https://twitter.com/SamWitwer/status/897229778041815041
I'm so down for this.
Did anyone else see this Sam Witwer tweet?
Oh my ...... name your chosen diety.....
Well… huh. I'd tune in.
SO following this thread...
I'm pretty darn excited for GM Maul.
Meh. I'm of the opinion that Witwer's overrated as actor, voice or otherwise. He can do a good impression of Palpatine, but that's really about it.
Even his tales of the games he's run for his friends sound more like "well, I'm just going to let my buddies run nuts and react to that" than any sort of coherently planned adventure.
That and I've heard too many "celebrity RPG sessions" that fell flat simply because the celebrities themselves simply weren't gamers and were just going through the motions.
Now if it were being run by a solid GM like Sam Stewart or GM Phil with celebrity players that are actually gamers, that might be worth listening to.
Should be interesting!
45 minutes ago, Donovan Morningfire said:Meh. I'm of the opinion that Witwer's overrated as actor, voice or otherwise. He can do a good impression of Palpatine, but that's really about it.
Even his tales of the games he's run for his friends sound more like "well, I'm just going to let my buddies run nuts and react to that" than any sort of coherently planned adventure.
That and I've heard too many "celebrity RPG sessions" that fell flat simply because the celebrities themselves simply weren't gamers and were just going through the motions.
Now if it were being run by a solid GM like Sam Stewart or GM Phil with celebrity players that are actually gamers, that might be worth listening to.
You do know Sam Witwer was an RPG player long before he was an actor, and is a walking encylopedia when it comes to Star Wars EU or Canon. Of course I realise that you might be referring to the others , and while Im not sure on all of them but I think they may be more familiar with RPG than you may realise. Also not sure if further down the tweet that Keith Kappel has volunteered to run the game, so it might not be Witwer GMing.
3 hours ago, syrath said:You do know Sam Witwer was an RPG player long before he was an actor, and is a walking encylopedia when it comes to Star Wars EU or Canon. Of course I realise that you might be referring to the others , and while Im not sure on all of them but I think they may be more familiar with RPG than you may realise. Also not sure if further down the tweet that Keith Kappel has volunteered to run the game, so it might not be Witwer GMing.
Aware of it, but just because someone is a long time gamer or well-versed in a setting's lore doesn't automatically mean they're a good GM. I knew a guy in college that had the history and lore of Forgotten Realms down pat, had been playing D&D since before it was AD&D 1st edition, and couldn't GM his way out of a wet paper bag no matter how often or hard he tried.
I've been an RPG gamer since I was a wee kid, and am pretty well versed on the lore of a number of different settings, Star Wars included, though I've not bothered to keep up all the little details about the current canon. That doesn't mean I'm automatically an awesome GM or that my style of GMing is going to be to everyone's tastes.
And yes, I was referring to the main voice cast of Rebels about the "not being gamers" bit.
I'll never consider RPGs a viable spectator sport. There are far better things I could do with my time than watch/listen to others playing.
6 hours ago, Donovan Morningfire said:Even his tales of the games he's run for his friends sound more like "well, I'm just going to let my buddies run nuts and react to that" than any sort of coherently planned adventure.
A GM who builds a story around the actions of the players? Preposterous!
5 hours ago, Donovan Morningfire said:Aware of it, but just because someone is a long time gamer or well-versed in a setting's lore doesn't automatically mean they're a good GM. I knew a guy in college that had the history and lore of Forgotten Realms down pat, had been playing D&D since before it was AD&D 1st edition, and couldn't GM his way out of a wet paper bag no matter how often or hard he tried.
I've been an RPG gamer since I was a wee kid, and am pretty well versed on the lore of a number of different settings, Star Wars included, though I've not bothered to keep up all the little details about the current canon. That doesn't mean I'm automatically an awesome GM or that my style of GMing is going to be to everyone's tastes.
And yes, I was referring to the main voice cast of Rebels about the "not being gamers" bit.
Have you ever heard or seen Sam (Witwer) GM, you seem to be talking from experience here, Ive only seen him play and then only about twice, however given all these guys are established actors , any anytime Ive seen actors play it has been reasonable (although do agree that RPG isnt a spectator sport Acquisitions Inc. perhaps being the sole exclusion).
5 hours ago, Stan Fresh said:A GM who builds a story around the actions of the players? Preposterous!
There's a big difference between "open ended, player driven adventure" and "not planning".
You don't have to choose between railroading and absolute freedom with no structure, there's a happy middleground.
3 hours ago, Tom Cruise said:There's a big difference between "open ended, player driven adventure" and "not planning".
You don't have to choose between railroading and absolute freedom with no structure, there's a happy middleground.
I've yet to see evidence that the guy doesn't plan at all.
16 hours ago, Donovan Morningfire said:I'm of the opinion that Witwer's overrated as actor, voice or otherwise.
Baffled by this, I find his characterization of Maul extra-ordinary. Really sold me on the Maul revival in TCW (of which I was initially dubious).
So no one watched this?
2 hours ago, Stan Fresh said:I've yet to see evidence that the guy doesn't plan at all.
Considering the stories he's told, that his players have confirmed, of the hours of planning he had to put into the encounters for the old D20 system they played in, and the over arcing plot he had for their campaign, I think the statement that he doesn't plan is just simply wrong. I mean he's flat out said in some of his stories about "I had this encounter set up, that was *insert elaborate detail of a location and situation taking place*, and my players loved it." or, the inevitable "I had this encounter set up, that was *insert elaborate detail of a location and situation taking place*, and my players decided to screw that noise, and went somewhere else entirely."
It's the mark of a good GM, if, after decades of playing with the same people, you learn that they have a habit of not following your plot rails, it's a much better strategy to not bother wasting time on stuff that will likely not ever be explored, and instead learn to improvise based on their input.
I've had to do the exact opposite with my players. I've been with these guys since the 90's, and they just do NOT like having the freedom to make their own decisions. They like to have a clear goal fed to them by the GM, that they can accomplish, receive a reward, and move on to the next scripted event. I've tried (and failed) to get them to take the story reigns so we can see what develops as a result, but they just simply do not play that way.
So what should a GM do? Continue to shove his players down a plot rail they refuse to follow? Or simply go with the flow?
12 hours ago, Stan Fresh said:A GM who builds a story around the actions of the players? Preposterous!
For one's own personal home game with a group of players that have been gaming for years, that approach can work.
For what amounts to a publicity stunt with a group of people that may very well have little to ZERO experience playing an RPG, it's a recipe for disaster.
To use Wil Wheaton's TableTop series as an example. ever time they've featured an RPG, it's been with a GM who not only knows the rules forwards and backwards, but came in with a rather definitive scenario that could be followed to the letter, but also has the players, celebrity or otherwise, be experienced gamers.
What Witwer proposed has none of of that, and really boils down to just being a cheap publicity stunt now that his most recent meal ticket's been punched.
2 hours ago, whafrog said:Baffled by this, I find his characterization of Maul extra-ordinary. Really sold me on the Maul revival in TCW (of which I was initially dubious).
My problem (apart from bringing Maul back at all in the first place given he'd served his story purpose) is that it was such a sudden 180 from the characterization he'd had previously (what little of it was). Maul's entire purpose was as a phantom menace, a distraction from the true threat that was Palpatine. It also undercut the significance of Obi-Wan's victory on Naboo, which itself was born out of the arrogance Maul had in thinking that the younger Jedi, a mere Padawan, poised no threat to him.
Witwer's take was that of a demented, revenge-obsessed loon, both in Clone Wars and Rebels, who in the former somehow became a master schemer able to orchestrate the overthrow of an entire system.
Frankly, Dave Filoni fumbled the ball on that one all for the sake of glorified fan-service, when he probably would have better off employing new character Savage Oppress in that role as new yet powerful threat without undercutting his importance by making him Maul's kid brother.
Surely it was the threat of the trade federation that was the phantom menace?
13 minutes ago, Darzil said:Surely it was the threat of the trade federation that was the phantom menace?
Id say that Palpatine was the phantom menace, as he was the puppet master behind it all orchestrating things to ensure he got further in the senate regardless of the cost. Definitely not Maul, who was essentially Palpatines goon to show him going through apprentices with no regards to them either, first with Maul, then Dooku, befkre ditching him for Vader.
Edit did a search and if this quote is correct from wikipedia then I am correctt
George Lucas began writing the new Star Wars trilogy on November 1 , 1994. ... The film's working title was The Beginning; Lucas later revealed that its true title was The Phantom Menace ; a reference to Palpatine hiding his true identity as an evil Sith Lord behind the facade of a well-intentioned public servant.
Edited by syrathHe was the real menace
34 minutes ago, Donovan Morningfire said:For one's own personal home game with a group of players that have been gaming for years, that approach can work.
For what amounts to a publicity stunt with a group of people that may very well have little to ZERO experience playing an RPG, it's a recipe for disaster.
To use Wil Wheaton's TableTop series as an example. ever time they've featured an RPG, it's been with a GM who not only knows the rules forwards and backwards, but came in with a rather definitive scenario that could be followed to the letter, but also has the players, celebrity or otherwise, be experienced gamers.
What Witwer proposed has none of of that , and really boils down to just being a cheap publicity stunt now that his most recent meal ticket's been punched.
(Emphasis mine.)
So far, what he's proposed is, "Hey, what if we played a game?"
I'd say you're drawing some major conclusions based on that.
Personally they should have revealed Maul was cloned as part of Palpatine's research into Darth Plagueis's research into immortality.
So Maul woke up after Obi-Wan killed him, broke out and went into hiding driven insane by the experience, it took his brother and mother to bring him back but even then his resurrection still effected him.
As for the Star Wars game I'd love to see what he comes up with!?
1 hour ago, Donovan Morningfire said:What Witwer proposed has none of of that, and really boils down to just being a cheap publicity stunt now that his most recent meal ticket's been punched.
Yeah, he's chasing the big RPG bucks.
