From: sl9b4@cc.usu.edu (Deep Six)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: fudging
Date: 2 Sep 92 00:53:05 MDT
Organization: Utah State University

In article <BtxKEz.GC5@usenet.ucs.indiana.edu>, 
 (thomas wrentmore barnes) writes:

> Yeah, I know, GURPS is my favorite RPG system. I just am uncomfortable
> with the way Luck works in that system. The "once per X unit of game
> time" rule doesn't appeal to me for 2 reasons:
> 
> a) It seems real prone to Munchkinism. (I can't believe that Fred takes
> 1/2 an hour to go to the bathroom and he has to go every hour...)

Hmm. Good point. You've actually had players do that? How old are the
people you GM? In the group I am with right now, there is just one player
who has the Luck advantage, and her biggest problem is forgetting to use 
it every hour (hi Jes).

I do know what you mean, though. Sometimes when the players are willing
to rape a rule, you as a GM have to limit its use. I have the same problem
with the higher level of Eiditic Memory. I've had to ``discourage'' taking
that advantage due to some really perverse exploitations.
 
> b) Luck should help the player when he needs it. If the G.M. knows that
> the character is in terrible danger, but the player doesn't, the G.M.
> can't assist the Lucky character without fudging die rolls. If the
> character uses his luck on something that seems important in the first
> 15 minutes of an hour, but later in the hour (which could be many game
> months along) needs to use his luck, he's screwed.

Well, I've never played in one of your games, but I've never seen a game
in which the players are going to be in peril every hour. You talk as if
the characters' existance revolves around the correct placement of these
``lucky rolls,'' and if the luck was left to the players, the characters
would perish. I've mostly seen the Luck advantage used just to benefit the 
character, not save him/her from certain death. And although it can 
occasionally save a character, it's not as if Luck can save a character
every time. Take a HT roll for example. If the character is rolling against
death, he/she can ``use up'' his Luck roll (or hero points) on that HT
roll, but nothing's there to save him/her from the next roll. Sometimes 
being lucky isn't enough. 

>    I incorporate Hero Points as a 1 point advantage (each) in GURPs.
> Each Hero point acts as a one-shot version of the luck advantage. It's
> really great for keeping PCs alive in otherwise bloody campaigns,
> especially if the GM allows the player to buy the advantage with unspent
> character points during the course of the adventure. 
>    This gives the G.M. a control over luck (docking the character's
> character points, since he can give them out as "lucky breaks" during
> play rather than awarding them as character points after play) without
> fudging and lets players use luck in emergencies.

This sounds like a good system, but I really like the Luck advantage the 
way it is. One thing I really like about it is that it gives the players
a feeling of control over the sometimes cruel winds of fate (dice). As an
aside, I have found it gives the players the confidence to go ahead with
bold plans and actions. The confidence comes from the Luck -- the character
thinks, ``I'll use my Luck at this critical point in the plan.'' But often,
the confidence is enough to make the character successful, and the Luck 
plays only a small part, or is not needed at all.

Okay,
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chadd VanZanten SL9B4@CC.USU.EDU + ``Charlie don't surf!'' --Big Duke in 
Francis Coppala's Apocolypse Now