Last week's WISH was one I kind of wish I had no experience with which to discuss it, if you know what I mean.
How do you deal with miscommunications and invalid assumptions as a player and a GM?
Oh, I whine, I gnash my teeth, I scream, kick, shout, and moan. I beg the player to reconsider. I explain why it can't work and then explain it again to someone else (usually the LintKing) because I need to convince myself that I'm really allowed to make that call.
Maybe that's too honest. [grin]
Most of the time the way I avoid it is by letting the player's vision influence mine. Take the G&G move I posted tonight ... which I don't know if I would have ever gotten through without Epoch's handy suggestions of things that "could happen in the fight." While I didn't actually use any of them (actually, in the many permutations that message went through, I did use a couple but they didn't make the final draft as I got a clearer (not necessarily better) idea of what was happening) I did benefit strongly by having some possibilities onto which I could hook things.
That's what I do to avoid it: I give examples. When I get something that's "not quite right" I offer a change or blend it in, or heck, sometimes I just let it go because the game is about the PCs, not "my vision."
Sometimes that's a big mistake.
The truth is, sometimes I feel that the number one thing I can't seem to get across to my players is:
Yes, you can do that.
It's mostly the idea that I'm not always going to work everything someone can do into the plot. I need the players to experiment, to test the world in order to find its boundaries.
I changed my mind. The number one thing I can't always get across seems to be, "Why ask me? I'm just the GM."
Erm. [grin]
Hey, my tactics email got one thing in there -- the blood lure to sharks thing.
Posted by: Epoch on July 25, 2002 11:30 AM
You are _so_ right. I didn't think of it because I had to cut a little of the flavour text. I'm sorry: that was a really neat idea, too! Maybe I just wanted to subconsciously steal it...or maybe (just maybe) I was way the heck too tired for this... [grin]
Posted by: MT Fierce on July 25, 2002 06:06 PM
Edges.
Weaves.
Nip.
Tuck.
I found the scene to be very interesting, for things accomplished and foreboded, for things clever and dire, for things learned and hidden.
Good stuff.
Congrats all.
Posted by: Arref on July 26, 2002 07:17 AM
The sharks thing was by far my most interesting idea for the combat, though, visually, I liked the "leaping out of water, turning the spray to blades of ice, and blowing it back into Mer's face when she follows me out."
Posted by: Epoch on July 26, 2002 10:13 AM
I had that bit in there before I realized that 1) Meredith wasn't going to the surface (she'd chosen a very special environment to begin with) and 2) if she was in part- or full- dragonform, non-ensorcelled blades weren't going to harm her...and while Llewella could have (effectively) blessed the shards, that'd take more energy than Llewella could spend without being a sitting duck for a moment.
Posted by: MT Fierce on July 26, 2002 10:32 AM
I'm finding the whole magical combat thing fascinating and storing up knowledge against the day when people actually fight their equals in HOC.
Posted by: Ginger on July 26, 2002 12:56 PM
You're the boss-lady. I just thought it'd make a neat image. :) I've got it in my head as a painting, or a scene from the movie.
Heh. I just reviewed the "tactics" email. It was kind of a shame I didn't get to force Caine down Mer's throat. I mean, not a shame in the sense that that probably wouldn't have boded well either for our chances in a fight or for Caine and Llew's relationship. But it would have been damned funny.
Anyhow, I liked the fight scene that you ended up with.
Posted by: Epoch on July 27, 2002 01:30 PM