I knew this day would come. Writing up one of the most fought over powers I have ever encountered. Mind Control.
Players either love or hate this power. They love to use it, hate to have it used on them, and especially despise the possibility of another player using it on them.
Any thoughts? I think this should be a GM limited power, as in the GM should limit access to only NPC's. Player using Mind Control can readily get out of hand.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I definitely agree it should be tightly controlled by the DM.
ReplyDeleteWelll....
ReplyDeleteIt is also a fundamental ability. The driving force behind more comic book stores than I can even begin to count. Personally I would suggest treating it just like any other power.
If a GM wants to remove it, they always can. If they wish to control it they can. But don't stigmatize it because of childish behaviour by bad players.
The Genre has to be maintained. Heros do not care what they have to go though they just care that they win in the end. They want to save lives and it means they know they are going to get hurt along the way.
But to sorta steal a line from Dark Knight.
They can take it.
The players of the game need to remember that. Or better yet, they need to be told it.
A.T
(-)
Hail!
ReplyDeleteI have been creating game and game systems for a lot of years. I have also ran games online and off for groups that have reached 100 people online at more than one point.
With rare exceptions I have come to see Game Design in this way...
If the Design gives the Players everything they want in the way they want it... Nobody will play it because it will be too easy.
Players always want more Reward for less effort. They want a Challenge, so they say, but what they really want is the Reward. This is why I always laugh at Projects that say they are going to be 'Designed by Players for Players'. Players cannot design games.
To design a game you have to become a Designer, or a Creator, or just a Game Master. Now the way I see them is this...
If the Design is as sharp and challenging as the Creators wants... Nobody will play it because it will be too hard and demand too much effort.
Designers want every Player to put full effort into the game. To read everything, understand all the Rules, and put hours and hours into making up their Character. When playing we want to give them a bit of treasure right after they almost die. Then we want to push them towards the next Challenge.
A proper Design is one that strikes a fair balance between these two very different points of view.
And before any Players here get their panties in a bunch let me just say something. Whatever you make think of your own maturity level you know what most people are like. No matter what their age when they play games they become a lot like children.
I actually had a couple of people join my AD&D group years ago that expected to Level every single session. And since they were not starting at 1st Level this was a pretty remarkable expectation as far as I was concerned. I always thought I was more than generous with Exp and Gold but according to these two I sucked.
But they both stayed around and played. They had fun and eventually admitted to me that the points and constant advancement had made their last game fun. But that was pretty much all it had. Actual RP with my group was worlds better and they realized it.
So to end this little ramble...
RPGs need Game Masters who can adjust the Rules to suit their group of Players. The Designer should assume that all parts of the Game Design will be used properly. Each Power should be fully and logical developed.
Besides all that, there is such a wide variety of people in the World it is pretty much impossible to do otherwise. Trying to guess what will or won't cause problems requires more skill and knowledge than even I have. And I have been playing RPGs since D&D was a single Blue Book.
A.T
(-)
Oh, and the lack of the ability to edit Comments kinda bites.
ReplyDeletewell, you could always stack it with a negative , debilitating headachs , life drain or some such to encourage responsible use
ReplyDelete