Why the slew of Munchkins lately? |
Why the slew of Munchkins lately? |
Oct 22 2007, 02:03 AM
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#1
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Freelance Elf Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 7,324 Joined: 30-September 04 From: Texas Member No.: 6,714 |
Is there a particular reason folks have been posting threads full of horribly min/maxed characters lately, and then rationalizing/explaining away every clever little rules-abusing twist, then harvesting praise or suggestive criticisms for their efforts?
Did I miss some challenge thread somewhere daring people to make the most silly and broken characters they can, is this some means of protesting little rules loopholes that I missed out on, or what? |
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Oct 22 2007, 02:07 AM
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#2
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Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 7,089 Joined: 4-October 05 Member No.: 7,813 |
well, actually, apparently you did miss just such a thread ;) |
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Oct 22 2007, 02:16 AM
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#3
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 745 Joined: 13-April 07 From: Houston, Texas Member No.: 11,448 |
Munckin threads, while initially can be perceived as wastes of time and/or board space, can be quite useful for the resourceful GM AND the player. They provide solid examples of when and where rules can be abused easily or not. Players can use the information to avoid said abuses, and GMs can know what to look for much easier.
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Oct 22 2007, 02:24 AM
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#4
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,180 Joined: 22-January 07 From: Rochester, NY Member No.: 10,737 |
Amen; that's why I've been reading them, so I know what to keep an eye out for. |
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Oct 22 2007, 02:27 AM
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#5
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Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 7,116 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 1,449 |
Those kind of threads pop up every now and then. Occasionally you have several pop up at once.
They're kind of useful, in a way, since other posters will point out the weaknesses and rules dodgery of the build. This can lead to house rules to close up loopholes, or ideas on how to challenge such characters. I like the mental challenge on both ends, both the "how many dice for this can you get?" end, and the "That can't be right! How could a GM shoot this down without resorting to GM fiat?" end. At least they're not as annoying as all of those threads whining about how sammies, or mages, or spirits, or hackers, or just about damn well anything in the game is "broken", and how GMs should house rule like crazy to gimp them. And there are way more of those threads. |
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Oct 22 2007, 02:38 AM
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#6
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Canon Companion Group: Members Posts: 8,021 Joined: 2-March 03 From: The Morgue, Singapore LTG Member No.: 4,187 |
Shouldn't there be more of these? Why should PCs not be horribly min-maxed if they are viable in a game? BTW, munchkins are not min-maxed, they are maxed, but they certainly are not minned. Players should read these threads to find out what exactly is within the RAW and what the house rules the GM is putting forth. GMs should read them to know how to counter them without the need to resort to GM fiat or house ruling. |
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Oct 22 2007, 03:10 AM
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#7
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 524 Joined: 12-April 06 Member No.: 8,455 |
Well, not necessarily. Min-max means you min the stuff that matters least to you in order to max the stuff that you really want. So, yeah, it's both a core component of charop, and a major tool of munchkinism.
I enjoy the thinking that goes into good charop. What I *don't* like is charop that breaks the spirit or gratuitously bends the letter of the rules, like Pun-Pun (or, to steal another example from D20, the silly but constant usage of Jade Phoenix Mage in builds). For example, Invoked Allies are really a gray area to me, while I have no problem with Inhabited jarheads or cyberallies based on genetically optimized clones. Likewise, while I can't see a GM actually allowing Buster's All-Physical-1s voodoo monster on the basis that there might be one person like that *maybe* in a century, and they probably wouldn't be a runner, it is fun and educational to work through the math. |
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Oct 22 2007, 03:29 AM
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#8
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,246 Joined: 8-June 07 Member No.: 11,869 |
I call him "Mumm-Ra" and you don't have to worry about any other 1-physical-statted mages, because he hunts down and slays all other 1-physical-statted mages. Mumm-Ra keeps all the ancient spirits of evil for himself! |
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Oct 22 2007, 03:32 AM
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#9
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Canon Companion Group: Members Posts: 8,021 Joined: 2-March 03 From: The Morgue, Singapore LTG Member No.: 4,187 |
To me, Min-max means minimise weaknesses(of the things that matters least) and maximise strengths. Munchkins do not min-max, IMO, the max at the expense of their mins.
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Oct 22 2007, 03:33 AM
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#10
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Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,883 Joined: 16-December 06 Member No.: 10,386 |
Honestly? They probably just like playing around with numbers. I know that's why I do it. I don't even need a practical reason to do so either and on a message board it's perfectly harmless. Playing around with RPG systems is fun for me; they require light crunch at most since they're designed to be somewhat user friendly and in SR4 at least there's often multiple ways of accomplishing any given goal. It's like Sudoku with gyromounts. |
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Oct 22 2007, 04:10 AM
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#11
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,246 Joined: 8-June 07 Member No.: 11,869 |
I can't speak for anyone else, but I love to create characters, and it's fun to test my character against different situations and other builds. Shadowrun expects that you're going to play in a team of specialists, the rules are geared towards building specialists, and it's fun to see how far you can push your specialist's abilities. Sometimes it's just fun to see how many dice you can throw at a problem, regardless if you could actually stand to play that kind of character in a real game. Also I keep hearing that one "class" of specialist or other is way overpowered in some way, but these threads and counter threads prove that it's nonsense. The authors have done a great job in the extremely difficult task of balancing all the rules for cybersams, hackers, riggers, faces, and mages. However there are loopholes in the rules that need to be examined closely and possibly patched. The Bloodzilla problem was discussed on these forums and was easily fixed with a simple reinterpretation/tweak of the drain rules. The Agent Smith Army is definitely a problem without any official fixes, but we came up with all kinds of great ideas for fixing the problem. My possession mage shows that possession spirits are possibly a problem and may need to be patched. Or maybe not, maybe someone will post a valid argument about why it isn't as godlike as it first seems. Besides what the hell are you doing with your life that's so much better than the rest of us, finding the cure for cancer? |
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Oct 22 2007, 05:27 AM
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#12
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,269 Joined: 18-September 06 Member No.: 9,421 |
Boy, would your face be red if he really IS a doctor/chemist/whatever involved in cancer research. Gah, that would be hillarious.
Chris |
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Oct 22 2007, 06:04 AM
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#13
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Bushido Cowgirl Group: Members Posts: 5,782 Joined: 8-July 05 From: On the Double K Ranch a half day's ride out of Phlogiston Flats Member No.: 7,490 |
...nice :rotfl: @Buster: I'm with you on enjoyment of creating characters. I have a fairly "healthy" stable of PCs in case the inevitable occurs. What's more, I can change afew things here and there and I have an Instant NPC with complete actual personality and fleshed out attributes/skills/abilities ready to go when I GM. |
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Oct 22 2007, 06:06 AM
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#14
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Freelance Elf Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 7,324 Joined: 30-September 04 From: Texas Member No.: 6,714 |
I wasn't challenging anyone for doing it, or insisting they stop, or trying to make people pay a toll for it or anything. I was just, y'know, asking why it seemed to be happening all of a sudden.
Most of the "rate this character" threads I recall seeing were ones people tended to post for (in theory) well rounded characters, maybe just asking for rules advice or help since they were knew to the system or a certain archetype or rules set ("is this a decent commlink, what else does my street sam need, am I understanding the magic rules right," etc). The last few I've seen sometimes even have "munchkin" in the subject line, or are such gimmicky characters that, between the numbers themselves and the comments of the OP and those who reply, it's obviously an exercise in rules abuse rather than character creation. I was just wondering what the reason for the shift in focus was, or if it was just a shift in my perception instead. *shrugs* No challenge or anything. Just curious. So calm down there, sport. I was asking a question, and not one (I think) deserving of any sort of silly "what are you doing with your precious time, blah blah blah" nonsense. I know you've been here four whole months now, so your shit smells like strawberries, but trust me, you'll know when I'm out to actually insult people or otherwise show I disapprove of their posts. |
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Oct 22 2007, 06:10 AM
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#15
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 249 Joined: 2-November 06 From: Bozeman, MT Member No.: 9,762 |
I noticed the same trend (in fact I just caught some flak for posting about it in the wrong place, as I should have). So its definitely not just you.
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Oct 22 2007, 06:17 AM
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#16
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Immoral Elf Group: Members Posts: 15,247 Joined: 29-March 02 From: Grimy Pete's Bar & Laundromat Member No.: 2,486 |
Wasn't really meant as 'flak'. ;) :) |
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Oct 22 2007, 06:18 AM
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#17
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 249 Joined: 2-November 06 From: Bozeman, MT Member No.: 9,762 |
Well, maybe it should have been. I could probably use some.
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Oct 22 2007, 06:21 AM
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#18
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Uncle Fisty Group: Admin Posts: 13,891 Joined: 3-January 05 From: Next To Her Member No.: 6,928 |
I could lend you some of mine. I've got plenty. :)
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Oct 22 2007, 08:59 AM
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#19
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Neophyte Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,168 Joined: 15-April 05 From: Helsinki, Finland Member No.: 7,337 |
Yeah, i like these threads for the A. Entertainment value(they did WHAT?), B. GM resource(what to look for just in case), C. GM resource 2(my PCs are uber-twinked and i need opposition! :grinbig: ), and D. Player resource(ive actually made a few things that ended up sort of cheesy...without even meaning it. I just grabbed a bunch of stuff that looked cool, but it ended up being rather bloated and overpowered. So this lets me see the stuff ahead of time.)
And yeah, i admit, its fun to play with numbers and see just what can be done. |
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Oct 22 2007, 09:05 AM
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#20
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Awakened Asset Group: Members Posts: 4,464 Joined: 9-April 05 From: AGS, North German League Member No.: 7,309 |
I like these threads because they collect the "things to do for X" all in one place. One can then select how far he/she wants to go at chargen time.
The number of threads is certainly a mood thing, depending on who as enough time on his hands to build a "test char" and open a new discussion. Kinda like the holostreets threads, just with more prep work. |
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Oct 22 2007, 02:08 PM
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#21
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ghostrider Group: Retired Admins Posts: 4,196 Joined: 16-May 04 Member No.: 6,333 |
I just figured that with the growing popularity and wider spread of SR4, we were getting a lot more people that are used to the d20 mindset.
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Oct 22 2007, 02:25 PM
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#22
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Immortal Elf Group: Members Posts: 11,410 Joined: 1-October 03 From: Pittsburgh Member No.: 5,670 |
not to mention the similarities between the two games. ooh! did i go there!? i think i did!
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Oct 22 2007, 02:26 PM
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#23
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Grand Master of Run-Fu Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 6,840 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Tir Tairngire Member No.: 178 |
Naaah, major charop has been part of Shadowrun since the SR1 days.
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Oct 22 2007, 02:32 PM
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#24
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ghostrider Group: Retired Admins Posts: 4,196 Joined: 16-May 04 Member No.: 6,333 |
Yeah, to be fair, I think I notice it more right now because I wasn't on the boards during the "early days" of any of the other editions. I've been wondering if this kind of stuff is just due to the game still being "new(er)".
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Oct 22 2007, 04:24 PM
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#25
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Grand Master of Run-Fu Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 6,840 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Tir Tairngire Member No.: 178 |
Well, the Pun-Pun/Bloodzilla thread had a ton of SR3 characters in it, so I wouldn't say edition has a lot to do with it. If anything, a newer edition gives us power players more untested rules to bend out of shape.
Seriously, I've seen playtest groups before. Their job is to test the system, to make sure it runs; they only report on glaring play issues. Nobody that I know of has a destruction-test squad, who's sole purpose is to find every loophole in a game system and exploit it until it breaks. This is the Microsoft model, where they now send every piece of software to a special team that tries anything and everything to break it. Even they miss a lot, but things have gotten a lot better since the destruction squad came into being. I think RPG's would benefit from the same sort of thing. |
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