RenleyRenfield
Adventurer
Logically, I understand why folks would do something like this, and I can't tell them to stop or say its bad for them. What works, works and that's fine. And so I am not really telling anyone to stop. I am just saying why I avoid and very very much dislike.Just checking
Longer version: I expect most players to look out for #1 (the player). So I reward them to encourage looking out for #2 (the character) and #3 (the other PCs).
But I am in that odd group of 300 out of 301 games (or whatever number you want to use over 30 years) = handing out 'attaboy' rewards has been VERY BAD. Both for ruining player fun/perception and for GM being perceived as a bully.
Honestly, for the problems it seems some folks are trying to solve for this= I suggest playing other games systems for a few years. Get away from 'high fiat' and 'low player agency' games for a while. Those games, like D&D, are fine. But they require extra efforts like what folks her are suffering.
It can really make gaming easier when a player sees how much fun it is to fail in systems where failure is fun. How much fun it is to do PvP in systems that make PvP fun. how much fun it is to be at the mercy of in-game actions despite out of game truths.
After having done this...for me....
...no games I am in or run ever have a player abuse metagame knowledge.
...no games I am in or run suffer from players abusing their characters drives/alignments
...no games I am in or run make failing a roll bad/boring/something no fun that takes a player out or ruins the nigh.
Like... we just don't have any of the issues folks are describing needing to bait players to be good for....
....
Games I suggest folks play for a good long while each, and after a few years I think folks will see improvements across all game systems:
- Pasion de las Pasiones (makes PvP fun, failure in this game is more fun than success at times)
- Brindlewood Bay (Makes any out of game knowledge fun to not use not abuse, and lean into the mystery)
- Marvel Heroic Roleplaying (this is the Cortex Prime one, and yeah, you gotta eBay to get it, but its one of the singlehanded most fun combat games ever, where taking on way too big of risks, and getting in over your head is a blast.)
- If you can't get Marvel Heroic cortex, then Tales of Xadia is a good one too!
- Pendragon 6th (this games Traits are a easy entry into showing players how to do alternate roleplay approaches to what they want, and makes failing rolls fun with re-rolls and XP gains.)
- Dune 2d20 (this game does a great job at getting everyone to be very visible and obvious about character drives and what D&D would call 'alignments', as the game shows how to get things done by means of why you want to do it, not by being powerful enough to do it.)
