Unpopular opinions go here

[Micah Sweet]

I mean, it really does seem that way. And, yes, it does.

I guess I have to ask what exactly you're looking for out of Trek then.

 

[overgeeked]

Real talk though - I'm not sure how a system could make a bad story. Encourage it, maybe. But somebody that's good at storycrafting can overcome system weaknesses.

I hold this stance because the system can't gain sentience and make the story.

If the system can't make a bad story, it also can't make a good story. It's the people at the table that make the story, not the game system itself...because, as you point out...it's not sentient.

 

[Lanefan]

Back in the day, it was entirely possible to at least fail all the low level ones. And the latter is tantamount to "Get a new character," which, as I noted some people seemed to be really aggravated by.

If rolling up a new character is that aggravating, there's either a system problem (char-gen is too complex and-or time consuming) or a player problem.

Sorry. It was a reference to Metamorphosis Alpha/Gamma World: swordbushes were singularly deadly plants. So the term that came up for generating a character who seemed so crappy you didn't want to deal with it was "They threw themselves on a swordbush."

Gotcha. Good term.

For me, if I've got a character that's mechanically crappy but otherwise has some entertainment potential, I'll give it a run out and see what happens but won't be at all upset if it dies the death three combats in. Sometimes those underdog characters end up doing really well, and I love that.

It's when a character is mechanically OK (or better!) but just isn't working out as being fun to play that the headache arises; getting it killed off doesn't make sense, and so - probably at the next break between adventures - I'll find a way to retire it, and roll up something else.

 

[Tony Vargas]

I guess I have to ask what exactly you're looking for out of Trek then.

Nothing. I'm just cynical, and prone to seeing implied dystopias in otherwise optimistic content.

(I mean, I'd've liked to see the later shows stick with the timeline established by the original, with, like the Eugenics Wars being in the 1990s, and Earth finding Vulcan, not vice-versa.... and if they did a prequel, like, not have Gorn, but do have Captain Garth.... pedantic nerd stuff like that)

 

[Scribe]

Counterpoint. Unless you want an actual answer to the question, don't ask.

Its one of those things, like at the check out, you simply ask as a member of society.

 

[Lanefan]

But you aren't holding all your spells in your brain. You're writing them in a book. You're Intelligence in AD&D has no bearing on the number of spells you can memorize at a time--i.e., have in your brain--so why should it affect how many you can write in a book? (Unless it's in Unearthed Arcana, which I haven't read.) It'd be like saying you can only own 9 books, and if you try to buy a 10th, it's gibberish and you can't read it until you get rid of a book you currently own and delete its contents from your memories, at which point you can understand it. And you can't claim that you don't have enough shelf space for that 10th book, because you can always buy another bookcase (that is, make another spellbook).

In as-written 1e, what you say makes sense; even though 1e does have in its RAW a "max spells knowable by level" which is directly tied to Intelligence.

However, years (many years!) ago we went to a spell-point system, and mages became "wild card" on their lower-level spells: if it was in your book and you had the points left, you could cast it. Higher-level spells still needed pre-memoriztion. Since then, I was introduced to the 3e Sorcerer which used slots, but every slot was "wild-card" within its level as to what spell you could use that slot to cast. Eureka! I've always hated pre-memorization as a mechanic (from both sides of the screen), and the Sorcerer was the answer. So I went back to slots instead of spell points, and now all my casters work like 3e Sorcerers.

In either case it means a mage is studying every (or almost every) spell in her book each morning, not just a select few; and so the cap not only makes sense, it becomes rather important.

Does this overpower arcane casters? Only if they get too many slots, and tweaking that remains a work in progress. But it's a step backward in power from what the spell-point system allowed, which is what I was after.

 

[overgeeked]

Its one of those things, like at the check out, you simply ask as a member of society.

1. There's nothing wrong with chaos.

2. Blindly following fundamentally stupid rules is a very bad idea.

3. There are other ways to acknowledge a follow human that don't require asking a question you don't actually want an answer to.

 

[Tony Vargas]

If the system can't make a bad story, it also can't make a good story. It's the people at the table that make the story, not the game system itself...because, as you point out...it's not sentient.

"it's a poor craftsman who blames his tools"

...it's also a poor craftsman who chooses crappy tools when better ones are available...

 

[Scribe]

There are other ways to acknowledge a follow human that don't require asking a question you don't actually want an answer to.

lol is there?

I dont really WANT to engage with my fellow humans most of the time anyway. We do it, as we must engage in a polite society. Do I care how the days going? No. Do they care how my day is going while I pay for my groceries? Absolutely not.

It is the dance we engage with, to lubricate the gears of society.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Is the idea here that, throughout the Human Federation, the only institution worthy of people with extraordinary talents or ambition is Starfleet? A largely military institution? Because that has such horrific implications to the setting as a whole and the Federation in specific.

As shown over the course of multiple shows, Starfleet is at least as much a diplomatic organization and scientific organization as a military one. Its absolutely backed up by the latter (because the environment its operating in doesn't really let it not be) and its one organization rather than three as we'd expect, but calling Starfleet a "largely military institution" requires ignoring a heck of a lot of what's shown.