Over_the_Edge_Players'_Survival_Guide

Players’ Survival Guide
HELPFUL HINTS
Burger in a Strange Land
Stay with a group (safety in numbers). Besides,
you are all “burger” in a strange land. It was a long
time before Nic found his pa, so in the meanwhile, he
tagged along with the other characters. Nic hoped
the other “burger” would lead him to his father.
They didn’t mind the helping hand of a seven-foot
behemoth that could always “find” a lead pipe or
other blunt instrument to use in a fight.
Keep a good diary of events in the Edge because
they may be more linked than random. A good diary
helps you remember details, and may provide
valuable clues and/or solutions.
Between or during sessions, take the time to
develop the family, friends, and events that shaped
your character. Someone will ask you about events in
your character’s past. Rather than answering these
questions off the cuff, anticipate them.
Come up with something for your character to
do in private when you can’t attend a scheduled
game session. Your GM will not be happy to have
to think up something to excuse your absence. The
old “Well, he’s there but isn’t doing anything” line
gets old. After a few sessions, there should be things
that have piqued your interest but that you didn’t
investigate.
Getting Into It
How do you get into the mindset of Over the Edge?
Creativity, attention to details, and a willingness to
do things differently. Nic survived and thrived in
the madness of the Edge and always kept the other
character’s guessing “what’s the deal with Nic?”
Secrets of Survival
by Robin D. Laws
Your GM has announced a new OTE series, and
for your next PC you’re trying to invent the ultimate
survival machine. Your last one went down
in a hail of Peace Force gunfire before you left the
airport. His predecessor took a highly poisonous
blue-ringed octopus upside the head during the
C&I interview. Determined to at least make it as far
as Sad Mary’s this time, you’ve been choosing and
discarding various options. Descriptions of your
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character’s fighting ability which make him a threat
no matter what the situation. A fringe power with a
trick definition so broad it’ll cover everything from
laser-beam eyes to omniscience. Contacts extending
from the CIA to the Rolling Stones. Instant memory
access to every word in the New York Public Library.
The combined annual income of the Fortune 500. A
character flaw constructed so cleverly that it becomes
advantageous.
You might surprise yourself by summoning up the
persuasive powers necessary to convince your GM
to approve this übermensch. But beware — your GM
is unconcerned, because she knows your character
will self-destruct on impact with Al Amarja, like an
Alka-Seltzer tablet in water. You’ve put everything
into your new character — except the elements that
give the GM a stake in the character’s continued
well-being.
Here’s a well-kept secret: GMs hate to kill off
characters. Sudden PC death tosses a major monkeywrench
into the progression of any plot — stops it dead
while the other characters regroup and change their
plans. It compels the GM to do narrative backflips in
order to squeeze your next PC into the ongoing storyline.
If the survival of your characters is an issue for
you, it’s probably because you’re forcing your GM to
kill them off. With the flexible rules structure of OTE,
it’s not hard for a GM to protect PCs from accidental
catastrophe. Of course, if she’s doing her job well,
she has the characters fearing disaster every minute
of the way. Don’t confuse the creation of suspense
with adversarial GMing. Only if you back her into
a corner, where plausibility and dramatic balance
demand it, will she dispatch your new character to
your ever-expanding “dead” file.
Even given a GM who doesn’t mind knocking off a
PC now and then, there are character design choices
you can make to provide your new creation with a
longer life expectancy. None of them involve exotic
powers or an esoteric equipment list.
Sympathy
Instead of asking “what can my character do?”
decide who he is. A vividly-drawn character with
recognizably human traits is far more likely to emotionally
engage a GM than will a passel of cool powers.
You’re not just a spectator in the GM’s grand scheme
— you’re a fellow author. Together with the other players,
the two of you are creating a story. And players