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Will Next be able to do HackMaster?
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<blockquote data-quote="KJSEvans" data-source="post: 5887707" data-attributes="member: 89882"><p>To quote the free <a href="http://www.terminal-studios.com/downloads/HackMaster-QuickStart-Guide.pdf" target="_blank">HackMaster QuickStart Guide</a> (which, admittedly, I wrote...)</p><p></p><p><strong>The GM vs. player attitude</strong></p><p>In previous editions of the game, the developers went to great lengths to propagate an attitude of conflict between the GameMaster and the players. Actually, that’s not true – they wrote a few hilarious jokes implying that this “attitude of conflict” existed, and some people took it way, way too seriously. In reality, please note the following:</p><p></p><p>GMs – the player is your <em>friend</em>. His existence justifies the insane amount of money that you’ve spent on supplements and sourcebooks. You must challenge him but do not make the game unfair. Likewise, he must make sure you are properly adhering to the rules – after all, it takes a long ass time to roll up a good character and, before long, a player might have hundreds of hours invested in the character that you are callously trying to kill with your elaborate – but nonsensical – underwater spike trap. It’s hard work, but you must always strive to present a fair playing field which is littered with warnings of certain death. That way, they have no reason to complain.</p><p></p><p>Players – the GM is <em>your</em> friend. You just gotta show up with some dice and – if you’re nice – snacks for your GM. He has to spend his free time thinking about stuff for you to do. He needs to weave metaphorical tapestries, to spin complex stories, and to develop dungeons, roleplay scenarios and more. If he gets lost in the story sometimes – and tries to shoehorn you toward certain death – be patient with him and help him understand the error of his ways (note that this is not gamer code for “beat him with a tire iron”). The game is not designed for you two to be at odds – unless you agree in advance that this is the kind of game you want to play.</p><p></p><p>And that’s the point, really. Agreement in advance is key. You don’t need to use every niggling rule, but you need to agree in advance as to what rules you are using. Not to mention you need to also agree about trusting the GM to make a call on the fly.</p><p></p><p>There aren’t rules for every impossible situation. Sometimes the GM is going to make a gut call on a rule (like how many seconds does it take to climb that 20 foot wall over there). Unless his call is ridiculous, go with it. But make sure that what is ruled once is ruled again, so when the hobgoblin you are fleeing from gets to climb the same wall in ½ the time, the player is well in his rights to call the GM on making a mistake (and only then do you go for the tire iron).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="KJSEvans, post: 5887707, member: 89882"] To quote the free [URL="http://www.terminal-studios.com/downloads/HackMaster-QuickStart-Guide.pdf"]HackMaster QuickStart Guide[/URL] (which, admittedly, I wrote...) [B]The GM vs. player attitude[/B] In previous editions of the game, the developers went to great lengths to propagate an attitude of conflict between the GameMaster and the players. Actually, that’s not true – they wrote a few hilarious jokes implying that this “attitude of conflict” existed, and some people took it way, way too seriously. In reality, please note the following: GMs – the player is your [I]friend[/I]. His existence justifies the insane amount of money that you’ve spent on supplements and sourcebooks. You must challenge him but do not make the game unfair. Likewise, he must make sure you are properly adhering to the rules – after all, it takes a long ass time to roll up a good character and, before long, a player might have hundreds of hours invested in the character that you are callously trying to kill with your elaborate – but nonsensical – underwater spike trap. It’s hard work, but you must always strive to present a fair playing field which is littered with warnings of certain death. That way, they have no reason to complain. Players – the GM is [I]your[/I] friend. You just gotta show up with some dice and – if you’re nice – snacks for your GM. He has to spend his free time thinking about stuff for you to do. He needs to weave metaphorical tapestries, to spin complex stories, and to develop dungeons, roleplay scenarios and more. If he gets lost in the story sometimes – and tries to shoehorn you toward certain death – be patient with him and help him understand the error of his ways (note that this is not gamer code for “beat him with a tire iron”). The game is not designed for you two to be at odds – unless you agree in advance that this is the kind of game you want to play. And that’s the point, really. Agreement in advance is key. You don’t need to use every niggling rule, but you need to agree in advance as to what rules you are using. Not to mention you need to also agree about trusting the GM to make a call on the fly. There aren’t rules for every impossible situation. Sometimes the GM is going to make a gut call on a rule (like how many seconds does it take to climb that 20 foot wall over there). Unless his call is ridiculous, go with it. But make sure that what is ruled once is ruled again, so when the hobgoblin you are fleeing from gets to climb the same wall in ½ the time, the player is well in his rights to call the GM on making a mistake (and only then do you go for the tire iron). [/QUOTE]
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