[HOE] Gaming and Heisenberg

[Dusarat@aol.com]

"Things that are not observed, don't exist"

    This is an interesting point if you really think about it. And this is a 
big deal in gaming. So I will defend it separately. 



<Warning.... if you want to bother, read the following carefully, it's kind 
of philosophical>


     Offscreen things in gaming, have no bearing, up until they reach a point 
where they, or their consequences, are observed by the characters in the 
party (note, I said characters, not players, small difference, but 
important)..  
    The Character example is the easiest to illustrate.  If I go to the 
trouble of spending my five points and getting area knowledge of 5D12.  
    Ask yourselves, if every time I ask the GM "So, do I know of anyone 
around here?"

    And he says "Nope, not a soul"

    Does my character know the area or not? The player observes the area 
knowledge skill, but all the character observes is "I don't know anybody".  
It doesn't matter what is written on the character sheet, only what is 
observed in game.  Statistic on paper... offscreen.    It only matters if 
that statistic somehow creates an onscreen effect.

    Someone who never knows about the area, doesn't have the area knowledge 
skill, no matter what is written on the character sheet. 

    You haven't established your character can do something (Pick a lock, 
cast a spell, devour the souls of his enemies, etc) until they have actually 
done it.  Think of it in terms of a story.  I can say my main character is 
the best martial artist in the world.  However, if in all the fights, he gets 
beaten up, is he any good at martial arts?  I can say "He's the best" or 
"He's got martial arts master on his character sheet" all I want. That 
doesn't matter, all that matters is what is observed in game.  And in game, 
my 'best martial artist in the world' is a world class weenie. 
    
    His martial arts skills do not exist, until they are observed.

        Think about this carefully, does this happen in campaigns? All the 
time.  Most commonly, with guys who make PC's who have high Mien's or 
persuasion in the hopes of talking their way out of fights. And they find 
out... they get shot at as much as everyone else.  A character who is unable 
to charm people, is not charming, no matter how high the Mien score is.  But 
in other ways too.  A quirk that never creates an onscreen effect, doesn't 
exist.  A plot event that never creates  an onscreen effect, also doesn't 
exist, no matter how much a GM may protest 'Don't worry, big things are 
happenning, you're just not seeing them'.  If you never get to see them or 
their effects, they don't exist.  
    
    Now this is an infuriating way for GM's to quietly nullify characters.  
Does a PC have a skill that you find disrupts your plot?  Well, all you have 
to do is say "You try it, and it doesn't work" every time they try the skill, 
and voila, the skill may as well not exist. I've inadvertantly done it in my 
campaigns, and I bet all of you have too.