Game in the Brain

The way I GM reflects a lot about how I
solve or face problems. Which can be good and bad. Having it
published the games (the video is accessible) it bares a lot about me
to anyone who is perceptive enough to see all my tells and
techniques. What I don’t have in natural talent or early education I
make up with a lot of little hacks. Its actually pretty easy to see
through the Gms machinations BUT it doesnt stop it from being an
amazing thing. You know science is amazing even when we learn so much
about something, the mental discipline and perspective it creates
within a mind is what can be really called “magic”.

Anyway one thing you would notice is my
obsession with low fantasy or low tech fiction. The problems back
then are hard and are as frustrating as our day to day problems….
but we are kinda cheating since we have the mental disciplines,
education, coping mechanism, mnemonics/mental tools of today that
make us as capable (and then some) as the most talented people of
that forgotten age.

Practical Problem solving is what puts
me in awe of what was there and then. In GURPS where I can buy stuff
in points, many problems are EASY because social advantages and many
things up to fate can be “bought” with points… but imagine
being nobody with no connections, even if you have talents and
critical thinking skills (which were illegal in some eras). Now thats
a problem: how do you with so little multiply what you have in a
finite world.

We hear about stories of “–Success—”
and there are many such stories that get around. After you account
for the odds, there are still many moments of genius that can be
learned. Many of the situations are similar to our own – mindlessly
frustrating and boring lolz but people manage to find creative ways
to get past it. Some methods took discipline and all the effort went
into self control, while others were just raw opportunity and the
ability to come to the rational understanding to exploit it when
everyone else still had their doubts.

In a game, the problems are interesting
and somewhat detached, and somewhat similar to our own. Its actually
amazing how a many similarities there are in a RPG social intrigue as
there are in real life situations where you have to be as keen and
guarded. I know everyone hates that kind of complexity, but I guess
its more of hating that kind of complexity when they feel
disempowered in real life versus the game.

Strangely the game has become an
interesting coping mechanism for me: “What would Thomas (who has
Merchant-18) do in this situation” Ability scores are not really
cut and dry in gurps, there is hard reality vs the roll, pissing off
the president by calling his daughter a bitch can’t be a situation
that can be “rolled out” . The player has to remember the Game
and find a solutions outside the dice. Such problems should come with
a Fear Check, as someone who used to have panic attacks, they really
should.

Such games that rely on so much Player
skill can be daunting, I wouldnt readily jump in any because the GM
and myself can have very very different expectations. Heck what I’m
talking about can be very different to many who read this, and have a
very different take on how they enjoy games and why their tastes have
evolved to what they are now. Mine, in reflection, is out of the
little hacks I had to work with to make up for so many disadvantages
and limitations. It feels like I’m constantly juggling it all, and I
am failing to keep all the balls in the air.