(( posted with permission of author ))

Date: Sun, 19 Oct 1997 14:13:26 -0700
From: gamesman@best.com (Daniel Fruchterman)
Subject: [mstcircle] Empowerment

What makes a game for a player?

The best game we can run is one in which the player suspends his
disbelief and for a moment is his character.

What does this?

Innocuous rules
        Rules that are in the background. That fade from the forefront 
of the mind of the player and allows him to be his character. The more
cumbersome the rules, the harder this is for the player.

Empowerment
        When a player is allowed to act. When a player may take action and
DO something. A storyteller SHOULD NEVER tell a player what his character
thinks, what he feels or what he does. This disempowers a player and bores
the hell out of them. What use is a player if he cannot play his character.
If he cannot do anything.
        Example: A neonate in long campaign run with Methuselahs. The Meths
are playing fine but the neonate can be easily disempowered in the long run
with the Meths because they cannot act against any Meth except in what the
neonate player may consider the most trivial of ways.
        Example: A player makes a 1st level fighter in D&D game where the
rest of the party is 15th level. This is so BORING for the player when it
comes to combat and treasure hunting because the player is reduced to
roleplaying and not fighting because he would get squashed with one 
hit.

Challenge/Conflict
        Our players are most into their characters when they are competing
or striving. Not winning and not when challenging. The player that is
subtlely striving in talking about art with another character showing who
is more aged or has researched. The player that is arguing for his life in
front of the court.
        We place value on in character gains so that conflict results, make
something valuable and limited and others will compete. This is anything
from Princedom, a domain, a status trait, a power to learn, a secret to be
gained and an alliance.

Growth
        A player loves growth. The ability to have the character change
over time. BUT the player wants to be able to GUIDE the growth. Having a
storyteller spend ALL of your experience for you would be pretty damn
annoying.

        These are the major points that your job is to help with. Alot of
the times we forget about most of these and focus on generating stories
(conflict/challenge). Then we focus on abuses of rules. Well focus on what
is behind the rules... Empowering characters as evenly as possible, making
growth under the control of the player but not allowing them to abuse it,
innocuous rules and items in the rules/background for players to have
healthy competitive conflict over.

- -Daniel


Daniel Fruchterman
#9308-005  MST
ICC Black Team Leader
gamesman@best.com

The player is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled