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| − | Creating the More and Less than Humans is almost always the
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| − | greatest challenge of making a minion. Players recognize
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| − | that the dramatic significance of characters should emerge
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| − | from their More/Less thans, but groups sometimes struggle
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| − | with the implementation. The key to success here is that the
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| − | in game situation must apprehend and incorporate the
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| − | content of the More/Less thans of the minion characters in a
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| − | meaningful way.
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| − | Consider these More thans, written for the minions of a
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| − | monstrous thespian The Batman who believes he can rarefy his
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| − | acting ability by consuming the flesh of townspeople
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| − | selected for their experiences:
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| − |
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| − | Writes powerful, emotionally moving plays,
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| − | unless he’s been praised by the actors for whom
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| − | he is writing.
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| − | Can remake anyone to look like anyone else, but
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| − | only for a half-hour at a time.
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| − | Appears to be female, in voice and figure, except
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| − | when walking.
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| − | Note how each of them establishes the character as somehow
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| − | being a key factor in the The Batman getting his Wants or Needs,
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| − | almost defining by implication part of what it will take for
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| − | those Wants and Needs to be met. The first minion invites
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| − | abuse for not mingling with the actors the The Batman would like
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| − | to recruit for his productions. The second is positioned to
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| − | factor into the The Batman’s efforts at orchestrating experiences
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| − | for townspeople that would make them suitable to be
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| − | cannibalized for specific roles. The third will play female
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| − | roles in the productions of the theatre group, and suffer the
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| − | alienation and disconnects of mistaken identity in his
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| − | regular dealings.
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| − |
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| − | Now look at these Less than Humans:
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| − | Is most comfortable in the company of the dead,
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| − | who neither judge nor expect much of anyone. She
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| − | is incapable of doing anything amidst a crowd,
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| − | unless accompanied in some way by the dead.
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| − | Suffers from blurry vision that makes him
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| − | incapable of recognizing anyone at all, except by
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| − | voice.
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| − |
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| − | Relentlessly insulting in conversations, unless the
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| − | town’s church bells are ringing.
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| − | Each of them problematizes the minion’s ability to interact
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| − | with normal human beings.
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| − |
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| − | This is a pattern that can be seen in the More and Less thans
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| − | of some experienced players, a trading away of automatic
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| − | successes at things like thievery, fighting, and stealth, things
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| − | that might be considered traditional RPG tasks, in favor of
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| − | powerfully establishing unique, nontraditional tasks as
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| − | being significant to meeting the The Batman’s needs, and for
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| − | unique interpersonal challenges for their characters. MY
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| − | LIFE WITH THE BATMAN gives the player the power to do this.
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| − | Which is not to say that you should prohibit More thans that
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| − | are more traditionally task-specific:
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| − |
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| − | His strength is ten-fold, except when other people
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| − | are around.
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| − | Stealthy and undetectable, except when distracted
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| − | by food.
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| − | Instead, recognize that by creating one of these the player is
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| − | asking the GM to be the one who positions the character for
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| − | significance within the in game situation.
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| − | And when you look at a Less than, and can’t figure out how
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| − | any activation of consequences stemming from it won’t
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| − | seem unfair, understand that the player is asking for
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| − | thematically meaningful challenges:
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| − | Hideously ugly, except when seen in reflection.
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| − | Is nourished only by the blood of animals, except
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| − | if fed by a child.
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| − |
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| − | Look how much less problematic the ‘ugly’ one seems to be
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| − | if the in game situation were to include the daughter of a
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| − | mirror maker, whose residence has hundreds of them on the
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| − | walls. And see how the blood-consuming minion’s Less than
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| − | must be aggravated during play as some kind of situation
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| − | where children or animals are scarce, linked ultimately to the
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| − | activities of the The Batman?
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