From: cassidy@cps.msu.edu (John J Cassidy)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.advocacy
Subject: Re: (Hero) What is the best Psionics system?
Date: 14 Oct 92 21:52:42 GMT
Reply-To: cassidy@cps.msu.edu (John J Cassidy)
Organization: Dept. of Computer Science, Michigan State University
Originator: cassidy@crow.cps.msu.edu

In article <1bgguvINN7cs@charnel.ecst.csuchico.edu> tdunn@ecst.csuchico.edu (Tim Dunn) writes:
>John J Cassidy writes:
>>Really, Tim, 'Hero Psionics'?  Where did you ever get the idea that
>>Hero had made a psionics system?
>
>If they had, it'd be "Psionic Hero" not 'Hero Psionics.'  =)  Love them
>original and creative names, doncha now?

	Like everything sounds better with 'GURPS' in front of it?
>
>>I write:
>>>I know I'm starting to sound like Sea Wasp here, but the mechanical feel
>>>of the rules are wrong.  Psionics IMPO are like magic -- rare, mysterious
>>>and secret.
  
[deleted stuff]

ME:
>>	Anyway, you say the feel is all wrong.  I don't understand this.
>>Take the Hero mechanics and MAKE the feel right. 
>>	Anyway, you can make a package of rules, and add it to the Hero 
>>system.  It doesn't resist it. Besides nothing keeps them from looking in 
>>Space Opera rulebook, and learning what THOSE powers can do, anyway.
>
>That's rules you add in.  I'm not saying that you can modify Hero to 
>suit.  You can do anything.  However, in answering the question that
>originally started this thread, I assumed a basic level of play.  I
>don't recall (and the article has expired on my site) where I got that
>from, either it was explicitly stated or I inferred it from the wording
>of the article, but I wanted to address a basic level of play.
>
>As such, I'm trying to steer the person towards systems that I feel
>best capture the feel, the atmosphere of psionics.  Hero, with it's
>"all hands on the table" feel, does not do this well.  Sure, it is 
>possible to modify Hero to better fulfill this requirement, but that
>may be more than what the person wanted.
>
>-- 
>Putt's Law:
>	Technology is dominated by two types of people:
>		Those who understand what they do not manage.
>		Those who manage what they do not understand.


	Well, most people have been suggesting Space Opera's psionic 
system. ( and I would have suggested the same thing for source material)
Everything of which you can do in Hero without any of the methods
that I mentioned above.  And all effects of which can be known by the
players.  And if you are thinking about running basic system level game,
are you really gonna' suggest to me that SO is a good simple beginner 
system.  ( excuse me... AGGGHHHH! )  You're going to have to take the
block mechanics out of SO and put them into a different game system,
which of course will disturb ITS base level of play.  I can concoct a
mini-system in Hero before I can fix the flaws in Space Opera.  Difference
is with Hero, I get any effects that I can imagine, not just the ones 
that Simbalest thought of.  
	You may be right; it may be more trouble than people bargained for.
So might adapting a system to what you want to use it for.  Why not just say
that everybody has a power, and the GM decides what it does.  It can`t have
the wrong feel, it has whatever feel the GM wants it to.

	John J Cassidy		cassidy@cps.msu.edu
	~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.advocacy