled up. :-)

Mike

[cappadocius]

I would probably say that I intend to interpret Alfred's MTH very literally - rarely does villainy proper involve which fork to use at dinner. And even when it does, I would have to turn in my GM's badge if I couldn't think of a way to introduce drama and conflict from success. A different concern with this could be using it to automatically "succeed" at overtures by helping people with their social lives. But I understand the rules that "success" or "failure" is less traditional RPG success/failure, and more along the lines of how the connections responds to the overture itself. Someone could have their problems solved, and still be mean to the interfering old man.

And, Mike, yeah. Batman's code against killing makes the traditional Master tactic of ordering connections killed toughed. But, I figure the game is flexible enough that driving connections out of Gotham, and/or ruining their life is close enough to actually ending their lives as to make no difference in effect.

And the Superman visit is likely to push Bats so far over the edge as to bring on Endgame. >:)