From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Doug
Meerschaert
Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2001 1:03 AM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: [ogf-d20-l] Does it make sense for PCs to make things?
<< > OK. Then let's throw out the conclusion of Episode VI. Why? Because the
> Battle of Endor hinges in part on a whole bunch of Ewok technicians
creating
> a bunch of clever traps and devices to use against the Stormtroopers. I'll
> hazard a guess that none of those things could be made in the time frame
of
> the film using the existing game rules.
Who says that they were? In any in-depth look, those are pre-existing
weapons--if nothing else, they started building after the Empire arrived. >>
>From all evidence in the film, the Ewoks were ignoring the Stormtroopers
until C-3PO riled them up. So I see no reason to believe those things
existed prior to the scenes in the film.
<< > Heck, let's throw out most of the films, from the point where Luke
makes his
> own Lightsaber.
That's not in the films. :) >>
Neither is the time between adventures. Again, games have more depth than
films. Or at least, they can.
<< > No one's missing the point, thank you very much. But the game is
missing
> things it needs to even reflect the films we have seen.
Such as? >>
Haven't been paying attention, huh? No possibility for the Ewoks to make
their weapons and traps in time. Heck, no chance even to build that throne
for C-3P0 (would take at least a week). Given his skills and stats as
listed, his age, and his duties as a slave and as a pod-racer pilot, there's
no way Anakin could possibly have made a protocol droid and a pod-racer. The
protocol droid takes an average of around 100 weeks of full-time work for
him. The pod-racer takes something like 450 weeks. That's 550 weeks full
time, or 11 years. The kid's nine years old, and he works as a slave full
time.
<< > And assuming it ever
> comes into the realm of Open Gaming, well, part of the point of Open
Gaming
> is to have the community improve upon existing rules.
Acutally, the point of Open Gaming is so *developers* can focus their
development on original faucets of roleplaying, and not reinvent the
wheel every new game. >>
That's _a_ point. Another point is common effort at improving what doesn't
work.
<< > Then why have technical skills in the game at all? Or diplomatic
skills? Why
> have trips through hyperspace take time? Just make them all instantaneous.
They are instantaneous. >>
Sorry, no. Not in the films -- remember, Luke practicing the Force and
Chewie playing chess? -- and not in the game (check pages 172 and 173).
<< The other *skills* are all there for
completeness. The *classes* are limited as they are because of the movies.
>>
The classes are limited as they are to keep the page count down, pure and
simple. Yes, when they had to choose what to keep, they leaned toward the
examples from the films; but the page count imposed the limit.
And just because the classes are limited is no reason to restrict the
characters by broken rule mechanics. I can make a passable set of Engineer
skills by using the Scoundrel class. Maybe Lizard will come up with an even
better Tech class. But neither will change the fact that these characters
are not restricted by the genre, but by the mechanic.
<< > RPG campaigns are not movies. They are much closer to novels. And in
> novels -- certainly in the Star Wars novels -- characters are complex
> individuals who do things in between the action scenes.
Most RPG campaigns I've seen aren't science fiction novels. Most of
them are fantasy--in fact, only the *best* of them are like Epic
Fantasy. The others tend to be low-rate D&D fantasy, or silly-fantasy. >>
I'm sorry your experiences have been so limited. My campaigns -- those I
play and those I run -- have down time interspersed among all the action,
letting players enjoy more than just combat.
<< > To say we're looking in the wrong spot misses the point: the spot is
wrong,
> not where we're looking.
No one says that d20 Star Wars is the best space game. It's supposed to
be a good *Star Wars* game. If you want good space opera, go beyond
Star Wars. >>
And if we want a better Star Wars game, you would say, "Fix it", or "Tough
luck"?
Martin L. Shoemaker
Emerald Software, Inc. -- Custom Software and UML Training
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.EmeraldSoftwareInc.com
www.UMLBootCamp.com
