a question for mt fellow gm's

[say652]

Dimension crossing characters. How do y'all feel about a swirling mix of chaos caused by characters from different Palladium books or books you personally view as overpowered?

[eliakon]

I tend to allow characters, in my Rifts games at least, to be from different game lines.

HOWEVER I make a person use the books for that line to make them. This prevents things (such as I have been asked/offered) A Biotic from Splicers with Super Powers and the Half Wizard template; a Zentradi Dedicated Martial Artist with major psionics; and other such stuff.

I allow some bleed through on a case by case basis but in general I don't allow 'a la carte' shopping all the games and lines for the best possible build.

[say652]

Thats the exact stuff I like to see. Lol.

Seriously though I dont see a problem with cross booking characters or stacking as I call it.

I like the weird variety and different spins on things.
I guess player creativity is important to me.

[Alrik Vas]

Player creativity is important to me too. If the player comes up with a great concept, one that they identify with and have a great story for, then I'm inclined to allow them to make the character.

If they come up with their "great story" to explain away the massive amount of nonsense their character can do, I tend to talk them down a little bit without taking away the essence of the what the character is. It's fine to play something that's naturally MDC, it's fine to have special, perhaps even unique powers. However, someone wants to play a megahero immortal something or other in one of my games, their challenges aren't going to be of a combat nature (they will be in combat, sure, just won't be a challenge for them for the most part). Instead, I'll go comic book on them. Their challenges will be things like, "how do I deal with being so different from everyone else, even in a world full of monsters?" and maybe a little, "What good are my powers if I can't save the people I love?" or if the're evil/selfish, "Why do these fools stand against me when they know they'll die? They should just worship me! Fools!" and trying to figure out how to deal with those issues.

[eliakon]

Thats the exact stuff I like to see. Lol.

Seriously though I dont see a problem with cross booking characters or stacking as I call it.

I like the weird variety and different spins on things.
I guess player creativity is important to me.

That is where the "on a case by case basis" comes in
If the player came to me and said I have this cool idea. I want a Zentradi Demon Queller so that I can go all Attack of the 50' whatever and wrestle ancient dragons and Kaiju" I would say "That sounds cool, make it so."
If the player comes to me and says "I want to make a 1st edition physical training, and then since I get all physical skills I stacked on the additional thirty some odd physical skills that have come out for every game since" I would say and reach for my Munch-Bat.

The first is creative and thus good. The second is just trying to abuse things and is bad.

[SpiritInterface]

Dimension crossing characters. How do y'all feel about a swirling mix of chaos caused by characters from different Palladium books or books you personally view as overpowered?

Some OCC and Race combinations can be a little overpowering, but in general if the GM keeps an eye on things they can keep a balance on things. The group I game with has played an open megaverse game for many years and for the most part it has worked well.

[say652]

I am still iffy about supers having magic or psionics but if their power category allows it fine. Other than that. No.
I am also not big on equipment or magic items. Kind of a gear scrooge.

[eliakon]

I am still iffy about supers having magic or psionics but if their power category allows it fine. Other than that. No.
I am also not big on equipment or magic items. Kind of a gear scrooge.

There is plenty of precedent for not allowing both magic and psi (CR1r in fact says that you cant combine the two....of course they have several races in AU that have racial super powers and produce mages so )

For combining psi and magic HU2 even lets you do that as part of the basic roll up so I would say that there is nothing intrinsically wrong about it....just that it needs to be monitored.

Gear is tricky because what is reasonable starting gear in one game is game breaking overkill in another....and they can be the same character, same players and same GM!

[say652]

Yea I don't allow characters to run around with four or five greater rune weapons, loaded with tw devices ir having every spiffed out hightech blaster in the game.

I do allow crazy powerful characters just not well equipped ones.

[Glistam]

Yea I don't allow characters to run around with four or five greater rune weapons, loaded with tw devices ir having every spiffed out hightech blaster in the game.

That sounds like the last Rifts game I played in!

[say652]

See everyone has their own inner munchkin. Gm's too.

[Glistam]

See everyone has their own inner munchkin. Gm's too.

You have no idea...

[flatline]

If the player was excited about a character concept, even if it was not book legal, I generally found a way to allow it unless it would cause a problem for the other players. The other GM's also did this to varying degrees.

Back in the day, the players would spend more time negotiating with each other than the GM because if all the players were cool with a character, the GM vary rarely did more than tweak it before allowing it into the game.

--flatline

[Crow Splat]

If the player was excited about a character concept, even if it was not book legal, I generally found a way to allow it unless it would cause a problem for the other players. The other GM's also did this to varying degrees.

Back in the day, the players would spend more time negotiating with each other than the GM because if all the players were cool with a character, the GM vary rarely did more than tweak it before allowing it into the game.

--flatline

I had a GM years ago that would have a 1 on 1 conversation with each player about their backstory and details. The general rule was you can make whatever character you want, you just need to have a story for it.

The cool part about that campaign was everyone was invested on their characters. Even in the first session, the characters were more than just numbers on a sheet of paper because we had put more thought into it.

[13eowulf]

Dimension crossing characters. How do y'all feel about a swirling mix of chaos caused by characters from different Palladium books or books you personally view as overpowered?

The highlighted portion could quite literally be used as a the definition of the game I run.

[Killer Cyborg]

Dimension crossing characters. How do y'all feel about a swirling mix of chaos caused by characters from different Palladium books or books you personally view as overpowered?

I go by a campaign or adventure basis. If a character or book is too powerful, or simply wrong for what I have in mind, I don't allow it.
Really, I usually just go with "You can use anything in these x books..."

OR I just let people make whatever they want, and do things on the fly,

[say652]

I say bring your quasilegal worst, as gm I have final say on equipment. In fact I will issue you gear leave that part blank.

[13eowulf]

I say bring your quasilegal worst, as gm I have final say on equipment. In fact I will issue you gear leave that part blank.

So in your games a PA pilot cant even choose his PA, a Robot Pilot cannot choose his Robot? A mercenary soldier cannot choose his preferred body armour or rifle?

[drewkitty ~..~]

I tend to allow characters, in my Rifts games at least, to be from different game lines.

HOWEVER I make a person use the books for that line to make them. This prevents things (such as I have been asked/offered) A Biotic from Splicers with Super Powers and the Half Wizard template; a Zentraedi Dedicated Martial Artist with major psionics; and other such stuff.

I allow some bleed through on a case by case basis but in general I don't allow 'a la carte' shopping all the games and lines for the best possible build.

something similar to this. Thou I'd use much more blunt words about how not to proceed in char creation.

[say652]

I say bring your quasilegal worst, as gm I have final say on equipment. In fact I will issue you gear leave that part blank.

So in your games a PA pilot cant even choose his PA, a Robot Pilot cannot choose his Robot? A mercenary soldier cannot choose his preferred body armour or rifle?

Correct.

But I didn't nerf their occ and bone them out of a few thousand mdc, I don't get many complaints.

Warning: Warning for trolling.

[13eowulf]

I say bring your quasilegal worst, as gm I have final say on equipment. In fact I will issue you gear leave that part blank.

So in your games a PA pilot cant even choose his PA, a Robot Pilot cannot choose his Robot? A mercenary soldier cannot choose his preferred body armour or rifle?

Correct.

But I didn't nerf their occ and bone them out of a few thousand mdc, I don't get many complaints.

It feels like you are trying to say something specific here, if you could perhaps be a little clearer.

[say652]

Its the gear not the occ that should be regulated, watch any survival show.
A knife or a rope is like a gift from god.

[13eowulf]

Its the gear not the occ that should be regulated, watch any survival show.
A knife or a rope is like a gift from god.

Ok, that doesnt explain the rest of your comment

But I didn't nerf their occ and bone them out of a few thousand mdc

This seems to be an attack/accusation of sorts.

[eliakon]

Just a question here.....
but it seems that the idea of 'player creativity is important' and 'but all your gear and items are issued to you, you don't get any say in it at all' seem to be sort of mutually exclusive....