state of the art - or my notions anyway

[Ron Edwards]

Hi Paul,

Here's my rundown on the "state of the art" in My Life with Master.

1) Clarify the examples of "Less than / More than" so the latter do not contain negatives.

2) Clarify this issue: does the exceptional condition associated with Less Than necessarily a More Than of its own? And vice versa, is the exceptional condition associated with  More Than necessarily a Less Than of its own? Going by the examples, it's sometimes yes and sometimes no - I think you need to consider this carefully.

I suggest that the exceptional case within a More/Less statement be normal human ability. This prevents conceptual overlaps between different More Than and Less Than statements, which I think is part of the source of the problems you're seeing.

3) Very possible - perhaps PC creation could include only one Less Than statement, rather than two.

4) Do not suggest, imply, or even make possible the concept of "negotiation" over who gets to use the Intimacy / Desperation / Sincerity dice. Your current prose does this - it indicates that a player should "spot" the GM about to use one, and then "claim" it via role-playing. I perceive this as a real problem; the player cannot "win" such negotiation because the bestowal of the die is the GM's choice.

As we discussed by phone, the whole portion should be rewritten to show that it's a "going once going twice" situation - under all circumstances, if the player wants a bonus die (and role-plays to get it), he gets it. No negotiation. The GM should only get the bonus die if the player literally doesn't want it.

5) Playtest a few times with a fairly high Reason score in hand, so that the issue of Self-Loathing gain (too fast?) can be addressed and you can arrive at a conclusion. If it works out as you anticipate, that gaining SL isn't too overwhelming if Reason is fairly high, then explain this carefully in the rules so play-prep can take it into account.

Best,
Ron