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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Murph Murphy" data-source="post: 6129675" data-attributes="member: 6745123">So I'll break out of the Kaufmen-esque mode for a sec for serious game design talk.So MEN OF POWER does present several meaningful choices to the player and GM. It is a humorous package around an actual game. In most systems, the GM should be preparing obstacles and challenges that can not be overcome through combat (unless, explicitly, you are creating a "lets just fight using the system" style game, which is a valid playstyle, but not the normal flow). MOP with Fight men makes the need to do this all the more explicitly. The stereotypical "bandits attack the caravan" encounter doesn't work, assuming the party contains a Fight man and the bandits are all Bad men. You have to take it a step further as a GM and challenge your players to not just defend the current caravan, but figure out why there are bandits and how you can stop them in the future. Also the scene gets more complicated if one of the bandits is a Fight man. Now if the players chose to fight, they have to be satisfied with a half victory, figure out victory means to them, and how it's compatible with the bandit's Fight man. Is everyone getting out alive enough, if the bandits get to keep the carts? Are you willing to die for the caravan to get to it's destination? It's a game about compromise when two unstoppable forces meet.Cool man faces all the same choices as Fight man above, all be it in different situations. You'll actually find this dynamic in a 3.x game with unlimited splat books or Shadowrun. Some players will optimize towards combat, and some will optimize towards social. While it's not as explicit as MOP that each character dominates in one arena in the previously mentioned games, it is how the dynamic can shake out. Interesting things happen when you force the Fight man to the social challenge and Cool man into the combat challenge, as non-standard solution are apt to rise in those situations.Also, why do Bad men exist?  They have three reasons to exist.  They are the mooks, the 1/2 hit die kobold, the 1 hp minion, the people batman throws around before confronting the Joker.  They are bodies for the GM to add to the story.  A "main villain" should never be a Bad man, though he probably is a surrounded by them.  Secondly, they are a foil to hold up the PCs, who will mostly be Fight and Cool men.  If these men are always bad, then these men should be always good, except sometime they are not.  Finally, some players like playing weaker characters, but I wouldn't advise it.To wrap it up, MOP is a game of humor, minimalism and compromise. Also anticipate MOP: 4th edition.</blockquote>

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