Considered something last night...

I was talking with Matt and Monica about some of the stuff I've been talking about here lately.

It IS nice to have others that feel the same way about games/ gaming and having fun with the system and making adjustments on the fly, as-needed. We were playing the Hunter-esque side of WoD, doing some investigation, and Monica made a pretty big conclusion-leap to tie some stuff together. Could have been questionable in some games...maybe iffy. Matt just said, "Okay. That's a pretty big leap. Lets say you burn one point of willpower for the session and put these pieces together."

Cool. We were able to propel the plot forward a bit, making a leap of logic that would have been maybe slightly questionable...for the cost of one Willpower point (which will regen as of the next episode). We talked about it and it's a pretty elegant way of using the system. Kind of dig us out of the hole (investigations seem to always get bogged down in-game, and it's nice to sometimes get a Clue-by-Four).

Now some folks would have balked at this. "That's not in the rules!". The rules say X. Blablabla.

Fuck that. Whatever.
It worked nicely. We had a blast. We came up on an ad hoc solution and it worked and everyone was happy. WE WIN!

Something new:
One thing we DID come up with that sucks is when introducing new people to a group...it's far easier to incorporate gamer newbies than guys who've been around forever.

Gamer newbies usually have little to no experience with the game and how it's played/ run and really how to play and just run with it.

Old school gamers often (not always by any stretch) have this "knowitall" attitude, or know far more about the system and can be a real pain when trying to run because of interjections and "this is now how WE did it".

Ugh. Yeah...that's a drag.

Also, folks who play everything the same:
Trogdor the Fighter in D&D. Sure...that works. He has an axe, and he hits stuff. Okay. NP.

But what about Vampire the Masquerade?
Sure...Trogdor the Brujah. He has an axe and likes to hit stuff. I'm sure the prince likes having a few thugs around...I can dig it...mostly.

How about Dogs in the Vineyard?
Sure, Trogdor the Dog. He has a trait "I like to hit things with an axe". Okay. So what are the stakes? Ummm...stakes? "I like to hit him with an axe." Sure...but what about the stakes involved...you're escalating to ...oh nevermind.

How about Sorcerer?
Trogdor the Vile and his Axe is his Demon. You going to bargain with your axe in order to use it?
"Uhh...I get another axe"
FACEPALM

The point here is playing whatever you're playing and trying to fit in with what the game (and group) intends.

If I'm gonna play Mage: The Ascension...it's gonna be a lot different from my AFMBE Fireman, my AD&D Cavalier and my Dog Brother Gilead. In each I'm accepting that it's a different game, a different expectation, and a different goal.

If we all want to get crazy and wing it...that's acceptable too. The idea is that everyone should be on the same sheet of music as far as what is going on: style of play, goals, expectations.

Be up front about that stuff. Most folks are cool with trying to fit in with what you guys are trying to accomplish. Some...a few won't

I've had some folks introduced who always want to play hack and slashers...no matter what the game...they make a combat monster. THAT usually turns out ugly. But usualy I've found that MOST folks will try to go along with the crowd, have fun and do what the others are doing.