Someone hold me to this

[mneme]

(From a post of mine on the OTE mailing list)

My Opinion:

In a heavy GM-fiatty game, as OTE is designed to be, this shouldn't
matter.

Sure in a direct confrontation, all stops out, Superman will beat
Batman (or worse, Lois Lane) every time. But it's the responsiblity
of the GM to make sure everyone gets what they want, assuming they've
been clear on what that is. A Superman player might want a steady
background of stopping calamities, worked against moral/emotional
dilemmas and occasional high stakes tactical puzzles; a player playing
Batman might want a stream of steady detective work, a chance for
ruthless justice, and some space to angst; a player playing Lois might
want "girl reporter" detective work, some time to chew the scenery and
jaw with the villain as a damsel in distress, and a steady stream of
opporunities to turn the tables and be useful even in a fight where
she's outclassed -- or they might want other things. But as long as
you put things up against one another, and the players aren't -too-
far from one another, their characters theoretical "power" levels
shouldn't matter -- the only place where they do is that weakest of
superhero tropes -- the team-up mass battle. (and even then, not as
much as you might think if you stick to genre tropes and timing).

Ok, that's it -- I -have- to play a "Lois Lane" style character the next
time I get a chance to define a character in a superhero RPG.
Assuming I'm the only one going that far out of type, it sounds like a
whole heap of fun.

Someone hold me to this

[mneme]

(From a post of mine on the OTE mailing list)

My Opinion:

In a heavy GM-fiatty game, as OTE is designed to be, this shouldn't
matter.

Sure in a direct confrontation, all stops out, Superman will beat
Batman (or worse, Lois Lane) every time. But it's the responsiblity
of the GM to make sure everyone gets what they want, assuming they've
been clear on what that is. A Superman player might want a steady
background of stopping calamities, worked against moral/emotional
dilemmas and occasional high stakes tactical puzzles; a player playing
Batman might want a stream of steady detective work, a chance for
ruthless justice, and some space to angst; a player playing Lois might
want "girl reporter" detective work, some time to chew the scenery and
jaw with the villain as a damsel in distress, and a steady stream of
opporunities to turn the tables and be useful even in a fight where
she's outclassed -- or they might want other things. But as long as
you put things up against one another, and the players aren't -too-
far from one another, their characters theoretical "power" levels
shouldn't matter -- the only place where they do is that weakest of
superhero tropes -- the team-up mass battle. (and even then, not as
much as you might think if you stick to genre tropes and timing).

Ok, that's it -- I -have- to play a "Lois Lane" style character the next
time I get a chance to define a character in a superhero RPG.
Assuming I'm the only one going that far out of type, it sounds like a
whole heap of fun.