Neogenesis Anger
Aug. 18th, 2001 10:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hkellickYesterday was a terrible day for Neogenesis. It's the kind of day that really makes me question why I'm even bothering to run this campaign. All you other GMs out there know what kind of work running a simple campaign based on a set system is. Now add to that the headaches of trying to play with the system to fit your campaign and you get the idea of what kind of hard work I'm putting into this thing.
Yesterday I had to wonder whether the hard work is even worth it.
A good part of the occuring problem is my own fault. I should have had the entire system down pat before starting to roleplay. The ENTIRE system. Magick, Fighting, Experience Points and the lot. I didn't... this has caused alot of groaning on my and the players' parts. I've changed the magick system, stealing it directly from mage.. wrote it in GREAT detail (even the bits I didn't understand completely like Soulflowers and Soulgems.. just for completeness), was GOING to write up how to battle on the web page so everyone else knew (as a note, no one currently playing has ever played Mage or, apparently, any of the white wolf games.. which I think is a major drawback.. especially in a situation like this where we're playing online and they can't peruse the rules book.)
You want proof of how bad yesterday went? OK, let me tell you.
The players were directed to save a woman in the fifth floor of an apartment before she died.
So they get to the door and it's locked.
My character, having felt heroic, got there first and tried to break the door down. it was a fairly heavy, but old and slightly rusty iron door. To no avail yet.
Now all the characters had to do was get past the door.
There were lots and lots of ways to do this.
Break it down physically (three or four of us may have done it)
Or use magick
With Matter, one could turn the door to putty, or a liquid or gas. Or change the door into paper, cardboard or anything else easy to open.
Use Forces to pop the pins out of the door, get lock to pop and the door to swing open..
Use Mind to convince someone inside the building to open the door.
Use Spirit to convince a GHOST inside the building to try to open the door.
Use Fate to cause the improbable possibility of the door lock not working or opening
You get the point, right? LOTS of ways to open the door.
The next person after LITE, tries using magick.. except he can't do what he wanted to do.. make the door disappear into nothingess.. because that requires Prime 4. Mind you said person DID have Matter, so could have just transformed the door into something else. But when i tell him he can't just make it disappear, he has a hissy fit and lets the next person try.
The next person comes up.
He has matter too.. he tries to turn the lockening mechanism, I think, into a metal gas. I say sure. He rolls his dice and botches badly (two botches). NOW it occurs to me I could.. perhaps should have done was turn the entire door into a solid block of, like, hard steel or something. At the time I tried to make the campaign a little amusing, though, and have the spell bounce off the door and turn his clothes, watch and wallet into gas, making him naked as a jay bird.
To the end of last night, I hadn't heard the last of it.
The player had the character have a breakdown, unable to move.
And so now that player is probably out of the game, and of course it's MY fault.
Well, you know what, peeps, if I HAD magick and managed to nuke my own clothes, I WOULDN'T have a breakdown. I'd be supremely embarassed, mortified even, and angry at myself. But then I'd either make myself new clothes or get some and fast. And despite what everyone else said.. I think they'd do the same thing.
Finally, the third person in line uses Forces to pop the pins out (by this time I'm feeling nice, so I let them do it easily just so we can move on.)
Throughout the entire game, the player who had the breakdown mopes and whines as I try to get them back into the game. Saying.. I'm out, I can't RP past today, probably, anyways. I'm out. It seem a bad way to get yer character out of the campaign. I'd rather have written him out to let him live his own life out of the focus of the RP.
Whatever.
GM rule #1: You can't control the other players.
But that entire scene was ridiculous. Shit happens... if you botch, then you suffer consequences. Period. The roll is random.. or as random as possible based on a computer's random function.
I'm frustrated with where the roleplay is. I'm beginning to think that letting people play essentially themselves was a mistake too. I thought it would be cool.. that they'd get more into their characters. But some of the characters can't get into a "What if" Scenario. What if I DID have supreme magickal powers.. what would I do?
Personally, I'd do what I've always tried to do... help people. I'd try to use the powers properly and follow the wiccan rede of "An Harm Ye None, Do What Ye Will."
But some of the characters can't seem to get into it. A little moping and whining as loved ones suffer unspeakable fates is understandable, but when you have a breakdown because your own magick nuked yer clothes.... and, btw, you have a willpower of 9 which means yer VERY strong willed. No.
In essence, it was a terrible RP session. And while I know that some of the fault is mine for publicly emberassing the one players... No. No No No No.
I don't know.. but when the players aren't having fun and the GM isn't having fun, does that mean it's time to pack up and quit? My personal answer is yes.
But for the sake of fairness to all involved and because, despite the overpowering feeling of otherwise, i am a nice guy. I'll give it another try.
But I've thought about it pretty thoroughly and while I DO enjoy GMing, it isn't worth the agitation. Not when I could otherwise be having fun by playing video games or going out or whatever. I'm doing this campaign to amuse myself and, incidentally, a few other people roleplaying it. When I can't amuse myself with it, then something is wrong.
Oh well, peace out folks. Ciao.
Yesterday I had to wonder whether the hard work is even worth it.
A good part of the occuring problem is my own fault. I should have had the entire system down pat before starting to roleplay. The ENTIRE system. Magick, Fighting, Experience Points and the lot. I didn't... this has caused alot of groaning on my and the players' parts. I've changed the magick system, stealing it directly from mage.. wrote it in GREAT detail (even the bits I didn't understand completely like Soulflowers and Soulgems.. just for completeness), was GOING to write up how to battle on the web page so everyone else knew (as a note, no one currently playing has ever played Mage or, apparently, any of the white wolf games.. which I think is a major drawback.. especially in a situation like this where we're playing online and they can't peruse the rules book.)
You want proof of how bad yesterday went? OK, let me tell you.
The players were directed to save a woman in the fifth floor of an apartment before she died.
So they get to the door and it's locked.
My character, having felt heroic, got there first and tried to break the door down. it was a fairly heavy, but old and slightly rusty iron door. To no avail yet.
Now all the characters had to do was get past the door.
There were lots and lots of ways to do this.
Break it down physically (three or four of us may have done it)
Or use magick
With Matter, one could turn the door to putty, or a liquid or gas. Or change the door into paper, cardboard or anything else easy to open.
Use Forces to pop the pins out of the door, get lock to pop and the door to swing open..
Use Mind to convince someone inside the building to open the door.
Use Spirit to convince a GHOST inside the building to try to open the door.
Use Fate to cause the improbable possibility of the door lock not working or opening
You get the point, right? LOTS of ways to open the door.
The next person after LITE, tries using magick.. except he can't do what he wanted to do.. make the door disappear into nothingess.. because that requires Prime 4. Mind you said person DID have Matter, so could have just transformed the door into something else. But when i tell him he can't just make it disappear, he has a hissy fit and lets the next person try.
The next person comes up.
He has matter too.. he tries to turn the lockening mechanism, I think, into a metal gas. I say sure. He rolls his dice and botches badly (two botches). NOW it occurs to me I could.. perhaps should have done was turn the entire door into a solid block of, like, hard steel or something. At the time I tried to make the campaign a little amusing, though, and have the spell bounce off the door and turn his clothes, watch and wallet into gas, making him naked as a jay bird.
To the end of last night, I hadn't heard the last of it.
The player had the character have a breakdown, unable to move.
And so now that player is probably out of the game, and of course it's MY fault.
Well, you know what, peeps, if I HAD magick and managed to nuke my own clothes, I WOULDN'T have a breakdown. I'd be supremely embarassed, mortified even, and angry at myself. But then I'd either make myself new clothes or get some and fast. And despite what everyone else said.. I think they'd do the same thing.
Finally, the third person in line uses Forces to pop the pins out (by this time I'm feeling nice, so I let them do it easily just so we can move on.)
Throughout the entire game, the player who had the breakdown mopes and whines as I try to get them back into the game. Saying.. I'm out, I can't RP past today, probably, anyways. I'm out. It seem a bad way to get yer character out of the campaign. I'd rather have written him out to let him live his own life out of the focus of the RP.
Whatever.
GM rule #1: You can't control the other players.
But that entire scene was ridiculous. Shit happens... if you botch, then you suffer consequences. Period. The roll is random.. or as random as possible based on a computer's random function.
I'm frustrated with where the roleplay is. I'm beginning to think that letting people play essentially themselves was a mistake too. I thought it would be cool.. that they'd get more into their characters. But some of the characters can't get into a "What if" Scenario. What if I DID have supreme magickal powers.. what would I do?
Personally, I'd do what I've always tried to do... help people. I'd try to use the powers properly and follow the wiccan rede of "An Harm Ye None, Do What Ye Will."
But some of the characters can't seem to get into it. A little moping and whining as loved ones suffer unspeakable fates is understandable, but when you have a breakdown because your own magick nuked yer clothes.... and, btw, you have a willpower of 9 which means yer VERY strong willed. No.
In essence, it was a terrible RP session. And while I know that some of the fault is mine for publicly emberassing the one players... No. No No No No.
I don't know.. but when the players aren't having fun and the GM isn't having fun, does that mean it's time to pack up and quit? My personal answer is yes.
But for the sake of fairness to all involved and because, despite the overpowering feeling of otherwise, i am a nice guy. I'll give it another try.
But I've thought about it pretty thoroughly and while I DO enjoy GMing, it isn't worth the agitation. Not when I could otherwise be having fun by playing video games or going out or whatever. I'm doing this campaign to amuse myself and, incidentally, a few other people roleplaying it. When I can't amuse myself with it, then something is wrong.
Oh well, peace out folks. Ciao.
