(Message wick:174)
Subj: Re: What to tell the public
From: ork@lightside.com (John Wick)

  To: l5rrpginfo@frpg.com
Date: Thu, 03 Sep 1998 13:41:17 PDT
-- /blue/homes/cowell/Mail/mhl.format --

> JW> From: ork@lightside.com (John Wick)
> JW> Reply-To: l5rrpginfo@frpg.com
>
> >I'd be much happier if you saw yourselves making money by selling useful
> >RPG product.
> JW> I hope that isn't an intimation that we don't . . .
>
>I'm not sure how you view your company.  You consistently advocate story
>over rules and recommend personal interpretation of text.  Mr. Dancey's
>post emphasizes marketing trickery.
>
>What would you make of this evidence?

I can't talk for Ryan. Ryan works in Seattle and I work in Ontario,
California. I don't control what Ryan says, and sometimes, even disagree
with it. Ryan has very little to do with the L5R RPG.

I, on the other hand, have a lot to do with it. I advocate story over rules
in an RPG, yes (but NEVER in a card game, but that's for another time).
That's because . . . well. Let's see.

There's a new ad in Inquest magazine. It's a TSR ad. It speaks volumes. It
has a big picture of a 20-sided die with the "1" on top. The text, very
simply, reads: "Good idea. Bad roll."

I have a personal problem with game systems that rely too heavily on
mechanics. If a player comes up with something brilliant, I let him get
away with it. I cannot penalize a player that way.

Dice are arbitrary. That does _not_ mean they are fair (which is what I
hear a lot of the time). Arbitrary means that they don't care if you win or
lose. Dice don't care.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm not Pro-Story, I'm Pro-Player. I
give players what they want in a game. Of course, that all depends on each
individual player. Obviously, there are folks who are unhappy with aspects
of the RPG. I can't please all the people all the time. I try to give
answers to rules questions that will make the most people happy. I have to
be very careful what I say because people will (and have) point to it and
say, "Uikku-sama said this."

That's why I say, "Do what makes you happy." It's not because I'm lazy,
it's because I'm not a mind-reader. _You_ know the best way to adjust the
game to fit your style. That's why the Honor and Glory rules are rather
vague in places, because _you_ know how to make them work for _you_.

The Honor awards in the book are as complete as I could make them. I award
Honor when you (the player) have to make a choice and you choose the thing
you believe in, even if it hurts you. If you compromise your principles, I
take it away. That's the way the Honor rules work.

As for Bushido . . . well. I can't give you a definition of bushido, any
more than I can tell you what honor is. Nobody can. There is no
hard-and-fast definition of honor, not even in our own culture. Everyone
has different defintions. And that's okay. Because everyone should have a
different definition of Honor for their character. If you do things that
your code agrees with, you get Honor. If you don't, you lose it.

Now if you do things that your lord disagrees with, you may lose Glory, but
gain honor. (See how that works?)

Okay. I gotta go. Gotta finish up Phoenix writing for Ree.

I hope this helps out folks with questions. I do my best to answer stuff
when it comes up. I'm ambiguous about story elements because . . . well,
let's just put it this way.

When the Scorpion Coup does happen - and it's gonna happen - do you want to
know _exactly_ when it happens. Or, would you rather find out _when_ it
happens?

We're developing a roleplaying game here, and we're doing it in a way
nobody else ever has. Yes, it's different. Yes, it means you (the GM) have
to do a little dancing. But hey - you're a GM! You are the God-King of
Improvisation, right? Right.


John W.
(www.7thsea.com)

"Just saying 'It's only my opinion' doesn't save you from being wrong."



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