Ramblings on Magic

Magic has always bugged me a bit in RPGs. Not for any reason I can put my foot on, perhaps the assumption that fantasy necessarily requires it. (Given the choice, I'd prefer very common magic or Lord of the Rings style where the wizard-types rarely use it but there are the subtle magics that are everywhere.) Part of the problem is a question of limits. What can it do? What can't it do? Why? What laws constrain it? Where do Gods come in?
The other problem, of course, is what using magic and it's existence does to the world. Before magic chop wood, carry water. Do you do the same after magic? Do you need to? IMO, most games seldom address these problems. (Either their magic system is crap, so they can pretend to igore it OR it's simply ignored.) I mean, you've got people who can do what (to us) is the impossible, unless it's subtle magics. Does one need a lottery ticket to win the lottery? I.e. can anyone learn magic? Anyone at all? Why would the nobility want to LET peasants learn magic? Does it break down social orders? Atre mages just eccentrics screwballs more concerned with the Stars Coming Right than taking over the kingdom?
I think part of the problem is the assumption that fantasy NEEDS magic. Sure, there is the suggestion of it, and people who claim to have it, but how necessary is it, really? All roleplaying is fantasy, in one sense or another. (Ditto with all writing.) Granted, players might want something like it, something not normal. So invent something.
Psychology.
Martial arts.
Placebo priests.
Alchemy.
Synchronicity.
Little magics (+ a few medium/ritual magics with mega-high costs) can be perfectly fine in a setting. Give people witchcraft as magic and use the rule of 3. Or intuition/hunches/foresight in dreams/a pet ghost and the like. Stuff that people believe in in our world, and may be treated with skepticism in fantasy land.

That, or define magic. Not the system, nor setting, but what it means to the world, how it's influenced the world, the fact that healing magics mean that the black plague never happens or that they're technologically more advanced than we are in some respects. I think it also boils down to a well-defined cosmology, and making sure that magic is a part of it, an integral piece of the world, and not something thrown in beause everyone knows fantasy has magic.
Throw out the supernatural villains and threats and see what happens....

Playing in Someones Backyard...

Or, RPGs in set worlds
(aka I should be writing novel stuff or amber stuff but I'm not)

Games set in other universes can be fun. Star Wars springs to mind, as does, oh, Marvel or DC comics. The advantages are obvious in saving a GM time (If she knows the setting well enough, if not players can be a pain). The big problem, to me, is canon.
If you set SW in the time of the 4-6 movies (or after, with those heroes running around) and don't play them, you can run into problems. Yeah, sure you can do famous stuff, but they are the big heroes, the gods among men. And if you can't play characters who can equal (or beat) them, then I'd say it's not the Star Wars larger-than-life space opera deal. Comic book universes run into the same problems. What can you do that Superman can't? How can you be a real hero when the Justic League is around and everyone looks up to them?
And, perhaps more importantly, what if they don't react in the right manner to establidshed character? What if they question Leias devotion to the rebellion, or tell Batman to go take a hike because he's just human and, hello, you have superspeed and can kill him before he can react.

One solution is ixnaying the canon setting. To some extent, this will happen. Either during the game or in planning most GMs will diverge from the established setting with some ideas or rules. [The (current(?) (heh)) UA campaign did that to an extent.] I think this works best if the players are allowed to as well, inputing ideas for changes and the like, as long as when all of you look up after the planning is done you're no longer In the Star Trek universe, or whatever. Which might not be bad, but likely what wasn't intended.

Another is to let the players become great heroes, as big as the existning canon ones. The easiest method (short of wiping out the canon big names) is to set the game in an area that doesn't involve them. Earth4, for DC, or a distant part of the federation where no one has ever or will ever or knows anyone who has served on the Enterprise. The players need to be heroes in their own game, not second stringers to the established Canon figures.

The last option I can think of is to throw a massive continuity twist as players. For example, my Amber game is one where Brand *won* the Patternfall War. Other examples....
1) Sauron won the War of the Rings. The PCs are living in the eastlands, protected by the Brown Wizard who didn't want to be involved in the War and is now screwed and angry.
2) Luke turned to the Dark Side, Dad and Son rule the Empire.
3) Big Evil Virus wipes out most mutants. The Big Names are either dead or fled the world or in hiding from the creator of it - humans who know that humanity is going to be extinct soon or something).
4) Do-gooders in Star Trek who think the Prime Directive is immoral and try and help primitives.
5) The Rebellion becomes just as bad as the Empire (it often happens in RL, after alll...)) and the PCs must take down the Canon characters.
6) The communist Federation is under attack from the inside by democracy.
7) Darth Binks. (Okay, that one IS a joke).
8) Go back in history. Set the Canon universe in the Wild West ("Well, Sherrif Kent, you might be a big name in these parts but.."). Or the far future ("The MegaComputer is operational again, and encoded into your brain. We must protect you before the AI of Sauron looks towards you and sends the 9 Nazgul Virii.")

Hmm, about all I can come up with off hand.
Any other thoughts?

Star Generator?

Hey all. Looking for some kind of generator for, oh, a galaxy or something. Nothing too fancy, just a way to place different empires within a galaxy at different places to give players an idea of what is where.

Luck

Luck, Nightfall thought, is a matter of opinion.
- Mickey Reichert, "The Legend of Nightfall"

Just been thinking about luck in RPGs. In most games, luck is seen as a bad thing (or at the very least a humorous one). Take D&D for example, where 3 goblins can defeat a level 5 dwarf. In most cases, use of luck in an rpg boils down to metagaming to reduce the problems it can cause. "I have +X, he likely has less, so attacking him is a good option..." and the like.

Diceless games don't have this problem. The problem they get is that killing off characters can no longer be blamed on chance. The blame - such as it is - falls solely on the GM or the player. Likely a combination of both, depending upon the situation, since the GM is the one who sets up most situations. Most diceless games tend to have some luck variable built into the system to deal with those problems, or (like Tyranny) have mandatory weaknesses built into characters.

Advantages of dice:	Random elements are fun. People like chance, even if it works against them. You can end up with a lot of unintentional humour.
Disadvantages of dice:	Strong tendency towards metagaming. Bad luck can kill even the best pcs. Distracts from telling the story.
Advantages of diceless:	You can reasonably expect to make the kind of character you want to. More emphasis on role playing.
Disadvantages of diceless:	Lack of excuse for GMs and players when characters die. Death becomes far more aribitary. Loss of the chance mechanic.

Any other thoughts?

Game Times

Ios will be ON for the 3rd as far as I know...

Aftermath *may* be off - I have to be at my parents that day waiting for the cable guy for them, so depending on when he comes I may not be able to make it back to run the session on the 5th.
And, sadly, the Aftermath session on the 12th won't be on due to RL poetry meeting.

All for now. Hopefully all...