RE: [DL] is there a Mage forum somewhere? (off-topic)

[Patrick Downs <knick_nevin@yahoo.com>]

--- Soothsprayer <hercubadger@yahoo.com> wrote:
> > to
> > limit
> > players on what they can do in such a freeform
> > system
> > is like taking a leash off of a dog and expecting
> it
> > not to run away
> 
> Which means they have to roleplay the scene. Not
> just
> say "I turn him into a deck chair, look, four nines,
> and two eights." The Mage concept was that people
> had
> to relate what they wanted to do with how they
> believe
> magic works. A mad scientist would need a device to
> do
> the deed, a Shaman would need to raise suitable
> spirits, and so on. 
> 
> Allowing characters to do what ever they wanted how
> ever they wanted to means you might as well play a
> Superhero game. Why bother with Mage?

quick note: superheroes can't do whatever they ant,
but i digress

the Mage system has the paradox effect worked into it
so players don't just go turning people into deck
chairs on a whim, paradox will always bite you in the
ass if you use your powers wantonly
that's actually why i love the mage system so much,
because it allows the players to do whatever their
imagination allows (within the construct of the rules)
changing the physics of your universe because you
don't want an NPC to get killed is kind of the
GM-equivalent of power gaming (the best GMs can roll
with the punches the players give them)
after all, there must be consequences for turning that
vampire into furniture, won't the other vampires be
pissed? doesn't that vampire have other mage friends?
maybe more powerful or more imaginitive mage friends?
i once had the players in my gaming group completely
skip an adventure it took me a month to prepare
because they happened to kill the villain before he
could even begin to initiate his plot, it was quite
downtrodding for me as a GM but i didn't change what
happened or how the system worked merely to fulfill my
own ends, fudging dice rolls is one thing but
rewriting the concept of a game and how it works is
just blasphemous in my mind

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