From: pmwg1641@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Peter M. White)
Subject: Re: Brain Games and the Intellectually Challenged
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 02:16:50 GMT

uplink@cwis.unomaha.edu (uplink) writes:

>	I have a problem, and I'd like some advice with it.

>The Situation:  Where I game, most of the GM's play "Brain Games", where
>"you must use your brain to survive".  (Favorite saying of theirs.)  Okay.
>Specifics:  The game I am currently in, Shadowrun, the Gamemaster is taking
>us through a FASA-published adventure (I won't say which one, so no one 
>apprises me of the plot unfairly) which seems to me to have been written
>for intellectuals in mind.  (Most of the Shadowrun adventures FASA publishes
>are like that, actually.)

The overall reason for this is, I believe, because of the cyberpunk roots
of the gameworld.  I haven't read a lot of the genre, but the protagonists
usually succeed/survive (or almost do so) because of their brains.  The general
*feel* I gleen form the literature (and the FASA adventures) is one of
confusion: the world is going too fast for *anyone* to actually keep
up; use your brains to try and carve out an economic niche.  

The SR world is actually a little more forgiving than "pure"
cyberpunk for the less brainy.  Especially since burly metahumans
and the magically active have substantial survivability compared to
normal human being.  There is some leeway for Conan types that
are more at home in a heroic fantasy setting.

As far as concrete suggestions, play characters that you can play
correctly.  And your GM may have to help you with this.  Do not
hesitate to rely on your characters stats, if necessary.  Are you
in a dangerous bar and somewhat confused?  Use Street Ettiquette.
Your character should understand many things that you youself may
not.  It may be preferable to roleplay things out, but if you
can't, it should not be cause for frustration.  It sounds like
you are really trying to be a better gamer.  Sometimes, your GM
may simply have to gently help you out.

Another point: if you have low INT characters, they should be
played as such and not be expected to behave otherwise.  (If your
GM demands cerebral play, maybe you should give your character
a 6 INT and ask for hints.  Personally, I found nothing more annoying
than to vexed by a situation that should be obvious to the character,
but somehow I missed, what the GM thought, was an obvious clue.)
Stupid characters will only survive in the shadows
if they find people who they trust to help them with the cerebral
angle.  Can work very well if other players in the group are not
generally backstabbing.  Playing a tough Troll?  Befriend the
group's mage or decker, they are typically weak in melee and like
how those big muscles attract bullets that otherwise would find
them.  (Mages who hide while sustaining spells can *massively*
boost your combat prowess while staying safe themselves, an option
they would be foolish not to occasionally exploit.)  Talk to your
GM about the kind of character you want to play.  If you want
to play a hair-trigger killing machine, discuss whether this
can fit in his world without hindering the plots.  A particular
character's erratic tendencies can be a real asset to interesting
play if the GM works to make it so, and doesn't punish the rest
of the runners too much with the results.  Imagine:  "Drek!  Jed!  Lone
Star just pulled over Grunge.  We better think fast and get him outta
there before the coppers get too curious about the contents of the truck
and that *&@^! ork starts killing people!"

>When I get frustrated
>I also tend to give up.  In the game we're in, the team is hunted by Lone 
>Star.  At a certain event, I wasn't allowed to carry in my sword.  (I'm
>playing an elven Paladin who has very little shadowrunning experience.)
>I got frustrated, and decided to go to Lone Star, turn myself in, and rat
>on the players.  Because I wanted to get revenge on my gamemaster, by
>making his life, and the lives of the other players, hell.

Every player occasionally gets frustrated.  I've been furious with GMs.
A gaming buddy of mine, a highly intelligent and competitive individual,
piqued by those moments when the veins were bulging visibly from his
neck, framed the issue this way:  "When the Player goes insane, does
the Player's Character go insane also?"  The answer *should* be "no".
And the reverse should not be true either.  But, unfortunately, life
does not always work so smoothly.  A suggestion: concentrate on
roleplaying.  Work out very carefully how exactly your character reacts
to his own frustrations, but don't make these frustrations your own.
Your character may be ranting and raving, but you should never be.
*You* should be busy thinking about how to best describe exactly how
upset your character is.  Avoid obvious crude gestures such as tossing
grenades around.  Maybe spend some time conjuring up a phrase book
of exotic curses for such occasions.  Be as creative as possible.

>I want advice,
>and also, why aren't there more adventures for the Intellectually 
>Challenged (P.C. term for dense) ?

Those fit better in a heroic fantasy setting.  The GMs I am used too
aren't vindictive to players who are paying attention, but make dumb
mistakes anyway.  However, typically big rewards only come for smart
play.

--Peter
______________________________________________________________________________
						|
     "Guards!  Let me draw their fire!"		|	p-white@uiuc.edu
		   --Scapegoat,_Marshal Law_	|
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