From: pmwg1641@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.cyber
Subject: Re: Weapons vs. Armor
Date: 28 Sep 92 02:32:27 GMT
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Archive-Name: rgc683

In article <1992Sep22.013858.21604@Veritas.COM> apple!meceng.coe.northeastern.edu!ratinox writes:
>This seems to be the big complaint about a lot of "cyberpunk" games;
>armor is just too good. SRII should (hopefully) work better than the
>first edition, but CP2020 still is flawed. And, of course, there are a
>number of "fixes" out there, some having been recently posted.

Let's face it, most people do not want a game with a realistic level
of deadliness.  The principle pleasures of frp games in order (IMHO,
of course) are: (1) problem/puzzle solving  (2) acting/getting into
character, (3) the sense/illusion of progress

A good GM can make any rate of attrition enjoyable, but a good system
will give some structure that will allow the mediocre to run fun
games as well.  The way I see it, a good GM will stimulate all of the
above.  But a mediocre GM...well, #1 will be intermittent, #3 will
be lost, *especially* if a potentially lethal game precipitates
pointless PC deaths, and players will not even have benefit of practice
to do some roleplaying (#2) with a particular character.

I am very pleased with how SRII turned out.  I really like SR, because
it is a game where killing players is unnecessary for them to really
start feeling on edge and scared; the GM just has start them down the
road of collecting those annoying target modifiers.  With the old
armor, it seemed like PCs and NPCs either dropped or took no damage.
Now, any Joe Cannonfodder can toss a burst at a PC and *probably*
will get at least a light wound.  (Healing toned down helps, too.)

>As I always point out in firearms discussions, guns are weapons.
>Weapons exist to kill things, usually people. We, humanity, have
>become very good at devising new means for killing each other.
>
>So, you've got some kind of new weapons/armor fix for your game, but
>you've still got PCs packing assault rifles, automatic shotguns,
>anti-tank weapons, explosives, whatever. How do you take them down a
>peg? Simple, really.
>
>You've got to make 'em start using their brains for something besides
>sitting on. Make 'em want to avoid firefights. Make 'em love to scream
>"cover!" when the shooting starts.
>
>Have the cops start arresting 'em for posession of illegal weapons.
>Chuck 'em in the slammer for a few days. Confiscate their gear, put
>'em on probation, fine their balls off. Make 'em love the 9mm they can
>keep stashed in a shoulder holster.
>
>Still not enough? Let 'em know about the SWAT teams armed with sniper
>rifles. Ya know, the kind that punch through APC hulls and rip the
>treads off of MBTs. Don't believe me? Check out the Barett-80 .50 cal
>sniper rifle; that's *exactly* what the US Army uses it for. Have SWAT
>take down a psycho, or even a gang, from a klick off. Make 'em sweat.
>
>Make 'em *think*.
>
>--Rat

Good suggestions, all.  But it is not just the weapons; got to teach
them that obvious armor sometimes makes it difficult to blend in
when they need it most.  Wearing one of those heavy Armored Jackets?
Don't be surprised that the cops are carefully eyeing someone
who looks like a cycleganger in a nice neighborhood. 

The heat in most cyberpunk genre are typically not the relatively well
mannered professionals we (largely) have today.  Might just frisk
someone because of his haircut.  The GM has to keep the player wondering
about things like how he will explain away the plastique.  ("Oh...
that...it's...it's just silly putty.")  It would be annoying to have
to come down on players with heavyhanded techniques, but the *threat*
must be kept alive.


--Peter


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