Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: Notesfiles $Revision: 1.6.2.17 $; site uokvax.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxj!ihnp4!inuxc!pur-ee!uiucdcs!uokvax!lmaher From: lmaher@uokvax.UUCP Newsgroups: net.games.frp Subject: Re: Owner of a Thirsty Heart Message-ID: <2400075@uokvax.UUCP> Date: Mon, 22-Oct-84 08:11:00 EDT Article-I.D.: uokvax.2400075 Posted: Mon Oct 22 08:11:00 1984 Date-Received: Thu, 25-Oct-84 03:12:11 EDT References: <2400072@uokvax.UUCP> Lines: 85 Nf-ID: #R:uokvax:2400072:uokvax:2400075:000:4030 Nf-From: uokvax!lmaher Oct 22 07:11:00 1984 >/***** uokvax:net.games.frp / pucc-h!ach / 12:30 am Oct 20, 1984 */ > Steve Uitti > Already someone has suggested punting this character with the > black heart, "He's only 4th level." Bull! I agree totally with Steve on this - the person making that comment must come from the "Don't name the character until he reaches second level" school of characterization. Discarding a character because he runs into difficulties is a cop-out; isn't facing terrible choices one of the mainstays of fantasy gaming?? The Paladin who must choose between his friends and his god, the mage who must choose between his humanity and his power, or the hero who must choose between his life or his honor - all of these are interesting dilemmas. Where's the sense of involvement if your concern for your characters' wellbeing is limited solely to the amount of time you've invested into them? I can't agree with sentiments like "It's only a firsty - kill him and roll up another." > I've one (rhetorical) question on the situation. How > does the character know the side effect, that he must drink 5 > pints of elven blood per day or die? After the heart buried itself in him he "knew" the properties, whether as a result of the heart's powers, or elven self- knowledge, (or an overly talkative GM :-) ), I can't say. It's quite possible that the amount of blood may increase over time. > I hope this was explained, otherwise, the character should be run > just one more day, then, when his time is up, there's no longer a > problem. That would hardly be very interesting, now would it??? Placing him several days march from the nearest source of elves is nasty enough. > Let's say that the character is lawful goody two shoes. > He has several options. He can sacrifice himself for his cause > (the good of everyone else). He can decide to modify his > morality standards. He can try to get cured. I've no idea what > resources are available. He's neutral, more or less. The good of "everyone else" means nothing to him, unless it's Dani and the two Uruks, in which case it means everything. (That's putting it a little too strongly - he's not completely heartless! :-) ) Once you start modifying your morals, where do you stop? A Cure would of course be the ideal solution, but the bonding of heart to (victim? user? carrier?) appears pretty solid; no way of removing it without killing the host, probably irrevocably (i.e. no raise). He's got even less idea of available resources than you do. > I personally would just continue to run the character, > doing the best I could to survive. It would add up to a lot of > elves. Depending on the campaine, it could cut into one's > mobility. In my own, there aren't that many elves. (It would > take at least two of them to make 5 pints of blood - they're > small). Elves in this campaign are near human size, with the same proportion of blood as humans (1 ounce per pound of body weight). I think it's possible to donate a pint of blood once a month or maybe twice with plenty of red meat, rest, and fluids. Or am I being too conservative? Anyway, that would work out to 150 elves - a small army. If you spread it out over a larger army, or a well-sized village, each person would only have to donate once a year, or even more seldom. Note that he doesn't have to take all 5 pints from the same elf. That much blood loss would certainly cause shock, probably with fatal consequences (in which case might as well drain 'em dry - good to the last drop! :-) ). With 1800 elves, each would only have to donate a pint once a year, although the logistics might get messy. And that would tend to tie him down. That's not even considering the ticklish question of getting the elves to cooperate. > The point is, if everything is running as you'd like it, > with no trials and tribulations, you have a rather uninteresting > game. Don't quit just as the fun begins. I absolutely agree. Carl {allegra,ihnp4}!convex!ctvax!uokvax!lmaher