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Re: DS3 points systems and features

From: Alexander Williams <thantos@t...>
Date: Thu, 4 Apr 2002 20:06:14 -0500
Subject: Re: DS3 points systems and features

On Thu, Apr 04, 2002 at 04:33:38PM -0800, John Atkinson wrote:
> So tell me, in a pick-up game how do yo pick the tech
> level?  If I'm designing for the GZG default setting,
> and you're designing for a setting with jeeps mounted
> with HKP/5s, what's the point?

If you can't negotiate basic gamesmanship, John, you probably
shouldn't pick up random gamers in stores.  I always thought the point
of playing with diverse forces was to see a diversity of combat
tactics and to challenge both sides to think on their feet in extreme
circumstances. 

As others have noted, in most running-on-a-frequent-basis game
situations, there's agreement as to the setting, like "Star Wars
GROPOS" or "Ogre;" if you're playing in an environment without
groundrules, you're just going to have to suck it up, princess, and
deal with the fact you might face all matter of bizarre opponant
designs.  Nature of the beast.	That's why the underlying mechanical
representation needs to be based on actual /effect/ and leave the rest
to discussion of setting and gamesmanship.

> The hell it doesn't.	The DSII construction system is
> a damn sight more flexible than any other one I've
> seen.  But it does make certain assumptions, and one
> of them is that you're not trying to play a force with
> so much "character" that they are driving Mk VIII
> tanks and armed with Springfield '03 rifles while
> going up against my Grav tanks.

You don't get out much, do you, John?  The DS2 design system is nice,
but the extreme granularity and lack of a weapon design system makes
its flexibility a /lot/ less than found in the /majority/ of competing
generic SF games.  Pretty much by definition.  Even Stargrunt II has an
inherently more /flexible/ design system, though, unfortunately, it
doesn't have a point system to go with it.

And there's nowhere in the rules that assumption's made, for the
record.  I could be riding on top of massive chelatinous insects,
firing bolts of energy from my fists, and just describing it as a
slow-tracked high-armour vehicle with a HEL/3 and exposed crew.  The
system /does not care/.  What I, and apparently others, maintain is
that innate flexibility should be generalized to make the system more
open and flexible.  This can in no wise be seen as a bad thing.

> However, as the Terminators are effectively impossible
> to kill with javelins and short swords, is it
> balanced?

John, I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but DS2 is a game.	You
know, the kind with dice?  As such there's actually a pretty good
chance that a force armed with low-tech weapons can actually damage
and defeat a much higher-tech force through the weight of sheer
numbers.  That's why there's dice in there at all and we don't play
chess instead.

I could have argued that even from an in-character PoV, sufficient
pilum and gladius could probably seriously damage a Terminator by
striking vulnerable parts like sensors and actuators, but frankly none
of that /really/ matters.  And the argument would be largely wasted.
What's important is the recognition that DS2 is a game with a generic
SF aim.  That's how its sold.  Impedimentia that keep it from that
goal should be examined, and if possible, discarded.

I'm sorry if the upshot is that you might actually have to speak with
your opponant before a pick-up game; while this is a crippling strike
against it, nevertheless, I think you'll find for the majority of game
players, it simply reflects what they do already.

-- 
Alexander Williams (thantos@telocity.com)   |	 http://www.chancel.org 
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