Do these ever really work?

Aren't the players going to play that way anyway in games where such things exist (Star Wars for instance)?

Quote from: Biscuitician;988842Do these ever really work?

Aren't the players going to play that way anyway in games where such things exist (Star Wars for instance)?

Do you mean Dark Side Point mechanics?

Same difference

Quote from: Biscuitician;988947Same difference

No, not really the same. One is a reward the other is a punishment. They motivate in quite different ways.

Whether either works or not depends less upon the setting and more on how the players and GM want to run the game. In some SW games, the DS point mechanics work fine assuming the players and GM want to tell a story about being the good guys while in others, everybody may be better served in ignoring them entirely if they want to play a band of Sith.

If it's a Star Wars game, players don't care what mechanics it uses. Because Star Wars. Every crap player is drawn to it like a moth to light, because Darth Vader is on the cover.

Quote from: Shawn Driscoll;988951If it's a Star Wars game, players don't care what mechanics it uses. Because Star Wars. Every crap player is drawn to it like a moth to light, because Darth Vader is on the cover.

Ah, another moronic, useless generalization  from Shawn Driscoll.  You really need to put this one on YouTube and your blog that no one  reads.

Quote from: Biscuitician;988842Do these ever really work?

Aren't the players going to play that way anyway in games where such things exist (Star Wars for instance)?

When I have run 1st edition WEG Star Wars, the Dark Side Points were a good way to keep a Force-using character in line if he wanted to stay on the good side. Basically it was a nudge or warning, "Are you sure you want to do that?" sort of thing, something you might do for a supposedly Lawful Good paladin in AD&D. The player, of course, is free to do what he wants and earn a Dark Side Point and risk losing his PC to the Dark Side. I found it worked well given the tropes and setting.

Quote from: Biscuitician;988947Same difference

As was said, they are not the same. Also, unless you clarify which mechanic or system you have in your head, the rest of us don't know what the hell you are really asking about.

Until you get back to us to clarify, we'll just go on talking among ourselves.

Quote from: Dumarest;989017When I have run 1st edition WEG Star Wars, the Dark Side Points were a good way to keep a Force-using character in line if he wanted to stay on the good side. Basically it was a nudge or warning, "Are you sure you want to do that?" sort of thing, something you might do for a supposedly Lawful Good paladin in AD&D. The player, of course, is free to do what he wants and earn a Dark Side Point and risk losing his PC to the Dark Side. I found it worked well given the tropes and setting.

I think it might be post 1E, but I like the version of Dark Side points where the user gets a bonus to their Force abilities for every DSP they have. It makes taking or keeping a DSP seductive...as it should be. And if the character doesn't eventually resist they continue down a path of ultimate ruin as the character is lost to the Dark Side.

Quote from: Dumarest;989014Ah, another moronic, useless generalization  from Shawn Driscoll.  You really need to put this one on YouTube and your blog that no one  reads.

I find it best to treat his posts like I do someone with the hiccups. Just try to ignore the annoying and sometimes painful noise. Eventually it will stop...at least until the next time.

In my experience, yes. Points that give you consequence for certain alignment-style actions can work. But the system has to be well-crafted.

The One Ring corruption mechanic is excellent I think.

Quote from: RPGPundit;989431In my experience, yes. Points that give you consequence for certain alignment-style actions can work. But the system has to be well-crafted.

I think a well-crafted dark/light side system simulates temptation by offering benefits on both paths and logical drawbacks. What qualifies as well-crafted in your experience?

Quote from: BoxCrayonTales;989965I think a well-crafted dark/light side system simulates temptation by offering benefits on both paths and logical drawbacks. What qualifies as well-crafted in your experience?

You mean which system? Ironically, Blue Rose worked pretty well.

Quote from: RPGPundit;990770You mean which system? Ironically, Blue Rose worked pretty well.

Not necessarily a specific system, but how should the morality mechanics work in general?

Mainly, a system that can potentially tempt people toward the 'dark side', as benefits will be granted, but at the same time being 'corrupted' by the dark side will have meaningful consequences as well, be they physical (mutation), mechanical, or in terms of putting characters into situations that will be highly inconvenient.

It's also possible that there are certain benefits from staying on the "light side". That is less required, but if you use them they should be in some form useful and yet not so overwhelmingly useful that they make it utterly unappealing to go dark.

In short, if you make it completely fucked up to go dark, it's not a great system. If you don't make it fucked up at all, you'll have everyone doing it. You need to make it into a kind of risk-reward assessment for the players, where some players would choose one way and others would go the other way.