HWalsh wrote:You have to consider more, plan better, and be smarter when you have a less powerful character. To hit optimal with a more powerful character means the player has less to consider, they have to plan less, and they don't have to play as smartly. Thus a better player has to do less to reach optimal with a more powerful character which in turn makes a less skillful game session.
I would counter that the better player will plan on a grander scale with a more powerful character since he doesn't have to sweat the small stuff as much as he would if he had a weaker character.
Being able to gloss over the small stuff can easily mean the difference between spending the night advancing the plot instead of wasting your time on an otherwise inconsequential combat encounter with unimportant thugs.
--flatline
I'm not sure if we're on the same page here or not, but it sounds like we're close. To me, "a grander scale" indicates operating on more of the war or battlefield level, rather than on the individual combat level. Like your goal is to defeat a whole army, or to affect nations or whatever. In which case, yes, getting bogged down in small combat can interfere with things.
At that level, I'll again point out that the issue is relative power. If your adventure/campaign is "defeat a band of a few dozen bandits" or "clear out Dungeon X," that's usually not something that requires a high level of power in order to accomplish, so using high-powered characters to do the job would be overkill for reasonably skilled players. If your adventure/campaign is "stop the CS from advancing westward" or "defeat the Mechanoid invasion," then that's the kind of thing that essentially requires powerful characters (or incredibly convenient plot points that change the scale back down to a smaller, easier level), in which case "powerful enough to avoid getting bogged down by every little combat" can be perfectly appropriate.
Yes, I think we are the same page.
If my character is an unarmed kid, then I have to worry about the dog when I try to sneak into a junk yard.
If my character is an armed punk, I know I can put the dog down without much trouble, but I have to worry about the dog alerting the watchman.
If my character is driving a tank into the junk yard, then I clearly don't have to worry about any threat presented by the dog or the watchman, but this action had better be justified by being a part of a bigger plan...
--flatline
I don't care about canon answers. I'm interested in good, well-reasoned answers and, perhaps, a short discussion of how that answer is supported or contradicted by canon.
If I don't provide a book and page number, then don't assume that I'm describing canon. I'll tell you if I'm describing canon.
Tor wrote:Someone driving a tank through a city is bound to encounter bigger obstacles than a watchman and dog though...
Indeed.
--flatline
I don't care about canon answers. I'm interested in good, well-reasoned answers and, perhaps, a short discussion of how that answer is supported or contradicted by canon.
If I don't provide a book and page number, then don't assume that I'm describing canon. I'll tell you if I'm describing canon.
If my character is an unarmed kid, then I have to worry about the dog when I try to sneak into a junk yard.
If my character is an armed punk, I know I can put the dog down without much trouble, but I have to worry about the dog alerting the watchman.
If my character is driving a tank into the junk yard, then I clearly don't have to worry about any threat presented by the dog or the watchman, but this action had better be justified by being a part of a bigger plan...
--flatline
Annual Best Poster of the Year Awards (2012)
"That rifle on the wall of the laborer's cottage or working class flat is the symbol of democracy. It is our job to see that it stays there." -George Orwell
Tor wrote:Someone driving a tank through a city is bound to encounter bigger obstacles than a watchman and dog though...
Depends on who it is and the city.
ya go watch dominion tank police sometime.....
Why does not change the fact the obstacle will change depending on who you are and what city it is. IE CS driving a tank threw a CS city probably not encounter many obstacles. CS driving a tank threw Lazlo might run into a dragon.
The Clones are coming you shall all be replaced, but who is to say you have not been replaced already.
Master of Type-O and the obvios.
Soon my army oc clones and winged-monkies will rule the world but first, must .......
I may debate canon and RAW, but the games I run are highly house ruled. So I am not debating for how I play but about how the system works as written.
That would make a sweet dimension book, I tell ya.
Everything is SDC though. Tons of anime would. I'd go for MADOX-01/AD Police/BGC universe
or Guyver... Oh wait Splicers is close enough.
you some might think you're a but you're cool in book --Mecha-Viper BEST IDEA EVER!!! -- The Galactus Kid Holy crapy, you're Zer0 Kay?! --TriaxTech Zer0 Kay is my hero. --Atramentus The Zer0 of Kay, who started this fray, Kept us laughing until the end. -The Fifth Business (In loving Memory of the teleport thread)
HWalsh wrote:Crazies... These guys give up more than anyone else... By far.
Juicers... I'm going to be honest here... I have never played a Rifts game where a Juicer died of old age.
RP-wise I think Juicing is a much bigger trade-off. I would much rather cope with some insanities than be dead, particularly since crazies getting sensitive psionics opens up cool realms like astral projection or machine-ghosting.
Juicing would only be an appeal if I had a borg body waiting for me after detox since that negates most of the downsides.
"1st edition? 2nd edition? It doesnt matter! Let's just talk" -Forums of the Megaverse
you some might think you're a 
but you're cool in book 