RE: New Geleians have landed!

[Lyle H Janney <lhjanney@adpc.purdue.edu>]

Well, Pat, as one of the Senior GM's, my only concern after your description
(which seems reasonable to me) is that the Senior GM you spoke with had a
character that was directly involved in the decision.  You see, that is specifically
why it was specified that a "non-involved" senior moderator be consulted.  All
of us moderators, and _especially_ the senior moderators, need to maintain
a detachment from the decisions we make as moderators and the things we
do in character.  If _any_ player can look at a situation and say that such-and-
such moderator made such-and-such a ruling and look at how their character
has profited, then that moderator (and all other moderators involved) lose a
certain amount of credibility.  If you, Pat, had spoken with me (seeing that my
character did not have a vested interest in what went on with the forge) and
had described to me all the points you made below (with the exception of #1),
I would have had no problem approving your action.  I would even have stepped
forward to allay Dan's concerns as soon as he voiced them after he read and
slightly misinterpreted your posting about the forge.

This does, however, bring to front a very important issue.  That is the issue of
GM integrity.  Whether it happened or not, many non-Centralia players felt
that there was a lot of 'back-scratching' involved amongst the moderators who
also played in the Centralia campaign.  Heck, for that matter, I've heard that
the same fears arose during the original Sylvan Isles campaign, but at least
in that campaign, the instance of a person moderating that also had a character
in the setting was almost singularly unique.  In Centralia, practically all of the
moderators had characters in the setting and thus the public opinion was formed
that there must be something fishy going on.  It is for this very reason, to help
moderators and the various 'sub-settings' of Geleia maintain their integrity, that
Dan explicitly stated that whatever moderator is in charge of a particular city/area,
they are not to play a character in that setting.  I feel this is justified.  I also feel
that moderators should be very careful to not allow a questionable situation arise;
regardless of whether it would necessarily be appropriate for your character to
so something, if it can bring your integrity as a GM into question, don't do it.  That
is _especially_ important to Senior moderators.  I try to keep myself out of trouble
in that respect; I've had several characters not do something that they would
normally have done if they had a mind of their own; but if they had done so, my
position as an impartial moderator would have been compromised.  However,
if any of you catch me doing something that could be damaging to the integrity
of the GM (or Senior GM) cadre, please immediately take me aside and point it
out.  Thanks ahead of time.

I'm certain that many of you also hold opinions, so I implore you to speak your
minds.  After all, this is right forum for it (as opposed to a more public forum).

Lyle

-----Original Message-----
From:	Patrick C. Collins [SMTP:drunsen@ecicnet.org]
Sent:	Tuesday, June 16, 1998 8:19 AM
To:	Daniel Lawrence
Cc:	GMlist
Subject:	Re: New Geleians have landed!

[...]

1)  I discussed it with one of the campaign coordinators
(Wright).

2)  The steel materials are also very rare.  In order for
Wright to manufacture steel weapons with his blacksmithing
skill, I rolled some luck dice.

Wright has to:

a)  make 3d6 vs. weaponsmithing
b)  spend a month of game time learning
c)  spend 2 weeks previous helping Lonk install a forge
d)  The steel available was sufficient to make only two
longsword-sized weapons.  I am not going to be selling
steel weapons on blue light special to everyone in the
next two months.
e)  he hasn't yet made the checks to determine if
the weapons were of good quality...and there is no starting
over.
f)  Lonk is a human male, 6'3", build F...for all who wish
to use him.  He has deep brown eyes and is bald.  He
can usually be seen in leather smithy clothes and apron.
He is also skilled in the greatsword (rank 12).  If
people threaten his forge...he has friends.
g)  If having steel available for two weapons after
a generous luck die roll (roll 2d6..you want low...I rolled
a one and a three) is too much, please let me know.

-Pat