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DFRPG / Managing Challenge via a metaphor.
« on: August 15, 2014, 03:30:27 PM »
Hey, it's been a long while since I last posted, and I'm hopefully gearing up to run another campaign for my local group soon. However, upon taking a look back at the forums, and talking to my players (new and old) I've noticed an old familiar concern cropping up:
"Wizards are so powerful! How are we supposed to manage that sort of thing in comparison to other characters? What do we do when one person wants to play a Wizard blasting things all over the place, and the other wants to play a White Court Virgin, full of angst and terrible possibilities?"
I feel like this is a very valid concern for people to have. It's come up so often though, that I have an answer ready, that I would like to share here. Hopefully, some of you will find a use for it, or have some interesting commentary:
"Superman, Batman, and Lois Lane are fighting Darkseid. Superman flies towards him, and Darkseid punches him away through several skyscrapers, causing chaos and scattering debris to the crowd below, and stunning Superman. Meanwhile, Batman is trying to distract Darkseid, mostly with flashbangs, smoke bombs, and other such things to throw him off his game, all while concocting a plan to take him out, relaying his ideas to Superman, dodging like crazy. All this time, Lois, who is being held hostage, is bantering back and forth with Darkseid, who is monologuing in return. Lois is pointing out how Superman and the Justice League have beaten him every time, while Darkseid is responding in kind, attempting to cow this human woman into silence with his intimidating presence."
Now, we all know that Darkseid would have no issue if he decided to punch a hole through Lois, or drop a whole building on Batman's head. However, he doesn't ever do this. Why?
Because it would make for a bad story.
Louis obviously isn't able to take the hit, so it would be boring if she just died randomly, with no chance to affect the story. Likewise Batman can engage the enemy, but not the same way that Superman can. They are both helping defeat him, by distracting him, throwing him off his game, and coordinating their efforts. Superman meanwhile, can take the hits, so Darkseid doesn't hold back with him.
When a player makes a character able to deal out massive punishment in my games, I always make sure they know that they are sending up a signal that they are ok having that kind of conflict directed back at them. I tell my players a very similar thing about picking Trouble Aspects: "Pick something that you think would be interesting for you, but complicating or difficult for your character. Don't pick something that will annoy you as a player."
Last, here's a quick example from a game I ran a little while ago.
One of my players asked if he could make a very "Crow-ish" character. Someone effectively undead, more or less un-killable, and hell-bent on vengeance. I said sure, because even though the rest of the group was made up of nothing more crazy than a Focused Practitioner and a Champion of God, I knew that all it meant was that every really, really nasty hit could be directed at our nearly invulnerable party member. I mean, what better way to show how scary something is than have it maul that dude?
In one game session he: Got blasted with a wave of force that threw him a football field, Got scorched and full of shrapnel by an exploding fan boat in a swamp (a fan blade had to be pulled from his sternum before he could be stitched back up), got eaten by a zombie gator (had to cut his way out, then it tried to eat him again), and almost got pinned under a huge falling tree.
And you know what? He loved it, and so did everyone else (all of whom had other things to worry about, as well).
I don't know if I've explained my point perfectly, and I apologize if I'm repeating something present elsewhere, but I'm of the opinion that more points of view are never a bad thing, anyway. I hope some of you find this interesting, and feel free to ask for clarification, if I was unclear.
"Wizards are so powerful! How are we supposed to manage that sort of thing in comparison to other characters? What do we do when one person wants to play a Wizard blasting things all over the place, and the other wants to play a White Court Virgin, full of angst and terrible possibilities?"
I feel like this is a very valid concern for people to have. It's come up so often though, that I have an answer ready, that I would like to share here. Hopefully, some of you will find a use for it, or have some interesting commentary:
"Superman, Batman, and Lois Lane are fighting Darkseid. Superman flies towards him, and Darkseid punches him away through several skyscrapers, causing chaos and scattering debris to the crowd below, and stunning Superman. Meanwhile, Batman is trying to distract Darkseid, mostly with flashbangs, smoke bombs, and other such things to throw him off his game, all while concocting a plan to take him out, relaying his ideas to Superman, dodging like crazy. All this time, Lois, who is being held hostage, is bantering back and forth with Darkseid, who is monologuing in return. Lois is pointing out how Superman and the Justice League have beaten him every time, while Darkseid is responding in kind, attempting to cow this human woman into silence with his intimidating presence."
Now, we all know that Darkseid would have no issue if he decided to punch a hole through Lois, or drop a whole building on Batman's head. However, he doesn't ever do this. Why?
Because it would make for a bad story.
Louis obviously isn't able to take the hit, so it would be boring if she just died randomly, with no chance to affect the story. Likewise Batman can engage the enemy, but not the same way that Superman can. They are both helping defeat him, by distracting him, throwing him off his game, and coordinating their efforts. Superman meanwhile, can take the hits, so Darkseid doesn't hold back with him.
When a player makes a character able to deal out massive punishment in my games, I always make sure they know that they are sending up a signal that they are ok having that kind of conflict directed back at them. I tell my players a very similar thing about picking Trouble Aspects: "Pick something that you think would be interesting for you, but complicating or difficult for your character. Don't pick something that will annoy you as a player."
Last, here's a quick example from a game I ran a little while ago.
One of my players asked if he could make a very "Crow-ish" character. Someone effectively undead, more or less un-killable, and hell-bent on vengeance. I said sure, because even though the rest of the group was made up of nothing more crazy than a Focused Practitioner and a Champion of God, I knew that all it meant was that every really, really nasty hit could be directed at our nearly invulnerable party member. I mean, what better way to show how scary something is than have it maul that dude?
In one game session he: Got blasted with a wave of force that threw him a football field, Got scorched and full of shrapnel by an exploding fan boat in a swamp (a fan blade had to be pulled from his sternum before he could be stitched back up), got eaten by a zombie gator (had to cut his way out, then it tried to eat him again), and almost got pinned under a huge falling tree.
And you know what? He loved it, and so did everyone else (all of whom had other things to worry about, as well).
I don't know if I've explained my point perfectly, and I apologize if I'm repeating something present elsewhere, but I'm of the opinion that more points of view are never a bad thing, anyway. I hope some of you find this interesting, and feel free to ask for clarification, if I was unclear.