<DIV>The problem with Ars Magica is that PC's start off way too powerful compared to say, the grogs. They seem almost like demi-gods. If they started off less powerful, you wouldn't need to spend the entire night just reading up on spells.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>My experience went: </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>"What sort of character do you want?"</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>"Well, can I be a fighter?"</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>"No."</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>"Can I be a fighter mage?"</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>"Yes. But you'd be severely limiting yourself."</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>"Okay. So I'll be a mage."</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>"What kind of mage do you want to be?"</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>"I've no idea... (and after they were explained to me)... I've still no idea... How about I have a look at the spells. There can't be that many.... OH MY GOD!"</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>4 hours later: "So have you decided yet?"</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV> <DIV>"Well... no... Every time I get started looking at a spell someone steals the book away to make their character..."</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>They should have gone for spell lists rather than spell groups. That way you only had to make a choice from 20 spell lists, rather 2000 spells. You could buy the first 3 or 4 spells in each list and be done with it. (Maybe I'm recalling this wrong though...).</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>There's not much encouragement for playing good characters either, when the central ethos of the various magic guilds seems to be "don't get caught" rather than "don't do". </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>- Andrew<BR><BR></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid"><BR><BR>>From: Lev Lafayette <LEV_LAFAYETTE@YAHOO.COM.AU><BR>>Reply-To: Design@mimesisrpg.com<BR>>To: design@mimesisrpg.com<BR>>Subject: [Design] Character Generation: Detail vs Opportunity
Cost<BR>>Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2005 16:42:49 -0800 (PST)<BR>><BR>><BR>>Last night Erica and I visited Kyle's place to play<BR>>Ars Magica. It's a game I've read and wanted to play<BR>>for many, many years but have never had the actual<BR>>chance.<BR>><BR>>It's got great ideas. A mythic Europe, which you all<BR>>know I like. An interesting magic system based on<BR>>nouns and verbs and in Latin (e.g., "Creo Ignem" =<BR>>"Create Fire"). You roleplay a troupe of characters, a<BR>>main wizard, a couple of companions and a bunch o'<BR>>grogs. Your group forms a covenant.<BR>><BR>>All very exciting, quite inventive and after ten-plus<BR>>years it's still a good game. But dammit, we spent the<BR>>entire night on character generation and we're still<BR>>not finished. It's not as if Ars Magica has a<BR>>particularly complex character generation either.<BR>><BR>>Tell you what, if I get killed in the first hour of<BR>>actual
gameplay, I'll be royally pissed!<BR>><BR>>My thoughts compared this to HeroQuest/Hero Wars where<BR>>you can walk in and say "Heortling Warrior, devotee to<BR>>Humakt" and your character is ready. I want character<BR>>generation to be that quick if necessary. But I don't<BR>>want every "Heortling Warrior, devotee to Humakt" to<BR>>be the same either.<BR>><BR>>In this case the golden mean applies, I think. How<BR>>much time should character generation take? How<BR>>individual should a character be?<BR>><BR>>One thing I've noticed. Random rolling of<BR>>characteristics can often be faster than players<BR>>having to choose stats and traits!<BR>><BR>><BR>><BR>>Lev Lafayette<BR>>lev_lafayette@yahoo.com.au<BR>>http://au.geocities.com/lev_lafayette<BR>><BR>><BR>><BR>>__________________________________<BR>>Start your day with Yahoo! - Make it your home
page!<BR>>http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs<BR>><BR>>_______________________________________________<BR>>Design mailing list<BR>>Design@mimesisrpg.com<BR>>http://mimesisrpg.com/mailman/listinfo/design_mimesisrpg.com<BR><BR><BR><BR>_______________________________________________<BR>Design mailing list<BR>Design@mimesisrpg.com<BR>http://mimesisrpg.com/mailman/listinfo/design_mimesisrpg.com<BR></BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV><BR></DIV><p>
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