Quote from: Kyle AaronConsonant Dude's described session is an excellent example of all obstacles and no complications, combined with GM stupidity. If you make everyone make enough dice rolls then eventually everyone will die however smart or stupid the players and their characters are. Daft stuff.

Yeah, I have to agree it sounded stupid. I have to point out that the GM was not there when they told me the story, only his two players. I know the GM personally from my youth (we started roleplaying together) and he is a brilliant guy and was also an excellent GM. He did have a tendancy to stick to rule systems but it certainly never proved to be an handicap like that.

Maybe he's not as good as I remember (we stopped gaming together 17 years ago)

Maybe he was having an off night.

Maybe the campaign went particularly off track at this particular point (this Harn campaign has been going for 14 years)

Maybe the system didn't help.

My guess is that it's a combination of some of the above. System helps me provide color and I am usually a better GM with a better system. It was the same with him as far as I remember.

At first glance, I'd blame subpar GMing and the system in this case.

Quote from: Kyle AaronPS I don't use the infection rules. People roleplay to do cool stuff. Gangrene's not cool.

Yeah. But it makes for hilarious stories

That combat sounded kinda cool, actually, and sorta realistic.

But I don't really see where the system made that situation uncool.  As Kyle is fond of saying, rules are the GM's bitch.  If the GM was that tied to rolling on tables for everything, that's just fucked GMing.

I mean, I love to run RoleMaster, the one with all the charts and stuff.  And I use those charts quite a bit.  But I've never let them run the game that way.

EDIT: Gangrene does suck if you're running certain kinds of games, though.

That session sounds like it could have been a blast.  Sometimes everything going to shit is a hooting, hollering fun time.

Quote from: OliveOk, quite aside form the other bits of this story, what exactly is wrong with not being able to pick up a sword in a heated combat situation? Or with someone (the cat) missing?

what am I not getting here?

For what it worth I been in combat in NERO live-action role-playing for over ten years. I had situations where I lost the sword, had to dive to the ground and do a grab for it. Understand that combat happens really quick. So you not doing a aimed grab you are going to get that sword as fast as you can get it the hell back in front of you.

That means there are times you going to fumble around trying to get the thing. Particularly when there are people right there swinging at you. It a lot easier with a shield tho because you have the ability to extend it in front of you as you crouch to grab the weapon.

Now what makes this exciting is the thrill of immediate danger. It is correct that a rollfest in of itself is not fun. But a skilled GM can help create a true sense of danger. Now the rolls have meaning and the game is much more fun.

Quote from: Consonant DudeI think it's the comedy of failures that I find weird.

Ok, that makes sense.