[Ilander]

Well, I've run into a few bits of powergaming in my time as "Gamemaster" (my personal favorite title, as it belies the truth---that roleplaying IS a game, and I'm the one that has labored to make said game possible for my PCs). I don't worry too much about it, though---the characters often are given what they want, and then find themselves really no better off whatsoever.

For instance, in a Vampire: The Masquerade game, one of my PCs was jealous that another had obtained a special sword that caught animated beings (the living and the dead) on fire. This jealousy faded away quickly when the sword was actually USED by the other PC, because it promptly caught the werewolf on fire, and the character wielding the sword promptly fell to the ground in terror of the flames.

On of my friends GMs a lot, and has a good approach for such powergaming---he allows it, but the character is almost always rejected by the rest of the group as acting strange, and as such, is introduced to much harder situations. Sometimes, he tries to sneak back in with our group, and the alarms sound and we end up killing his new character (since we're roleplaying, it makes sense).

Overall, stuff like this just makes me wanna say that honestly, it's okay if your player character dies! It's a GAME, and sometimes, stories are better when they don't work out.

[ 04-26-2005, 10:33 AM: Message edited by: Ilander ]