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Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!seismo!rlgvax!cvl!umcp-cs!rene
From: rene@umcp-cs.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.games.frp
Subject: Re: role-playing in frp games
Message-ID: <2678@umcp-cs.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 22-Sep-83 10:28:56 EDT
Article-I.D.: umcp-cs.2678
Posted: Thu Sep 22 10:28:56 1983
Date-Received: Fri, 23-Sep-83 23:20:43 EDT
References: <598@ihuxl.UUCP>
Organization: Univ. of Maryland, Computer Science Dept.
Lines: 22

One problem I've encountered in frp is that the character is very
different from me. For instance, a character may have an 18
intellegence, but I can't remember all the details of a situation or
figure out a solution that someone smarter might be able to. I find 
this especially true in traveler, where you have to remember rumors
and people and complicated sequences of events (histories) in order
to know what to do, or at least to do the intelligent thing. There is
no way to roll dice to see if you figure it out. It can be fustrating
to say the least. I think it's easier to be dumber than you are than
smarter.
	Star Frontiers has a partial solution - each race has some
specialty (sociology, for instance) and you can use e.p. to raise the
chance you have (in percentiles) of knowing something you ought to
know. For instance, if my character should know something about
sociology, and I can't figure out what a certain thing in a culture
means, I can roll the dice and have, say, a 17% chance of my character
figuring it out.
	Is anyone else bothered with this problem? It seems that all
the other players I play with are really clever and can figure
anything out. 

					- rene