Things I May No Longer Do While Playing XII: A Thousand-Yard Stare is not Permission

[danielxcutter]

If we ever get to thread 13, I vote we name it "Roguish Elven Gunslinger".

Seconding this.

[Rater202]

*In a Marvel Supervillains game, my time-manipulator can't steal the Super Soldier Serum from a parallel timeline and give it to the super genius to cheaply mass produce it.
**We have to do something with it other than give it to our minions.
***We can't advertise it to prospective minions as "free health care."
****We can't pay better wages and give more benefits than most legitimate businesses.

[Anonymouswizard]

* Bagpipes require proficiency to actually deal damage with them.
** I am to admit that intentionally playing an instrument awfully requires skill.

* My response to discovering cybernetics, grafts, or any other kind of augmentation cannot be 'resistance is useless'.
** I am to stop mounting handlebars on my head.

[Kazyan]

* When playing a Pokemon tabletop game where the DM wants to do cool stuff with type-switched delta pokemon and new eeveelutions, maybe don't play a trainer who specializes in the Normal type.

[dspeyer]

* Upon capturing a vampire "alive", we may not exsanguinate a lab mouse and drip the vampire's blood into its stomach
** May not refer to the resulting vampire rodent as "Mousecula"
*** May not poke Mousecula with all known holy symbols to determine the true religion
**** If it turns out to be "the one the person poking believes in", may not meditate on the inherent holiness of all things and poke him with a random stick
***** Even if my character sincerely believes in that

[Personification]

* Upon capturing a vampire "alive", we may not exsanguinate a lab mouse and drip the vampire's blood into its stomach
** May not refer to the resulting vampire rodent as "Mousecula"
*** May not poke Mousecula with all known holy symbols to determine the true religion
**** If it turns out to be "the one the person poking believes in", may not meditate on the inherent holiness of all things and poke him with a random stick
***** Even if my character sincerely believes in that

****** I must acknowledge the distinction between "vampiric" and "empiric".

[vasilidor]

* Upon capturing a vampire "alive", we may not exsanguinate a lab mouse and drip the vampire's blood into its stomach
** May not refer to the resulting vampire rodent as "Mousecula"
*** May not poke Mousecula with all known holy symbols to determine the true religion
**** If it turns out to be "the one the person poking believes in", may not meditate on the inherent holiness of all things and poke him with a random stick
***** Even if my character sincerely believes in that

I run a game where this is exactly how it works.

[Laughing Dog]

*I am not allowed to utter the sentence: "I down my drink, and a wolf pops into existence."

*If my high-level fighter ends up with the treasures meant for the other members of the party, there's an issue with the party.

*No oneshot-ing a god.
**"It was an accident." does NOT make it better.

[Anonymouswizard]

* Upon capturing a vampire "alive", we may not exsanguinate a lab mouse and drip the vampire's blood into its stomach
** May not refer to the resulting vampire rodent as "Mousecula"
*** May not poke Mousecula with all known holy symbols to determine the true religion
**** If it turns out to be "the one the person poking believes in", may not meditate on the inherent holiness of all things and poke him with a random stick
***** Even if my character sincerely believes in that

I run a game where this is exactly how it works.

While I've not run games that work like that, I've played in one where only certain religions had their holy symbols repel evil, but which ones did depended on what religion and sect you were. There was also absolute morality probably behind everything, as sinning too much stopped it from working.

A lot of this was because the setting was based on the real world and intended to see print some day, so beyond absolute requirements for the concept the game tried to avoid making any statements.

* We may no longer make household appliances saints.

[danielxcutter]

While I've not run games that work like that, I've played in one where only certain religions had their holy symbols repel evil, but which ones did depended on what religion and sect you were. There was also absolute morality probably behind everything, as sinning too much stopped it from working.

A lot of this was because the setting was based on the real world and intended to see print some day, so beyond absolute requirements for the concept the game tried to avoid making any statements.

* We may no longer make household appliances saints.

Well that sounds like a load of whale scrotums.

[Anonymouswizard]

Well that sounds like a load of whale scrotums.

Eh, it worked, partially due to the setting clearly stating it's assumptions (helped by it not reflecting the author's worldview), in the same way that In Nomine isn't problematic. I can't go into specifics, but basically it's extrapolation from a certain premise with some intentional ambiguity. If the group is willing for the buy-in it works, especially as by the end of character creation you'll know what works for your character, but it won't be fine in every group.

[thorr-kan]

Eh, it worked, partially due to the setting clearly stating it's assumptions (helped by it not reflecting the author's worldview), in the same way that In Nomine isn't problematic. I can't go into specifics, but basically it's extrapolation from a certain premise with some intentional ambiguity. If the group is willing for the buy-in it works, especially as by the end of character creation you'll know what works for your character, but it won't be fine in every group.

So, Session 0, Know-Your-Table, and acknowledge this game isn't for everyone. Fair enough. (As an aside: I *like* In Nomine, but I'll never get a chance to play it.)

You know what? Let me know if this setting ever gets published. I'm curious, now.

[Lvl 2 Expert]

* Upon capturing a vampire "alive", we may not exsanguinate a lab mouse and drip the vampire's blood into its stomach
** May not refer to the resulting vampire rodent as "Mousecula"
*** May not poke Mousecula with all known holy symbols to determine the true religion
**** If it turns out to be "the one the person poking believes in", may not meditate on the inherent holiness of all things and poke him with a random stick
***** Even if my character sincerely believes in that

Another alternative is that which holy symbols repel/hurt/killmurderate undead depends on their own lingering memories/feelings of guilt from when they were alive. A vampire is repelled by the golden sun of the morning lord because part of them still thinks of the morning lord as the ultimate force of good and the bane of all vampires.

****** I may not sent mousecula running using real 40+ Gouda.

[Anonymouswizard]

So, Session 0, Know-Your-Table, and acknowledge this game isn't for everyone. Fair enough. (As an aside: I *like* In Nomine, but I'll never get a chance to play it.)

You know what? Let me know if this setting ever gets published. I'm curious, now.

I like In Nomine as well, but am in the same boat.

But yeah, player buy-in is basically the most important thing as to how problematic something is. I've made that mistake with Unknown Armies stuff and now let players blacklist topics.

[Telok]

* Giant robot chainsaw nipples.
** Inexplicable, inescapable, invulnerable, immortal donkeys.

[danielxcutter]

Another alternative is that which holy symbols repel/hurt/killmurderate undead depends on their own lingering memories/feelings of guilt from when they were alive. A vampire is repelled by the golden sun of the morning lord because part of them still thinks of the morning lord as the ultimate force of good and the bane of all vampires.

****** I may not sent mousecula running using real 40+ Gouda.

I recall that’s how it kinda works for Shadowhunters. One of the characters got turned into a vampire so when holding him in a prison they used the Jewish symbol for him. Not sure how it’d work for atheist vamps in that series tho.

[Anonymouswizard]

* No matter ymy roll I cannot land the TARDIS on specific people.
** Even if they did bully me in the past.

[Rockphed]

* No matter ymy roll I cannot land the TARDIS on specific people.
** Even if they did bully me in the past.

*** Nor if they bully me in the future.
**** Creating paradoxes on purpose is right out.

[Rater202]

*There are a limited number of situations were singing songs from the Star Wars Kinect sound track can save the day.
**Must stop singing We No Speak Huttese at every opportunity.
***May not point out the irony of the song itself being in Huttese.
****Even if I can guess, I can no longer sing songs in languages that I don't speak.

[Anonymouswizard]

*** Nor if they bully me in the future.
**** Creating paradoxes on purpose is right out.

***** I am not to murder anybody's grandfather.
****** Or become them.

[Lord Raziere]

* May not say to another member of the party that they're acting like a "21st century pop-culture critic" in response to them pointing out scientific problems with my powers
** Even if I am in a game set in the future where the 21st century is long gone
*** and live in an era where science has done things that the 21st century considers impossible

[Rater202]

*In a Naruto based game, cannot introduce an all female team from the Village Hidden in The Sound as "The Girls of Rock and Roll."

[Genth]

*I may not get irrationally angry at an ancient underground civilization of cat people not having metal
**No, no matter how impossible it seems to build and maintain an undergound civilisation with you know, tunnels, without metal tools
***I may not have my minstrel character write an entire ballad about why a society without metal is bad
****I may not threaten bloody murder when NPCs bring it up. Especially when my character is supposed to be mild mannered and nice

[iyaerP]

*I may not use the 300lb artifact of destruction, whose touch is death as a "rock on a rope" even if my Ogre is strong enough to swing said rope.

[BlueHamsterBean]

*I may not use the 300lb artifact of destruction, whose touch is death as a "rock on a rope" even if my Ogre is strong enough to swing said rope.

**May not call this impromptu instant death flail "the rubber chicken."
***It's not even cockatrice related, and it doesn't turn people to stone.
****My character's greatest fear may not be "The Gnome With a Wand of Death."

[danielxcutter]

**May not call this impromptu instant death flail "the rubber chicken."
***It's not even cockatrice related, and it doesn't turn people to stone.
****My character's greatest fear may not be "The Gnome With a Wand of Death."

Uh... Nethack?

[BlueHamsterBean]

Uh... Nethack?

Correct! I heard about it from Matt Colville streams of all things. I played it for a bit, but found I had to be in the right mindset for it. Prepare to die... a lot.

[Rater202]

*I cannot play a Kender who knows exactly how annoying their instincts are to most other races and studies sorcery in the hopes of being able to transcend beyond the limits of their biology and not anoy the people around them.

[Lord Raziere]

* I may not make a vampire-like superhero to play that has all the same powers, but doesn't need to drink blood
** I may not make a good succubus, or a succubus who due to their good deeds managed to reincarnate as a tiefling with powers much like a succubus
**** May not constantly try to make traditionally evil concepts into heroes

* May not make a pragmatic serious bard who doesn't sing.

[Rater202]

I can't make a transhumanist whose sole goal in life is to be able to walk around naked without violating public decency laws.