Episode 23: "What's His Mother's Name?"

Writing the rules for character creation, I've come to a realization. It's something I've been thinking for a long time now, but I just couldn't put it into words. Maybe its because I was writing games for other people that I couldn't see it. Maybe its because I was listening to people complain on the L5R and 7th Sea listserve argue about it so vehemently that I couldn't see it. Maybe it's because my wife saw it all the time, and only when I asked her about it, only when she expalained it to me, could I see it.

And now, I'm going to show it to you.

Right now, on the 7th Sea RPG listserve, there's a massive discussion going on about The Übercharacter. You know, the one you can make with the character creation rules that no-one else can beat. The guy who bends all the rules, jumps through the loopholes like a masked Mexican wrestler and dances on the head of the game designer, singing "I broke your gay-yame! I broke your gay-yame!"

I've said this before and I'll say it again: There's no such thing as a broken game, only a broken game master. It's true, some games simply do not work, but they are few and far between. But just because some number-monkey decides to get out his High King Geek calculator and start figuring out how to make the dice work his way so he can make the Character to End All Characters doesn't mean a system is broken. What it means is that the GM is broken for allowing that character into his game.

I've written on this before. I've talked about methods of spanking players who think they can bend game systems into pretzels so they can make Superduper Man, the God-King of Broken Characters in such a way that they never try that little trick again. No, I don't tolerate people who make Übercharacters in my games. Frankly, I'm not interested in winning a roleplaying game. I'm only interested in playing. And, if you're so eager to win, there's a CCG tournament going on Right Over There. Be sure not to let the door hit your ass on the way out.

Frankly, I don't understand a gamer's desire to "break" a roleplaying game. Isn't the point of creating a character making one that's fun to play? Granted, for some people, this means making a character that's unbeatable, that can do everything better than everyone else, and makes Wolverine look like Waldo, but I don't play with those people. At the very least, they don't play with me. I figure, if they're so eager to bend and break the rules, that means they want me to do the same thing. So I do.

You want a broken character? All right. I'll give you a broken character.

Just recently, I got invited to play in a Vampire game. I was very excited. I hadn't played any game in a long time (I usually end up on the other side of the GM screen) and I thought about what kind of character I'd like to make. I went through my memory of all those Vampire NPCs and remembered old Jumpin' Jack Flash. Springheel Jack was a nasty Toreador who was an artist in his own right: an artist-assassin. Of course, making Jack as an NPC was very different than making Jack for the game, so I started from scratch. I pumped up his Celerity as high as it could go, juiced up his combat Traits and Abilities and… realized exactly how two-dimensional he really was. I mean, when he was an NPC, he was great. Very imposing. But as a PC, he was just… well, boring. So, I had to flesh out his character a bit, add a few quirks and make him interesting again. Needless to say, I had to lose a bit of that Celerity and my Firearms Skill went right down the toilet and he just wasn't as butch as I wanted him to be.

This got me frustrated. I talked about it with Jennifer and she gave me insight that inspired what you're reading now. (That's right, it's her fault.)

"I'm much happier with a game system that allows me to make the character I want and trusts me to play it right than a game that doesn't trust me and guards my creativity for 'game balance'."

She said that last word the same way I say "mushrooms". Eeyuch.

But all of that got me thinking. And as I sat down to write the character creation rules for Orkworld, I realized something. I stopped writing rules and wrote down the following text. It's at the very beginning of the character creation section, and I thought you should read it. Goes something like this:

A Word of Warning for Experienced Players

Folks who are familiar with roleplaying games will find that the rules presented in this chapter are very simple; they do little to serve "game balance". There are two reasons for this. First, I feel game balance is much better served by a game master who knows his own players far better than I do. Each and every GM changes each and every rules set to accommodate his own players and throwing a complicated game system at him defeats the purpose of personal customization. A simple system, on the other hand, is easier to tinker with, thus allowing GMs to modify the set to their own personal tastes. I've also included design notes in the Appendix which give GMs further insight into my own design process, to make rules modification even easier.

The second reason has to do with creativity. All too often, a complicated system not only tells players what they can do, but it also implies what they cannot do. When players have a small set of limits, their creativity swells, making the game session both dynamic and exciting. And, frankly, from my own playing experience, I prefer a simple system that trusts me to guard myself against abusing other players' trust rather than a complicated system set out to make sure I don't "cheat".

A simple system doesn't only liberate players, but game masters as well. Instead of concentrating on numbers and statistics, the GM can focus on more important details - plot, theme, atmosphere and character.

However, some players may assume that "simple rules" translate into "abuseable rules". Players who feel an obligation to try to break this game system will be successful every time. You can make super duper combat monsters that kill anything that step in their path with little effort. Orkworld wasn't designed for players who want to make one-sided walking cuisenart characters. Remember, just because Orkworld is a game doesn't mean you have to play to win.

So there's that. Now you know. I really don't care about "game balance". I'm not really concerned with "broken characters". I've designed three of these things (working on my fourth) and every time I do, someone comes to me and tells me, "I've made The Perfect Character! Look at him! He's unbeatable."

Of course, I take a look at the sheet, read it very carefully, then ask them one simple question:

"What his mother's name?"

I usually (not always, but more often than not) get a blank look. "Huh?" is the typical answer.

The point here is that people put all of this thought into points and ranks and traits and how to get the most for what they've got and they spend so little time actually thinking about the character. Hey, I'm guilty of it, too! Look at ol' Jack Flash up there. He's a Monster. It wasn't until I thought about his mother, his father, his little brother, his childhood, his first kiss, his first broken heart, his first guitar lesson, and why he became a vampire that he ceased being a Combat Monster and started becoming a character.

And isn't that what we're all here for? To make characters to play in stories? Or are we here to make Übermonster who has a 5 Firearms, a 5 Melee, a 5 Brawl and a 5 Celerity?

It's up to you. Players and GMs. It's up to the players to make characters rather than monsters. And it's up to the GMs to break those monsters in half and help those characters blossom. And that's what Orkworld is all about: playing characters rather than monsters. You know, monsters like men, elves and dwarves.

(Oh! I solved the halfling problem! Remind me to talk about it next week.)

That's all for this week. Next week, we'll take a further look at the character creation system, which includes rules on making individual orks, households and tribes. See you then!

(Oh, and see you on Friday night for Johnchat 2000. See the News board for more info.)