There’s one at every table…
Well, I have had two gaming sessions and I suppose I should say something. It’s been rather fun, but on relfection also a little bit embarassing.
They represent the Lollypop Guild
I have talked about Munchkins in the past in reference the players when I was GMing, but I never, not in seven Corellian Hells, would consider putting myself in that category. And there is where I found myself on both the first and second session.
The first session
During the first encounter, which was rather long, I was the only player who was aware of the rules for Attacks of Opportunity and took full advantage of them. One of which included a Natural 20. Faced with more enemies I decided to simplify things and threw my sword at a light fitting, bringing it crashing down on two enemies and killing them both. Yes, it was cool.
Following on from this, the GM had us meet the Big Bad, instead of the three outcomes that she intended us to use I took a fourth option and managed to bluff our way out of a fight with a series of high Persuade checks. There was the whole thing with the mysterious Jedi Master, his package and the unruliness of the crew aboard the ship.
After that, I felt a little bit ashamed and embarrased. But it was fun, a lot of fun.
The next week…
Upon reflection onmy actions yesterday, I can explain myself in only one way: Chaotic Neutral. I looked through the TV Tropes page, and while I don’t qualify for the extremist side of this, the fact that I am doing whatever the hell I want in the game to have fun certainly does.
Firstly, there was the cleaning up from the last adventure. The crate I ended up losing and I had to make up this story about being attacked by pirates before being confronted by Quinlan Vos himself (whom I refused to kill) and had to tell the real story.
Then there was the mission the GM gave us, escort a senatorial aide to Kamino and then pick up a Kaminoan representative to take him back to Coruscant. When I realised that we had been paid prior to completing the job, I suggested that instead of taking both representatives back to the Capital that we instead sell them out to the Seperatists.
So, what happens in a Star Wars role playing game when the players decide to leave the rails of the well-defined plot? The GM sends one of these after them.
And that’s where it stopped for the week.
So now, I got the players into a sticky situation with the Republic which even though sounds to me like a deus ex machina, was all my fault.
I really should just keep my mouth shut. And stick to what I know: GMing.
By the way, I am still working on the next campiagn. Expect big epic things. REALLY big.
Level 1 GM 
[…] This creates huge problems for a GM, as it is not just possible but probable that a player at the table will know more about Star Wars than they do. It creates a different sort of rules lawyer, call it the Continuity Lawyer if you wish, and I remarked on it in an earlier post. […]
This is why I like to discuss the kind of game we want to play before we sit down. Playing and GMing is a collaborative process, and it requires players and GMs alike to share the responsibility for their own entertainment. That means players need to, at some level, acknowledge that this is a game and a story and that there needs to be some “enabling contraints” to help channel their creative output in the same general direction. If the GM has prepared a story in which heroic intervention saves the day for the good guys, and players instead try to be bad guys, or worse, fly their ship off to some place random and irrelevant, then this is GMing from the players chair. They have broken their playing contract with the GM, and have actively substituted a new story and environment, rather than the one provided by the GM. It’s disrespectful to the GM’s preparation, and basically treats him like a monkeyboy, daring him to keep up with arbitrary whims – it’s hard work for little gain for anyone at the table. If the GM’s story is boring, or lacks an interface point for players, this is NOT an idea alternative.
I don’t really think this counts. Munchkinism is more about how you build your character, rather than how you play it.