12/8/2000

Wierdness makes the game

I ran a game for a while a few years ago using the GURPS system. A couple of friends and I would get together every three or four days to play. The plot of the Game world, which I hope to eventually convert to the Pulp System, was loosely based on Revelation. Demonkind had been given domination of the Earth. It was a good gameworld, sort of a cross between Mad Max and Stigmata. Imagine Biker cults and black citadels...you get the point.

The beauty of GURPS is the advantages/disadvantages system. It allows some very strange combinations. For instance, my friend James had a character he dubbed 'Super Psionic Baby' that had youth as a disadvantage (I think it was the max you could take, so his character was an infant) so that he could have enough character points to purchase the psionic ability of Pyrokinetics and telekinesis. Basically, his character was floating baby that could make people spontaneously combust. Needless to say, we all hung on what he would do next. Shrieks of laughter erupted from all around the gaming table when his character would enter combat. The character made the game.

GMs should not be afraid of allowing unusual, possibly comic, characters into their sessions. Unusual characters add a zest to the game that keeps everyone interested. This is also applicable to other elements in a game. If the character, or Ego as we call 'em here, has a critical failure, make it funny. Something like: "You embed the battleaxe in your foot."

A friend of mine who has written Die with Your Boots On, an experienced GM and gamer, included quite a bit of this comedy relief into his gameworld. During testing, if a player said something funny, the player was awarded Elan, DWYBO's equivalent to experience points. If the player gave the GM the soda or a cigarette, he got Elan. It was very funny to see players obeying his every whim for a few points to improve their characters.

The bottom line is this: think about every good movie you've seen. Even serious movies like "The Matrix" and "The Road Warrior" had bits in them that were funny. Comedy tends to make gaming interesting.