From: bpoel04@Calvin.EDU (Brian Poel)
Subject: Re: Negating Possibilities
X-Gated-By: The Black Marble Wombat@morticia.cnns.unt.edu
X-Gated-From: torg mailing list
Organization: University of North Texas
X-Gatemail-Version: 1.0b
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 05:32:02 GMT

	Regarding the tone that the GM desides to run his campaign in . . .

One of the things that frustrates me most about Torg, both fromt the PC and the GM perspectives is the overly heroic nature that is built into the system.  I know...that's how WEG wanted it.  I like so many things about the system, but I prefer more realism.  After many instances of impossible deeds done and 
unearthly amounts of damage ignored with the spending of possibilities or the  playing of a stack of cards . . . I've begun to devise a variety of alterations which I think may solve my perturbation.  Since the group I play in here at   college only play sporadically and we alternate our GMing for variety and      experience, I've only tried this method once.  So I can't attest to it's 
workability over the long run.  But hey, it's worth beating around the bush.
	First off, the role-playing of possibilites is an important concept    to discuss.  Why exactly does erasing a little number on a sheet of paper and  writing a smaller number in it's place allow a character to fall off a building and then simply shake the dust off and walk away.  What did this possiblity    energy do?  I feel it's important for the players to SEE the possibility which saved them from this certain doom or gave them that extra edge for that
miraculous shot.
		EXAMPLE : which possibility, out of a variety of p's, was the
one that saved the PC from going splat after falling of the 6 story high dino?
The player must state what happened to prevent the mammoth amounts of damage
impacted his frail form.  A really big bush, a small pond, a soft rock? As you
can see I'm stretching it a bit.  Which is exactly what might happen to a PC
who can't creatively use his possibilities to save his butt.  Guess what
happens to our poor PC who lands on the "soft rock"?  SPLAT.
	So you see, the creativity of the player is challenged to choose a
possiblity which can save him from harm, and only then can damage be reduced.
A lame possibility may result in a lame character . . . pun intended.
	This also opens up the door in the other direction for possiblity
cancelling.  If NPC1 shoots PC BOB at point blank range with a BIGGUN and PC
BOB chuckles while he erases a possibility and hopes to erase the fact that he
just had major open organ surgery done . . . he better have a good reason.  If
it isn't plausible, NPC1 may cancel the use of that possibility in the logic
that there was no way on earth that the event which just occurred did not
occur.  The line gets awfully grey and fuzzy at this point.  Just what is a 
plausable possibility?  Instead of saying that NPC1's gun missed at ptblank,
maybe it just jammed?  What does NPC1 have to say to that?  Well I don't know.
	This cancelling of possibilites when your opponent removes damage is a
really touchy issue.  Even this whole roleplaying of possiblities issue is
dangerous.  It gives a lot of power to both the player and the GM.  Misused, it
can become a sort of wish-parser, instead of a way to regulate the absolutely
rediculous possiblity saves which sometimes occur.
	One method which could be explored is examining how much a player
exceeds a difficulty number.  Exceeding it by a substantial amount of 20 or so
sends it into the "untouchable" realm.  Beating a d.n. by 10 or 15 may require
a pretty darn good reason to change it's reality of existence.  But say it was
really close, then possiblities start gaining their power of versatility.
		EXAMPLE : Life Ender the ravagon of doom which has been
hunting the party the whole campaign takes on Logan, his werewolf nemesis in
our group.  A battle to the death ensues.  Armed with a huge two-handed silver
blade, Life Ender eventually stands over Logan's bleeding, but "i'm not quite
dead" form.  As long as Life Ender doesn't roll really pitfully for his final
blow, there's no way in @#$% Logan's gonna shrug off being turned into a pin
cushion.  Dramatic licence wins this scene and Logan finds peace for his soul.
	If Logan starts getting snippy and says LifeEnder slipped in some blood
or something . . . oh please.

	It's getting late. . . i suck at using this infernal terminal to
write in email.  I'm not making much sense anymore and my first contribution
to this mailing list probably sounds like the ramblings of some rookie GM who
isn't up to snuff with the calabre of intellectual discussion of the group.
(when it's late i get a bet self-defeatist)

	If anyone sees a glimmer of hope to these ideas feel free to inquire
further and i'll try to iron out my wrinkly ideas, some of which I devised as
I was writing.

		Brian Poel
			bpoel04@calvin.edu