RE: Ideas

[Daniel Lawrence <dan@aquest.com>]

Gak.....
	Ideas... what is the world coming too?

-----Original Message-----
From:	John Hogg [SMTP:johnhogg@laf.cioe.com]
Sent:	Thursday, March 11, 1999 3:06 PM
To:	Brandon Stenger; Mike Kilgore; Lyle H Janney; Joseph Rogelio Fernandez; 
BJ Austin; Rick Myers; dan@aquest.com
Subject:	Re: Ideas

Hey gang, I'm bouncing a few questions to Dan (as you can see below) with
all of our accounts on them so we can get his response ... lets pay
attention to what messages we're replying to so we don't spam him.

Dan,
Remember when I said that if I (we) started getting ideas, we'd touch base
with you ... well, I've got some people with ideas ... (see the cc list)

For a number of reasons this isn't on the gm list proper, but it's getting
sizable, regardless, we've got a couple of questions:

1)  Who can use the D'Italianos, and what do we/they need to know to run
them appropriately

Well, in the past I have used them as a general crime family based out of 
Port Haven. I am sure anyone can use them... they just have a generic mafia 
persona.... And usually choose very itlian surnames. When one gets wacked 
by a party... there are always cousins, sons, nephews to avenge them.

2) see below:

>It got mentioned on the general list that at one point in 10019 or 20
>that all portals in the Rougtero vicinity were destroyed. Does this
>eliminate the Hall of Doors? Or anything else people were thinking of?
>
>Brandon

IIRC this was the "blue wave" that went through and turned off perminent
magical effects for about a game week or two ... did it effectively 
revocate
them, or did it just turn them off for a few days/weeks?

It revokated them. That was quite some time ago. To be honest.... It was 
getting to a point where I certainly felt it was very pointless/frustrating 
to try to spend any time on global plotlines in Rougeterro. I would run.... 
Someone from the audience jumps up and makes interesting (read outragous) 
claims about some magic/mutation/divine favor they have that totally busts 
the plot line. And to be sure... their claims were not always justified.... 
Sometimes they exagerated, sometimes they simply misinterpreted what other 
GMs said or claimed. But often it was just a case of a GM with a little 
less experience giving out something he though "neat" not understanding 
that items are supposed to make the game interesting, not solve the game 
for the adventurers. I was perticularly frustrated by items that simply 
gave answers to plots... ones that would tell the player who murdered the 
main actor, ones that would allow them access to the information that there 
were supposed to infer from the evidance, not simply get given by magic.
	Now I know people out there are likely to jump on me.... Claiming 
restriction of freedom of their adventures.... And being "bent" or 
"wacked". But anyone who even faintly knows me would question why I would 
want to fuck with someone just for the heck of it. No,,,, plots that I ran, 
things that happened were to the end of actually making GM be fun, and not 
just an ounerous duty because people expected me to run. I did not/do not 
like all the little power trips people are on to control each other.... and 
too often the underdogs... the meek... and the less pushy players ended up 
being bored/trod upon/ pushed around because they held something more dear 
then the pursuit of power.
	And lastly (I am certainly getting this all out today!) I honestly had a 
lot more fun GMing then adjudicating complex ruling bodies with arcane and 
extensive rules to handle situations that I had hoped were best left to a 
little common sense.
	The situation now looks pretty stable. Some people have stided forth to 
handle the week to week administration of games, and I am still available 
to answer questions, explain why things were or are as they are and to help 
with plots and the newbies. This actually looks like a fairly reasonable 
situation.

3) Would you mind having us bounce you the potential plotline (perhaps to
have a branch of it in the newbie game come fall) when we firm it up a bit
more?

Plots... yes...  newbie stuff..... if it does not involve the 
domination/control/power gaming aspect of the current players & GMs from 
scaring these poor people off before they get a chance to learn and defend 
themselves.

John
					Dan
					(who has far too much email to read,,,,)