News:

Forum changes: Editing of posts has been turned off until further notice.

Main Menu

The masculine flaw (and a tangent about magic)

Started by Bob Richter, June 01, 2002, 10:23:45 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

Jake Norwood

If you're running an all-sorc campaign, consider giving out bonus priorities if you want them to be more competent. Just as if they'd had insight...

Jake
"Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing." -R.E. Howard The Tower of the Elephant
___________________
www.theriddleofsteel.NET

Furious D

Quote from: Jake NorwoodIf you're running an all-sorc campaign, consider giving out bonus priorities if you want them to be more competent. Just as if they'd had insight...

Jake

That would have been useful.  As it was, my sorceror's F in attributes was painful (but actually not nearly as debilitating as I thought it would be)

Ace

Quote from: Bankuei
QuoteSo far what I have seen is stupid power hungry sorcerers aging themselves prematurely, running around at super speed and flying at people with spears.

Just a bit of clarification as far as the example you gave is used in our game.  The young boy turned man is being manipulated by another sorcerer, who so far, has sparingly, if at all used his powers.  

This means you have two of the most scary folks working together; a smart person, and a crazy person.  The smart person is dangerous because they are better at predicting what you'll try to do, and the crazy person is dangerous because they themselves are unpredictable.

Fun stuff :P

Chris

Cool
I meant no offense , I had figured from your post that wasa Roleplay oriented choice and therfore IMO always good.

Bob Richter

Quote from: Jake NorwoodIf you're running an all-sorc campaign, consider giving out bonus priorities if you want them to be more competent. Just as if they'd had insight...

Jake

Bah! What's the point? We do good enough without. :)
So ye wanna go earnin' yer keep with yer sword, and ye think that it can't be too hard...

Bankuei

QuoteCool
I meant no offense , I had figured from your post that wasa Roleplay oriented choice and therfore IMO always good.

None taken, just wanted to clarify that our sessions aren't a very good example of the full abilities of using sorcerers in RoS, but that they do serve well in highlighting a couple of interesting aspects of sorcerers:

1) Having power and knowing how to use it, aren't always the same.

I recall a couple of games in my past where I totally pissed off a GM because I would think outside of the box and come up with a solution that solved the problem and ruined some preplanned scene, despite having other players with more "powerful" characters. A pawn well played can still create checkmate.   In RoS, you have to think smart, plan, and get your act together, even if you have a 20 die combat pool.

2)  Motivation plays a higher role in RoS than many games for the use of power(be it magical or physical).

Since it's very easy to take a life, or have your own taken, with no hitpoints or resurrect spells to save you, you really think,"Do I really want to do this? And is it worth it?"  Likewise with magic and the permanancy of aging.  In our game, many folks could be squashed right now with intelligent magic use.  But there are other ways of acheiving the same goals, without alerting folks to sorcery, without costing life.

In this case, we have one person with high motivation and little wisdom, who burns out their power, not very efficiently.  Then you have someone with also a solid motivation, but wisdom to sparingly use the power as necessary.  The first one will use his power wantonly, but is limited by his understanding, recklessness, and maturity.  The second may not slam us all down, but probably is concerned that it might have political backlashes against his movement.  Cudgels and scalpels.  One is brute force, the other is delicate.  Knowing when to ply the two is the riddle.

Chris