From: millerl@wilma.wharton.upenn.edu
Subject: ESSAY: How Much is Enough?
Followup-To: rec.games.frp.misc
Summary: the effect of big guns on your social standing
Organization: Newt World Order
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 16:28:38 GMT

I'm going to be posting a bunch of very interesting posts that came from
people on GMAST-L about three years ago. The guys who posted them have
graduated now, and are sorely missed on GMAST-L.

Anyway, here goes with the first one: How Much is Enough? An Essay on
the social consequences of heavy firepower.

Date: Wed, 10 Jan 90 08:32:58 CST
From: U16244%UICVM.BITNET@pucc.PRINCETON.EDU
Subject: HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH? and how it fits in gaming.
To: Multiple recipients of list GMAST-L <GMAST-L@UTCVM>
Message-Id: <9001110419.AA13255@remote.dccs.upenn.edu>

To anyone who read the first how much is enough, just keep the general
gist of it in mind as I try to recover my foot as it is the only part of
my poor Pollack bod that wasn't toasted nice and crispy by a private
flaming.
  First off, I want to mention that this is my personal gaming preference.
It comes from the fact that I usually found GMs in other games spent a lot
of time in the city or local town without any major action going on, but
there had been stuff occurring while we were going urban.  Socially, my
opinion is that if people see you hauling around a bad old piece of heavy
firepower, they generally thought you were up to something.  I have had
other GMs who felt similarly.  Asking if there was anything of interest
in town while you had a two handed sword strapped to your belt or a big
.45 in a hip holster often brought out a mix of real quick information,
a frightened look on the answerer's face, and an alerting of the local
guards, who we had to assure that we weren't going to get into trouble.
  After a few long sessions with the town militias of various towns, I had
my AD&D character leave his sword on his horse and walk into a bar or an
adventurers guild with two daggers, one readily apparent and rather well
used as a multi purpose tool, the other more hidden, but quickly accessable.
The GM looked at the description I made out, and it came to pass that my
character was the one most often chosen to speak with the locals, since
although I had a greataxe, I looked unmenacing when in a social situation.
And the two times I did run into violence, my large (9 inchesat +1 damage)
daggers proved themselves very effective.  In a street fight with a cut-
purse, two attacks in a single turn for 2 - 5 points of damage managed
to keep my character from visiting the group cleric for another of her
healing spells.  The purpose of role playing is to have your character
survive, and that becomes difficult if you spend too much time getting
hurt.
  Similarly, in Traveller2300AD, my character was packing the most powerful
game rifle in the system (which worked very well on enemies like pirates
and the Kaefer), and he carried that very nice and nasty 11mm Magnum when
it came time to go out into the boonies.  But when it came to situations
where it was the Token Bar Scene or an interview with a new client, or
just bopping around the town getting supplies, I suggested and carried
a holdout, full power 9mm pistol (like the P5 or P7).  If I felt I was
going into a tough neighborhood, I just threw on a trench coat and hid the
big 11mm Magnum.  That strategy took my character through four gunfights
which I managed to survive, but also made sure that I got away from the
scene of the fight. (A holdout pistol is useless if someone knows you're
carrying it.  Being arrested for carrying one without a license kind of
gives away your advantage.)
  But, if your GM decides that characters carrying Desert Eagles, Government
Models, or two handed swords has no effect on the morale of the NPC non-
hostiles you'll be meeting with, then go with that.  But to be practical,
people with big weapons arehigh profile, and draw a lot of unwanted
attention, while people with smaller (and arguably somewhat less effective
weapons) don't get that kind of gripe from the locals or the law.

Douglas P(oster Boy for Kingsford Charcoal) Wojtowicz.
-- 
whoah,
+++++++++++++++++++++++23
Loren Miller                           internet: MILLERL@wharton.upenn.edu
Mediocrity is a hand rail.                         -- Baron de Montesquieu

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