Okay, so I'm starting my own post. I've been watching so much go by that if I answered each thing individually I'd be writing posts all night. Which um, is why I haven't responded before now, despite being invoked by name. *grins* But then, life has not been conducive to massive posting lately, thanks to the arrival of child #2, my recent return from maternity leave to work, and various other family crises that have arisen. *groans* When did I turn into an adult?? Anyway, hi. *waves* First, let me say that I'm known as a major proponent of diceless systems. This isn't to say I don't do dice -- I do. Just not often. However, as Mike pointed out, the next game I run is going to be D&D3E and I've got my PHB and DMG and still need my MM. I've got a co-GM to deal with some of the nastier details of combat. And I've already drawn parts of the map and am busy developing the politics and specifics of the world. At the rate I'm going in world development, tho, it'll be a while before I get to run. *sighs* Okay, some philosophy first. I started doing diceless with White Wolf. I just phased the dice out more and more unti they were basically gone. I was infamous for losing character sheets once I had an idea what was on them (and okay, in one case, the sheet was lost as soon as the character was made and I've *never* figured out where I put the boody thing). But let me explain *why* diceless. And no, despite my affection for Amber, its NOT just because of that. I hadn't even played Amber when I first started moving diceless, although some of my players had. I just took advantage of the fact that my players were becoming more comfortable without dice in other games as well. My first impotant point adresses gaming style, and the reasons for ditching dice. Roleplay. I admit it, I'm an RP snob. I really like to get into character, stay in character, and don't always like the interruption that dice give. When I run D&D I'll use dice, but there are places where they won't intrude (sorry, no die rolls to seduce the pretty little barmaid). Does this mean I want to railroad the adventure? Nope. Hells, as my players will cheerfully tell you, half the time *I* don't know what's going to happen. How the hells can I railroad the players? *laughter* I think they're more likely to railroad *me*. [Just read that to my husband, who made a little agreeing face and kind of nodded. He being the one who devised the action that became the final scenario in my White Wolf game -- all hail Merlin Princemaker.] I see a character oriented diceless game as an opportunity for the GM and players to build a game and story together. I come up with a world. I populate it with NPCs who are just my characters. And I then become the arbitration unit and they become the driiving force. Where they go, I have to follow, AND lead. I have to be on my toes. I have to be unfailingly logical. And I have to know my world inside and out. Which is why I'm not ready to run my new game yet -- I *don't* know the world. One of my players to be has been pelting me with questions,and as long as my responses are a dumb look, I'm SO not ready to run. However, there's a question in the statement above. Noctifer brought up the concept of fairness and randomness in the combat. The ability for a PC to pull of something amazing nd wonderful, despite great odds. Yeah, I think that *is* still possible in a diceless game. Its certainly happened in my games. I've always used a classic example of one particular combat in my White Wolf game. During the combat I was standing on a chair, to be the main villain who stood fighting on a staircase. Half my players stood behind me, coming down from the second floor of the building. The others were in front of me, as if they were rushing across the bottom floor towards the stairs. We mimed through the whole thing, with me figuring out the logic of the situation given every action they took. Did their tricks work? Yes. Did they work against them sometimes? Yup,that too. I remember one PC disarming another entirely by accident because they didn't antipcate each others actions. Whoops! However, another one got an amazing shot in because the NPC was so busy covering someone else. It was actually a beautiful combat, took a long time, and very satisfying inthe long run. As a player, I can definitely list at least one example in a PBEM where I managed to throw things rather off-kilter. My character was being paranoid, terrified, and thought she'd been betrayed and set up. She drew her sword without thinking and killed an influential NPC who actually *hadn't* betrayed her. She felt horrific afterwards, and it totally made a mess of the invasion plans her father had. Rather upset that part of the plot since the now dead NPC was a pivotal character for it. The GM was in shock, and once it settled in what my character had done, so was I. Y'see, there is no railroad if the characters don't hop on. And some characters just never even see the trains. *smiles* I'm not saying diceless is a better way to play. Although, I have to agree with where the conversation began -- its a lot *simpler* for a PBEM system. But then, PBEM is often best without a huge amount of combat, or rather, more character than combat anyway. That's just more suited to the storytelling style of gaming. *takes deep breath* And now that I've babbled on and on and on,and reminded everyone that yes, I am alive (see some of you soon at Boskone!) and responded properly to having had my name taken in vain... I think I should sign off. *smiles* Its a moment of peace in my house and instead of packing, y'know what? I think I'm going to go answer some PBEM moves. *smiles* Later all... D. ---------------------------------------------------------------- GAMERS Home Page: http://www.phoenyx.net/gamers/
