[Torg] Any everthought ofor triedreversing/altering Torg'sMetapower vsAdvancement struggle?

[Dominick Riesland]

2009/3/13 Chris <3n7r0py at gmail.com>:
> I will admit that I have not read the majority of this thread, but from the
> messages I have read, I feel I need to ask this question about the
> distinction being given for Character Advancement vs "Meta-powers." Part of
> it may be my limited understanding of things, or perhaps I misunderstand
> some of the fundamental things of the system/cosmverse. The way I see it,
> the conscious decision of the player to not spend possibilities in favor of
> saving them for later advancement is meta gaming, using player knowledge of
> what it going on at a game level to choose whether or not to use P-Points.
> Using P-Points during an encounter to manipulate reality in some way, which
> is a relatively new option to the characters, especially in early game,
> seems more like something that is in-character. The character knows what is
> going on at that moment, and is concerned with accomplishing a task.
> Depending on the situation, a character may spend P-Points that they may not
> need to, but it is for them to learn from, and still the character's
> decision.
> -chris

An argument can be made for in-character understanding of character
advancement. We haven't had enough of a campaign break to deal with
it, but there is a means of advancement through game time. Possibility
use allows something to happen immediately that would take an Ord
months or even years to accomplish. So when a significant Possibility
pool develops, the "option" opens in the character's mind of
fast-forwarding skill advancement. Making the villain dead *now* might
drain that pool to the point where the skill advancement option needs
to be delayed.

I think this discussion has forgotten that *both* metapower and
advancement can be accomplished in other ways. Skills are trainable
over time. Cards are another metapower denied to the villains.
Possibilities are flexible in that they can be used both ways.
Focusing on either one gets you dead, whether by being too far behind
the curve to compete later on or by not doing enough to insure your
survival immediately.

I realize that this struggle is what Jeff doesn't like. He doesn't
want to choose between defeating the bad guy now or buying the fire
combat skill needed to defeat the new bad guy later. He wants
defeating the first one to *earn* the right to learn the skill needed
to defeat the other one.

There is precedent for such a philosophy. It drives practically every
video game in existence. Many roleplaying games follow this paradigm
as well. The question is one of whether this can (or should) be
applied to Torg.

As someone running the canon setting (even if not all the rules are
the same), the answer for me is a definite no. The very nature of the
setting demands the struggle between immediate vs. long-term gain.
It's even encapsulated in the blurb on the back of the Orrorsh
Sourcebook:

"The Gaunt Man knows you want to live...He created Eternal Corruption.
You may exist forever, if you serve him. To serve him, you hunt down
those who oppose this corruption. The Storm Knights.

"The Gaunt Man knows the prowess of Storm Knights. He created the
Power of Fear. The Power of Fear weakens Storm Knights and strengthens
his servants. In the legends of Orrorsh, heroes die.

"The Gaunt Man knows he shall win. He created Orrorsh. Only heroes who
expect to die enter his realm. He is certain that heroes shall not
make the sacrifices necessary to stop him.

"Only *you* know if the Gaunt Man is right."

The canon setting is based on the heroes needing to sacrifice to make
things happen. Whether it's sacrificing advancement for victory (or
vice versa) or sacrificing life and limb to defeat the major forces of
evil, this theme runs through the setting, so any attempt to remove or
mitigate it is anathema.

Now if the setting is removed, and the bare mechanics are used for
another setting, this balancing act may seem odd. Indeed, the setting
may work against it. The characters may have to spend every resource
(including Possibilities) on defeating the evil in front of them, and
also to advance in power at a rapid pace to defeat the villains to
come.

If that is your situation, by all means do what the setting demands.
There are a number of suggestions for how to decouple advancement from
metapower; use what fits. As for me, I'm not all that interested in
it, because I use Torg for the canon setting. If you have things that
work, feel free to mention them, but don't be surprised if they
attract little more than cursory notice.

Dominick Riesland, aka Rabbitball
Creator of the Cosmversal Grimoire
"There are always possibilities, my sergeant told me. But he never had
his possibilities torn away like wings from a fly."