Mike Metlay says:
{Even in the midst of thesis defense, he finds time to write}
{Sorry I quoted so much, but it seemed important}
:Forget the rules. Forget the UNIVERSE! THIS is what is important;
:all else is expensive, slick window dressing that doesn't mean spit:
:...
:Role-playing. Game. This and nothing else is the core of the matter.
:...
:We have all experienced times when the entire
:group, even when the CHARACTERS were in conflict, moved and thought
:in a wondrous harmony, and the game "clicked." It WORKED.
:
:We have also, alas, experienced times when it didn't. Sometimes only
:on occasion, and sometimes chronically. And when the problem becomes
:chronic, we have often, in our inexperience and ignorance, attempted
:to band-aid the problem with Rules.
:
:Bad move.
If only politicians would learn this about real life. Not so far removed
from fantasy, I guess.
:There is only one Rule that counts in a role-playing game: THOU SHALT
:GET ALONG WITH THY REF AND FELLOW PLAYERS. No exceptions, no fixes to
:the rules to prevent abuses, no nothing. You go with the program or
:you LEAVE.
Why does this sound so remeniscent of the first and second (Judaic)
commandments?
Which is MY main point about GM'ing--Don't take it too seriously.
So often we see people who need to get a life and stop treating the
game like it was actuually important to them. If it *really* is
that important, this player needs professional counseling, not the
kind of inner search work that comes from role-playing. Very few
of us here have the skills and training needed to keep that (fortunately
very) rare individual from losing touch with our common fantasy
altogether.
So, as Mike says:
:Here endeth the lesson. Go, and tolerate fools no more.
:(And before anyone asks: No, I do not apply this ruling to the PBEM,
:although I'd dearly love to sometimes. Why not? That's not for
:public discussion.)
Except it's mainly my fault. and I'll publicly admit THAT much...
- --
Richard Johnson [email removed]
Qui custodii ipsos custodes?