Bait & Switch

[wedgeski]

Such a development should have had player consent. OTOH I would probably roll with it, as long as the purging of the mutation was a viable goal.

 

[Raven Crowking]

My general thoughts are:

1. Is the game fun? If so, then play. If not, then do not play.

2. It is not incumbent upon the DM to be honest about what the campaign/campaign world entails. In some cases, the DM might want characters that would logically appear in the campaign world, rather than ones that are min/maxed for it. In other cases, the WTF? factor is a desired part of campaign design.

Imagine that, as a GM, you had come up with the idea of Planet of the Apes (and there had been neither book nor movies before you). Naturally, you would want your players to experience it as it should be experienced -- expecting to wake up to explore an alien world with a working ship, and only gradually learning what the setting really is.

Those WTF? moments are shocking, sure. And they may make you want to pull away from the campaign. But without them, there can never be a "Oh my gosh/I was wrong/It was Earth/All along/You've finally made a monkey out of me" moments either.

So, in the face of a WTF? moment, the rational thing to do is calm down, take stock, and ask yourself: Is this game fun? If yes, play. If not, do not play.


RC

 

[Mallus]

1. Is the game fun? If so, then play. If not, then do not play.

Right on, RC!

I'd like to add... having a character transfigured is a time-honored RPG (and fictional) trope. Waking up a mutant isn't any different from putting on magic item and becoming the opposite sex. They both present role-playing opportunities and challenges to overcome (if desired).

Actually, the more I think about it, this looks like par for the course. I don't see what the big deal is.

BTW, for me, the ability to change the game world through play is much more important to me than having my pre-game assumptions about the world be entirely correct.

 

[Vyvyan Basterd]

My game group has just started a campaign of Alternity in the Starship Warden (Metamorphosis Alpha) setting.

but we weren't playing MA

The above could be where the confusion stems from.

On the other hand, the idea of making a character for a sci-fi/space opera style game that starts (or transitions after an adventure or two) into a post-apoc game after some disaster befalls the ship/planet/whatever they are on does sound interesting, and I think a lot of the dramatic impact would be lost with forewarning.

It can also have impacts on the story when someone uses something from the surpirse beginning of a campaign to influence their character choice. A friend once ran a campaign (I think he told us standard FR and to make our characters under the standard method of the time) where we all started as slaves with none of our usual starting equipment. Someone with forewarning could have purposefully chosen a monk to "beat the system." With the beginning a surprise someone could have still chosen monk, but at least then it would be the character that person actually wanted to play, not an influence of starting the campaign at a disadvantage.

 

[noffham]

I'd cut the DM some slack and see where the game goes. It is a role-playing challenge. After all, when you know you're going to play MA, the characters seem to all be engineers and soldiers with lots of ancient history skills.

When these characters settled into the cryo-tubes they were in a space opera working city-ship. When they woke up, the world had changed. Now you really get to play out what such characters would do faced with such an upheaval.

I'd look at it as an gaming opportunity, not a problem.

 

[Ktulu]

Interesting conundrum. I would say the DM should have pulled the player aside and requested the change before character creation, but informed to keep it quiet until the reveal.

As a strict rule when I DM (which is pretty much always) I don't mess with the player's mechanics. If I allow X to be created, then they are X, not something else because I want it that way.


On the flip-side, though, if the player is cool with the change, then on goes the campaign. It's not my cup-o-tea, but it's something that might not bother some people.

 

[Bumbles]

As a PC Player what do you think of campaign or character starts that are different than you were lead to believe/understand/expect?

As a Player, I think it depends on what happens.

As a DM, I think it can be a wonderful opportunity to create a world of surprise and adventure. I have done the Gilligan's Island/Lost story on PC's before, and it was generally well-received.

After considering it for a few minutes, I concluded that had it been me and my character, I would have told the GM I didn’t want to play that character.

Well, without seeing the results, it's hard to say whether that'd be justified or not, but I would point out that there's a benefit to rolling with the punches, you get a chance to do something different that you didn't expect.

But then if I were the GM of that game, I might have said "write up your general character concepts" and then made characters for you, or even presented a sampling of characters to choose from.

Had you been the Player whose character’s “race” was drastically changed, would you have a problem with it? Or would you just roll with it?

Well, I'm obviously more familiar with the Warden and MA than you, so I wouldn't have been anything but suspicious when I heard the description, so I'm probably not the best to ask.

In this case, MA actually has a starting scenario for mutation of PC's in the cryo-chambers, so it wouldn't be something unexpected for me. Now did the GM change the character too far? I don't know, you didn't describe that fully.
And given how many of the mutations are helpful in the game, I wouldn't necessarily object too much without seeing it. Or the presentation. Perhaps if the GM had said "Ok, a radiation storm has hit the ship, would any of you like to roll for potentially beneficial mutations?" then you wouldn't be troubled by it.

Don't know, but it's good that even three decades later, some of the old surprises can still work. It's like using snakes in a can! Awesome!

 

[Philotomy Jurament]

That kind of "switch" wouldn't bother me at all -- sounds pretty cool, actually.

 

[Dyson Logos]

I would buy into it wholesale.

Like playing the Ironlords of Jupiter (was that the name?) game from Polyhedron / Dungeon. You made astronauts as your characters, and then found yourself playing in a science-fantasy pulp setting.

And, dude, it's the Warden!

 

[Scribble]

I don't think there's a definitive this is an ok thing to do or this is a not ok thing to do. I think it's important to know your players. Some players are ok with the DM fiddling with their character, others aren't.

Whenever I mess with a character I always try to at least give the player an out somewhere. It might involve a quest or soemthing, and it might not be easy, but at least it's an out!