On 7/9/2020 4:37 AM, Alex Goodwin wrote:
> This is initially directed at Tim Collinson, but anyone who's had any
> experience playing or running such a game please pitch in.
>
> By "High/Low", I mean such a setup where you have two distinct groups of
> PCs - the high-level bunch handling things at the zoomed-out level (in
> Shadowrun terms, the intercorporate silly buggers) and the low-level
> bunch handling things up close at the scale of "conventional"
> roleplaying (in Shadowrun terms, the expendable murder hoboes who go out
> and do the violence/carbomb the orphanage/drop the bridge/frame the
> politician/etc).  Effects can (and usually do) go both ways.

/Ars Magica/ had, and as far as I know pioneered, this sort of play.
Players created not one but /multiple/ characters, part of a "troupe";
they had their powerful wizard, but also a skilled (and often much more
"worldly" and competent in everyday social situations) normal character,
and then one or more basic fighters ("grogs", aka redshirts, mooks, etc)
with interesting quirks.  During any given session or adventure, some
might be playing their magi, others their "consortes"
(rupert-minders*cough*), and anyone might play a grog as needed.  The
"covenant" (their base of operations) was also a sort of character as
well, which everyone contributed to developing.

In addition to the typical mixed adventuring party described above, for
expeditions to investigate a magical spring or rumors of a dangerous
beast or parley with faeries or what have you, you might also have
situations where most or all of the magi are engaged in magical research
or meeting others for wizard's politics; meanwhile, the consortes
(usually with some level of grog support for "muscle") have to deal with
some "real world" problem like keeping the local baron happy.  Maybe one
of the magi tags along, either because they like being involved in that
sort of thing (whether or not they're actually any /good/ at it) or
because the baron won't talk to anyone "lesser", no matter how strange
or offputting wizards can be; meanwhile, the maga herself would much
rather get back to her lab and the experiment she's running...

And in the background, always, the common grunts/schmoes/etc mutter to
themselves and make crude jokes when they think no one's listening, and
get called on to drag or carry something heavy or throw themselves at an
ogre or a wyrm or something, and two or three probably die or get maimed
in the attempt. Oh well, roll up another half dozen...

--
---------------
Kelly St. Clair
xxxxxx@efn.org