Characters as Air Elementals

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

Hmmm, well, as regards the original question (should mutate 
work on an Air Elemental), I would say that the  GM's who all 
said "no" last Saturday were in the right; no DNA, no effect.

I also have to put forth this comment; shame on the player for 
not excepting the answer of the GM who was directly adjudicating 
the situation.  If a GM gives a reasonable and logical answer to a 
question put forth by a player and the player doesn't like it; then 
that player should then be directed to either a Senior GM, or Dan 
himself (in the case where the GM in dispute is a Senior GM).  
This protocol needs to be made apparent to the players and it 
needs to be enforced.  We, as GM's, should not be encouraging 
players to go from GM to GM until they find one who will support 
them; doing so will only add to the munchkinism that is so rampant 
already.  Now, if this was a case of all 10 GM's deciding to have 
a little huddle to figure it out amongst themselves before giving the
player an answer, then that is different; but I get the impression 
that such is not the case.

Another interesting question comes to mind though, now that the
character is an air elemental, should they become an actor?  I can
see letting the player continue to play the character if they were, in
fact, part of a plot device.  There are plenty of instances where a
player (or players) was allowed to play a character that was well 
outside the bounds of campaign balance because they served as
a plot device.  The KVIN comes to mind, but I also recall instances
where a player was asked to play a Hirudo for several games in
order to set up a party, or a player was asked to play an avatar of
a god, etc.  These are all legitimate plot devices.  However, unless
there is a legitimate plot device for the air elemental, I seriously
doubt they would fit into adventuring society any longer.  Actually,
I'm having difficulty determining how they could even keep their
sanity given the completely alien form they have assumed.  What
I'm getting at is that I feel that the player should relinquish the
character; what happens to it and what it does is no longer under 
his control.  The alternative is that they either don't play that
character anymore, or they take constant harassment from in-
game groups who feel that Air Elementals belong on the plane
of Air and they are just the ones to keep it that way.  Not to mention
the small group of powerful mages who wouldn't mind harnessing 
the power of a lone Air Elemental.  This player is in for all sorts of
serious BOHEKAs (them, and anyone silly enough to defend them,
that is).  But, since players who do munchkinny things do it for the
attention, letting them keep the character and making them deal
with the consequences in game will just feed that need for attention
and in the end they will just feel that everyone is out to get them.  So,
I would still opt for the, "Congratulations, you won; please give me
your character card and start a new character to play" option.

Sorry this rambled overlong; I'm getting over a cold.

Lyle