General Discussion Thread VIII

[Patlin]

As was once said in the white house:

"I am President Gerald Ford... and he's not!" (Pointing at dinner guest Chevy Chase, who regularly impersonated the President on Saturday Night Live.)

My Avatar's actually a picture of me, btw.

 

[Brother Shatterstone]

"I am President Gerald Ford... and he's not!" (Pointing at dinner guest Chevy Chase, who regularly impersonated the President on Saturday Night Live.)

(Isn't Chevy Chase a little tall to play Gerald Ford.... Hell he's a little tall to play a Stormtrooper also! )

My Avatar's actually a picture of me, btw.

and he went and doctored your picture... That's mean.

 

[Rystil Arden]

Rystil's next question:

Closed content in character histories--what happens if the character uses characters from their history in the adventure? Does that make it open for the GM?

Toy Example: Demetrius the Brave is a LEW Paladin whose concept revolves around his fair ladylove Helena, who is a closed-content character in his history and thus cannot be affected by GMs and yadda yadda. Now, let's say the party finds a pretty ruby necklace, and red is Helena's favourite colour, so he pays to have a Teleport Object send the necklace directly to Helena with a love sonnet and a rose. Now, let's say this necklace was actually the phylactery of the dread sorceress-lich Antiope, scourge of Arinal, who has been waiting for milennia to find a beautiful female body to inhabit so that she may make her return to Living ENWorld. Does the phylactery just vanish from the GM's adventure because it got sent to a character from Demetrius's closed history, or did the player open their history for Helena's body to be snatched by sending her the present?

 

[Brother Shatterstone]

RA, wow that's a very good question... I would say it wouldn't leave play, but I'm not a real member, I just subscribe to a few threads.

 

[Rystil Arden]

RA, wow that's a very good question... I would say it wouldn't leave play, but I'm not a real member, I just subscribe to a few threads.

Ya, I always have weird questions like this that basically come down to the LEW analogy of the federal government vs. state government dilemma: How much power does the GM have and how much enforcement is offered by the LEW rules that will force the GM's hand.

Specifically, in this case, the GM is going to be very annoyed if the lich's phylactery, which was supposed to be the whole twist in the adventure, is eliminated from play, and Demetrius's player is going to be upset when Helena is possessed, particularly if his other party members decide that she must die to defeat Antiope--in fact, Demetrius without Helena might be a character that the player just doesn't want to play anymore.

 

[Brother Shatterstone]

Ya, I always have weird questions like this that basically come down to the LEW analogy of the federal government vs. state government dilemma: How much power does the GM have and how much enforcement is offered by the LEW rules that will force the GM's hand.

It’s always the problem with a large persistent world. (It stuck down the Superhero PbP persistent world I use to frequent.)

in fact, Demetrius without Helena might be a character that the player just doesn't want to play anymore.

It might just be because of this example but it was his actions that brought death to Helena.... Life is hardly fair. (Even in a fantasy realm.)

 

[Knight Otu]

Interesting example. As the DM, I'd propably ask the player in question if it would be ok to tie in some closed content from the character's background into this or a future adventure. This OK could be permanent, or just for the one adventure. I suspect, but am not sure, that in most cases where something like this happens, the character's background would be mostly open.
Also, the circumstances of the find would be important. If he finds it on the market, he'd really have no reason to suspect such a thing, but randomly sending away an item found in a "Bad Guy Lair" (TM) that has not been properly identified...

 

[Rystil Arden]

It might just be because of this example but it was his actions that brought death to Helena

Even if only tangentially, including the characters from your history in the game like that could be theoretically construed as your fault.

Also, the circumstances of the find would be important. If he finds it on the market, he'd really have no reason to suspect such a thing, but randomly sending away an item found in a "Bad Guy Lair" (TM) that has not been properly identified...

What if it is found in a less innocuous setting but is still a found item? Like say they dug it out of the ice in a glacier or something?

 

[Jdvn1]

Rystil's next question:

Closed content in character histories--what happens if the character uses characters from their history in the adventure? Does that make it open for the GM?

I'd go with KO's asking-the-character idea and BS's stays-in-this-game-only idea, but also mention... they're just ideas. The specifics of the situation may demand other answers, so we should probably just cross that bridge when we come to it. Unless you're currently running a game with Demetrius the Brave.

 

[Brother Shatterstone]

What if it is found in a less innocuous setting but is still a found item? Like say they dug it out of the ice in a glacier or something?

I would say yes. (Basically if its not bought in the open market at a reputable dealer I would say its fair game.)