DocMan

Q: Do you relize that the street price for this mountain would be billions of dollars? A: I'm still wondering why you keep provoking Rachel to use you for batting practice. Doc

Q: Man, you must have had some night on the town! I can still smell the alcohol on you from over here. So, what was your blind date like? A: No, it's detachable so I can plug it in and recharge the batteries. Doc

Q: OK, the containment vessel is ready. Where is that sample of the biotoxin? A: It's all over but the begging for mercy. Doc

Q: So, how do you like your sprouts? A: Well, we got the job done in the end, but you'll need a new chipper-shredder. Doc

Q: You ate the entire contents of your wife's purse? Didn't that stuff taste awful? A: Normally I'd love to help you, but right now my leprosy has gotten a bit out of hand. Ha, ha, "hand". It's like a joke... Doc

Q: Why are you hiding in the bottom of MY closet with a blanket over your head clutching a teddy bear? A: I don't think those rug burns will ever heal. Doc

Q: Do you know a good way to get crumbs and chocolate stains out of the couch? A: I've had enough of this abuse. I'm going home. Doc

I'd also like to speak up on the comment that GM's make bad players because they argue with the GM. I don't think that's accurate or fair to a lot of player GM's. ANYONE can be a rules lawyer. It's not the purview of GM's who are Playing. Yes, you do sometimes have GM's who when they're playing forget that someone else is in charge of the rules. But not all GM's do that. And plenty of Players turn to Rules Lawyering in order to gain special power for their character. I will agree that Rules Lawyers are usually Alpha players: they're trying to enforce their image of the game on everyone else. And Rules Lawyers HATE to lose. But there is a reason you call the GM "God" when they're running a game. Doc

That makes you a Real Looney! There are more types of gamer that Alpha, Beta, and Omega, but the Alpha, Beta, and Omega types tend to show themselves fairly clearly. Doc

Some interesting stuff in this thread. But I noticed that there seems to be some drift in the idea of what makes an Alpha or a Beta. Here are my definitions so y'all can judge my reply. Alpha: comes into the game KNOWING that they will shape the game/situation into what THEY want it to be. The Alpha is first and foremost the boss of themselves, and don't anyone take it in their heads to try for the position. And if you can't keep up on your own, they'll be happy to tell you what you should be doing. For your own good, of course. Alphas have vision, but they don't compromise. They operate, but very rarely cooperate. "My way or the highway. So here's what you're going to do..." Beta: Improves themselves by supporting the group. The Beta doesn't mind taking orders from others as long as they're reasonable. The Beta is perfectly capable of giving orders, but would prefer to let someone else do it, or to get consensus from the group. Betas want more facts, want to exmaine the clues, and need to prove or disprove before committing to action. Betas have no problems doing things once the decisions have been made. "So we're agreed, we'll go with plan C?" Omega: Takes loads of abuse just to belong to the group. The Omega doesn't care what the group is doing as long as they get to participate. Often, the Omega has no strong skills, but tries to make up with it by finding wacky ways to use what abilities they have. Fortunately, the group very rarely follows their plan. Omegas can still be surprisingly useful, and make excellent cannon fodder. "Can I come, too?" I tend to play Beta Characters. Usually my characters tend to slip into Second in Command or Power Behind the Throne type roles. They tend to influence events through suggestion and negotiation than by barking orders. I can stand up and take the lead on things, but I prefer to keep things on a friendly footing. A party full of Alphas is a catfight. A party full of Betas is an endless comittee. A party full of Omegas is a kindergarden class at recess. Doc

Q: So, back from the classic TV marathon? How did you like it? A: I've got this shooting pain all up and down my right side. But that's probably due to the razor blades. Doc

Q: So, why is Lemming writhing on the ground, eating leaves and spewing silk wildly around the room? A: Of course I know how to use it. I learned in the Boy Sprouts! Doc

I am a Player. Specificly, I'm a player in White Heat and Klytus' gaming group. Now, I have GMed before, and while I could GM to save my life, and players have told me that they enjoy my games, I am not good at it. As an experienced Player, I know what a good game looks like when it hits the table, and I just don't have the time and energy to make that happen. And our group has a pretty unruly bunch of players. Our biggest collective problem is getting into the spirit of the game. But once we do, we do pretty well. Klytus give good game very consistantly. This is mostly because he won't approach the table until he's sure he's ready. Or I'm wrong and he's gotten to fake it really well. White Heat's characters in Klytus' games are all very strong characters who won't take a back seat to anyone. I don't know if that was intentional, or if it just sort of happened. However, seeing that nothing will stand between her characters and their goals, most of the rest of the group tends to steer their characters out of her way. This doesn't mean that the rest of us aren't just as driven in achieving our goals, we just do our best to keep any potential conflicts hidden. However, I once did play a character, Ty, who was in direct conflict with White Heat's Colleen, and equally adamant in holding his ground. The conflicts between these characters made excelent roleplay, but it pretty much caused that campaign to grenade on itself. White Heat also gives good game, although she does get fed up with our bunch from time to time. She has a very subtle style of play which adds exquisite flavor to the game when one catches it, and is maddening to both players and GM when we miss it. Klytus' characters in her games tend to vary from campaign to campaign. In Desires, he's clearly the Alpha, but that was by design. In Boons, his character became the PC Alpha by default because his was the longest continuous character in the campaign (and the only original character left). The character, James, had so overshadowed everyone else that Kly retired him, and brought in a new character who has pretty much settled in as the party Omega. "Everybody picks on poor Burns." "Well, yes. But he invites abuse. To not provide it would be rude." In Lame Horse, he's more of a PC Beta. My characters tend to be Betas, as that fits more with my personality. They have goals, but prefer to keep them hidden in favor of the harmony of the group. And most of my characters have decidededly sneaky natures anyway. Part of their goals involve not letting other know what they're up to. Doc

Q: Did you just see six people having sex go down the street on a motorized bed? A: I know where the throttle is, but I'm still trying to figure out how you're supposed to steer. Doc

From last Friday Night's Vampire game. "What about The Nameless One?" "Oh, Kyle!" Doc

Q: So, tell me Mr. TreeBucket, when you heard the shots, Mr Hobbes was in front of you? A: I don't know why you bother to ask. You never pay any attention to the answer. Doc

Q: Clones! Yes, Clones! I shall create an army of clones to do my bidding. They shall all be young, and they shall dance with the joy of doing my will. Now what shall I call them? A: Not so you'd notice. Doc

Q: Augh! The guns on this robo-badger are jammed, and I don't think I can get them fixed before the bouncing gymnast cheerleeder assasins get here! What do we do? A: I've got pom-poms, and I know how to use them. Doc

Q: So what are you taking the Hilton Sister for your date tonight? A: I left it at home. It needed recharging. Doc

Q: Excuse me. There are a large number of handsome, well-muscled men wearing lab coats and party hats and carrying odd looking weapons at the door asking for you. Do you know who they are? A: Just remove the chain saw, and we'll consider it even. Doc

Q: So what did Foxbat say when they pulled him up in front of the judge? A: Because of the immense commercial opportunities should he suceed. Doc

Q: So when you got to the hotel room, the Hilton sisters were covered in WHAT? A: Acute Cholesterol Poisoning. Doc

Q: So, what did Rachel say when you started giggling uncontrolably? A: Fortunately, I had replaced her usual weapon with a nerf bat. Doc

As I said, Anaba wasn't moving herself. Anaba would aim at a particular point, and Photon Blue would either move Devastator so that he occupied that point, or would move Anaba so that the new path of her fist intersected Devastator. They did have to make a coordination roll to make it work. I just left it out before because my post was too long... Doc

Klytus, our Champions GM, has a particularly nasty brick called Devastator. You name a defense, he's got it, and at high level to boot. I'm surprised he hasn't posted this story here yet... Anywho... The party consists of Photon Blue, a teleporting Energy Projector, Anaba, an amerind-flavored Brick, and my character, Psi Lord, the Mentalist. So, we run into Devastator the first time. Our big advantage is that there's three of us, and he's slow. So we give him our opening shots. Photon Blue blasts him, no effect. Psi Lord ego blasts him, no effect. Anaba punches him... and gets one or two stun through his defenses. He backhands her and sends her flying. Ye gods! So, Psi Lord since he can't get through the mental defenses, switches to his backup attack. A double-knockback Telekinesis assisted Punch. He does a few move-by's with the TK punch. Never hurting Devastator, but knocking him off his feet so he has to take time to get up. We managed to set up a rhythm so that Psi Lord would knock Devastator down to keep him from being able to close to attack, Anaba would wind up for a haymaker, and Photon Blue would hold her action and use her Usable against Other Teleport to move Anaba just before her Haymaker went off. Doing this, we slowly started to whittle him down. So then Psi Lord's turn rolls back around, and he decides to try and speed up the process by doing a move-through at his full flight using the TK Punch... and rolls horribly. Even with double knockback, I failed to move Devastator, so Psi Lord took full damage. This, on top of the bits of damage he'd been taking from each move-by, and with the fact that he had a lousy 22 points of Stun to begin with, drops Psi Lord into a crumple at Devastator's feet. Photon Blue got him out of there, and she and Anaba managed to keep the big D occupied until Psi Lord could recover and we eventually whittled Devastator down. But I think that was the last time Psi Lord did a move-through. Doc