Re: Dead Worlds & D&D 3e

To me, it's like being a Superman fan vs being a Batman fan.  Powergamers
are more into an epic, powerful struggle between good and evil.  They live
big, the fight big, they die big.  The superman comic or Star Treck are
powergaming to me.  They are the best, the brightest, the first line of
defense.  I think the disdain of powergaming comes from the fact that it can
be done very badly.  In the hands of a bad gm, it turns into a Power Rangers
type battle in which the winner of a battle is the one with the most "power"
(whatever the hell that means).  Usually the biggest fattest energy blast.
On the other hand of the spectrum are the batman fans.  They're looking for
a gritty realistic story.  A hero who could die from a lucky shot by some
punk with a bow.  Probably it's biggest downfall is that it can turn into an
angst-fest of tragic heroes and an inability to change the world.  White
Wolf tries to walk the line between grittiness and characictures of angst.
I think gritty games tend to be less common in D&D which is why people
complain more about powergaming than angst-gaming.  :)

That's my $.02

Sebastian


>From: "Downer, Chris" <Chris.Downer@?????????.com>
>Reply-To: Discussion list for the Spelljammer campaign setting
><SPELLJAMMER-L@??????.???????.com>
>To: SPELLJAMMER-L@??????.???????.com
>Subject: Re: [SPELLJAMMER] Dead Worlds & D&D 3e
>Date: Mon, 2 Oct 2000 15:53:57 -0500
>
>I don't mind powergaming at all as long as there is roleplaying mixed into
>it.
>
> >
> > I've always been curious about this. I've been playing off
> > and on for twenty
> > years, and played just about every style you can think of.
> > Why is it that
> > many gamers have some esoteric disdain for powergaming? I've
> > had lots more
> > fun playing a cleric/mage with an 18/00 strength (and that's
> > one of his
> > lower stats), than I ever had playing less powerful
> > characters. Of course,
> > since he can eat orcs for breakfast (ewwww, what a gruesome
> > thought), other
> > enemies that match his power more closely tend to gravitate
> > to him. It helps
> > that he is a knight of Aglarond, and a border baron,
> > bordering on Thay....
> >
> > Powergamers unite and come out!
> >
>
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