[UA] Stupid Newbie GM questions...

[David Lowe]

In the past I have resorted to handing out pieces of paper a friend mad up
that explain the rules of GMing in general. Such things as "This is a story,
because of that I may let you succeed or fail without a roll because it
makes a good story." I've sat down and explained the game to people and what
the game manes and have pointed out that this is NOT DnD and combat is
deadly. Even with that I've had enough experiences along the lines of that
to be worried but....


Back on track though, thanks for the input of the madness meters. I'm hoping
all goes well, I got a good intro session planned (I think), 2 of my players
understand the system, the rest...well should pick it up, but any one have
any suggestions for how to easy DnD only players into UA?

On Thu, May 15, 2008 at 10:23 AM, Anthony H. <ars.mysteriorum at gmail.com>
wrote:

> I dig from the hip games as well. I attempted to bring in some less
> conventional games to prepare them for other kinds of games. I decided that
> WFRP was a nice way to ease them out of the D&D mindset. It's a fantasy game
> with swords and sorcery, but grittier, and with more in common to Call of
> Cthulhu and Unknown Armies. I told them that an army of 200 Beastmen were
> coming against a wartorn village of about 30 starving peasants and their
> leader wished to evacuate. The game derailed here. They fully intended to
> fight the small army.
>
> First, I tried roleplaying the leader of the village explaining the logical
> reasons for leaving (200 big, strong, hairy, crazed beasts fortified by the
> powers of Chaos) but they called the leader a coward. I stopped the game and
> had to explain to them that 200 Beastmen against 30 villagers and three
> insane adventurers was certain death. This resulted in them complaining that
> they didn't like the system "because they couldn't win." That was their
> reasoning, as quoted. We had only played two sessions and had only had two
> instances of combat, where they literally trounced the enemies, but would
> throw their hands up in frustration any time their attacks missed.
>
> I ended up distancing myself from that group for that and other, far more
> troublesome reasons. Sadly, when you leave a group, it's very, very hard to
> find another. They're (understandably) very exclusive here.
>
> Bleah. Sorry. A bit of a rant there. I'll be moving to Maine in a few
> months, so hopefully I'll hook up with gamers a bit more willing to give
> something different a try.
>   On Thu, May 15, 2008 at 10:04 AM, David Lowe <
> david.joseph.lowe at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Well I've played UA a few times and am getting a game set up for people
>> who haven't. Because I want them to have more obscure games on the table.
>>
>> So far I'm plotting my story out for about a month. It's a rough
>> guideline. I'm a from the hip GM, so most of it will be player driven.
>>
>>   On Thu, May 15, 2008 at 10:02 AM, Anthony H. <ars.mysteriorum at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> You know, I've owned UA for years and never once ran it. It's one of the
>>> most daunting games to make a plot for. I love the material though. I just
>>> wish I could shape it into a workable plot...
>>>
>>> The other issue is players. I live in South Dakota, where RPGs are still
>>> the work of the Devil. It makes it a bit difficult to find players that play
>>> anything other than d20 or Exalted, as there is no audience for the "more
>>> obscure" games.
>>>
>>> So... is it hard to make up a story? How much time do you usually spend
>>> planning a session?
>>>
>>>   On Thu, May 15, 2008 at 9:55 AM, Eslington ~ <eslington at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> It's suggested that for a street level game, a PC could start with up
>>>> to three hardened notches their choice of madness meters, if they take
>>>> a failed notch on meters of their choice in exchange.
>>>>
>>>> So you could, say, take two hardened notches on Violence and one
>>>> hardened notch on Isolation, but would have to also take on three
>>>> failed notches on meters of your choice.
>>>>
>>>> Also note that upon becoming adepts, characters take on one hardened
>>>> and one failed notch on the Unnatural Meter to reflect their exposure
>>>> to the supernatural.
>>>>
>>>> As a GM though, these are reccomendations. Rules to bend as you see fit.
>>>>
>>>> If you feel your player's character concepts justify them, you can let
>>>> your players write their own madness meters out as they choose, within
>>>> any boundries you choose to set.
>>>>
>>>> You might want to avoid this if your players don't quite "get" the
>>>> system and are likely see being totally hardened on a meter as a path
>>>> to invulnerability rather than a descent into inhumanity.
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>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> "Disbelief in magic can force a poor soul into believing in government
>>> and business."
>>>
>>> - Tom Robbins
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>>>
>>
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>>
>
>
> --
> "Disbelief in magic can force a poor soul into believing in government and
> business."
>
> - Tom Robbins
>
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