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− | = Make a Ruling =
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− | ''"Most of the time in old-style gaming, you don’t use a rule; you make a ruling. It’s easy to understand that sentence, but it takes a flash of insight to really “get it.” The players can describe any action, without needing to look at a character sheet to see if they “can” do it. The referee, in turn, uses common sense to decide what happens or rolls a die if he thinks there’s some random element involved, and then the game moves on. This is why characters have so few numbers on the character sheet, and why they have so few specified abilities."'' (Retrieved 10/20/8 from http://www.lulu.com/content/3019374 )
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| : "negation words". The reason they negate is because as soon as you hear them you hear "ignore everything I said until I said the negation word,because what I really meant was (second half of sentence)". | | : "negation words". The reason they negate is because as soon as you hear them you hear "ignore everything I said until I said the negation word,because what I really meant was (second half of sentence)". |
| : You can still set limits with "Yes, and," and by acknowledging their idea even if you don't like it, you make them feel accepted instead of rejected. | | : You can still set limits with "Yes, and," and by acknowledging their idea even if you don't like it, you make them feel accepted instead of rejected. |
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− | =Definition of Story=
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− | :: ''We have defined a story as a narrative of events arranged in their time-sequence. A plot is also a narrative of events, the emphasis falling on causality. "The king died and then the queen died" is a story. "The king died, and then the queen died of grief" is a plot. The time-sequence is preserved, but the sense of causality overshadows it. [...] Consider the death of the queen. If it is in a story we say "and then"? If it is in a plot we ask "why?"'' -- E. M. Forster, "Aspects of the Novel"
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− | :: how I learned to distinguish story from plot.
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− | ::: Story is "and then this happened"
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− | ::: Plot is "and that led to"
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− | =do lots of things badly or one thing well=
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− | : Greg Costikyan once said that a game can either do lots of things badly or one thing very well. At the time, he was writing games like Paranoia which is a perfect example of a game which does one type of game very well indeed.
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− | : Of course, the jury is still out on this one. One of the strengths of a game like Trinity is that it combined a whole host of sci-fi concepts, themes and approaches, so you can select the one with which you wish to run it, be it high-action superheroic space opera or dark and gritty conspiracy-busting SF. Other games, like Blue Planet, provide an almost completely neutral world, not free of action but free of any particular spin or plot mode; everything on Poseidon has a flavour of politics on the new frontier, but what type of stories you might run there are conspicuously (and deliberately) absent from the book.
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− | : Most of the big games on the market take this approach; we provide the tools – the imagery, the physics, the people and places, often these days even the tropes of the kind of genres being emulated – but you decide what they do. Exalted and Unknown Armies are two good examples that define feel far more than narrative structure. Others, like D&D, define the kind of things you will be doing, the challenges and structure of the plot, but leave the feel of the game and much of the setting up to the GM (or a sourcebook). Others, like Buffy or Feng Shui, work by encouraging the emulation of a particularly well-known narrative formula from other media, not just in setting but in plot structure also, to the extent of building narrative awareness into the character design and the rules of play.
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− | =GM Narration Styles=
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− | : Other ways to do narration that's not the typical "GM describes stuff in the present tense, Players do the same." But that seems to really miss out on the potential. If you are running a game where there's a person called something like a GM with narrative authority, I think we are falling short if that authority is essentially just used to describe the world. Director's have their vision. And yet, like RPGs, they aren't the sole creators (usually), in fact most often they didn't even write the thing, much less act it out. So, if authors and directors can bring in a style and voice, why not GMs? To stick to one method would be like having every novelist write like Stephen King and every director work like Steven Speilburg.
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− | :: Some ideas for styles:
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− | ::* '''Arrested Narration''' - unreliable and contradictory to actions and dialog, turning dramatic irony up to 11.
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− | ::* '''How Fred Savage Met Your Mother''' - a character narrates from a point of view of experience, long after the events are over, with ample nostalgia, regret, and sentimentality.
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− | ::* '''Historical Professor''' (inspired by World War Z) - events are presented as interpretations of uncovered artifacts, documents, or other evidence (academic or theory based bias optional).
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− | ::* '''Epic Veda''' - inspired by John Wick talking about the primary sources for the ven in Houses of the Blooded. Homer, Beowolf, Middle English poetry, whatever your style of preference. Lofty language, repeated phrases, and if your good enough a particular cadence or even rhyming.
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− | ::* '''The Stan Lee Cameo''' - Describing scenes only as still panels, anything not visual is said as if it were written in a box on the panel. or With Great Power... (and that's inspired partly from the use of thought bubbles and discussion of painting panels from the book). The rest seem pretty easy.
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− | ::* '''The Tarantino Method''' - Scenes and events structured to build to a climax, regardless of the chronology (this is sort of an ur-style that could be combined with another, I think).
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− | ::* '''Hard Boiled''' - That well known Chandler style of narration now required for every Private Investigator license. Although like any first person narrative, this would be tricky with a PC as the narrator, and might need to be an observing NPC (but who? That's the tricky part).
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− | ::* '''The Faulkner-Joyce Gambit''' - Stream of consciousness, poetic, but PCs speak and act concretely. Would this even work? I'd love to try.
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− | ::* '''Confessionals is a good one. Does it do it in a Reality TV show emulation? Something where the characters talk directly to the audience about what they are thinking is a great one.
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| =SOAP OPERA= | | =SOAP OPERA= |
− | By [[User:Bill|Bill]]
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| ==Introduction== | | ==Introduction== |
| One of the more difficult things to sustain is a long-term game wherein the characters are able to develop meaningfully as people. The ongoing presentation of challenge after challenge familiarizes the players with only a handful of non-player characters that are necessary only to overcome the obstacles at hand. While it is not uncommon practice for Storytellers to utilize recurring characters to fill these roles, this in its own way only serves to further limit the types of interaction available to the players or to give a simple answer to the problem. In the following paragraphs I will describe a methodology that runs contrary to these techniques and has resulted in multiple lasting games. This methodology may be applied to any game, but seems to work best for the World of Darkness due to its psychodramatic themes. | | One of the more difficult things to sustain is a long-term game wherein the characters are able to develop meaningfully as people. The ongoing presentation of challenge after challenge familiarizes the players with only a handful of non-player characters that are necessary only to overcome the obstacles at hand. While it is not uncommon practice for Storytellers to utilize recurring characters to fill these roles, this in its own way only serves to further limit the types of interaction available to the players or to give a simple answer to the problem. In the following paragraphs I will describe a methodology that runs contrary to these techniques and has resulted in multiple lasting games. This methodology may be applied to any game, but seems to work best for the World of Darkness due to its psychodramatic themes. |
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| ==Example== | | ==Example== |
− | The following mind map illustrates the lead vampire characters for ''[http://wiki.white-wolf.com/worldofdarkness/index.php?title=Of_Blood_and_Dust Of Blood and Dust]''. | + | The following mind map illustrates the lead vampire characters for ''[[Of Blood and Dust]]''. |
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| http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v150/king_kaboom/Game%20Stuff/OfBloodDust.png | | http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v150/king_kaboom/Game%20Stuff/OfBloodDust.png |
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| Keeping the remainder of the conflicts running in the background can be challenging. However, it is worth it to spend a few minutes between sessions to write a single sentence about what has happened regarding each specific conflict. How has it changed? Who has gained the upper hand? Who else has become involved and how? All of this maintains the sense of realism and builds depth into the game. It also keeps the non-player character interaction fresh. Every time a player encounters the non-player character he or she has new information to give, new problems to talk about, and new events that have transpired. | | Keeping the remainder of the conflicts running in the background can be challenging. However, it is worth it to spend a few minutes between sessions to write a single sentence about what has happened regarding each specific conflict. How has it changed? Who has gained the upper hand? Who else has become involved and how? All of this maintains the sense of realism and builds depth into the game. It also keeps the non-player character interaction fresh. Every time a player encounters the non-player character he or she has new information to give, new problems to talk about, and new events that have transpired. |
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| =MOOD & THEME= | | =MOOD & THEME= |
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| ::* '''Theatrix''' is the concept of the "Primary Descriptor" - what does the player see as the character's main role in the game? For example, in a detective game one player might have a Primary Descriptor of "Good Cop Gone Bad." Or in High Fantasy a wizard might be "Kindly Father Figure". In Space Opera, "Wisecracking Ace Pilot". | | ::* '''Theatrix''' is the concept of the "Primary Descriptor" - what does the player see as the character's main role in the game? For example, in a detective game one player might have a Primary Descriptor of "Good Cop Gone Bad." Or in High Fantasy a wizard might be "Kindly Father Figure". In Space Opera, "Wisecracking Ace Pilot". |
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− | ::* Going around the table, every player tells the group something brief and introductory about their character and who they are or what they do (or about something they've done recently): career choices, personal history and opinions/prejudices, etc...
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− |
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− | ::* Everyone tells us their character's connection to whatever you all just heard from the player sitting to your left. The connection doesn't have to be as straightforward as "I fought in that battle too!" (or even, "I was on the other side of that battle") -- in fact, the more tenuous/remote but nevertheless connected you get, the better. The longer version -- that inspired this -- comes from Spirit of the Century, SOTC's 5-phase background creation approach, since that gives a player a chance to explore their history and get some traction on the character story -- and thus arc -- front. Add to that that the last two phases are "guest star" opportunities for the PC where he shows up in two other PCs' stories, and you've got instant selection of the two PCs who are to be the positive and negative force on the character's arc. It's a nearly seamless join between the two methods.
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− |
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− | ::* Write the back-cover blurb for your 1920's adventurer's first pulp novel (and then co-star in two others) as part of character creation:
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− | :::* http://zork.net/~nick/loyhargil/fate...#phase-3-novel
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− | :::* http://www.evilhat.com/home/?page_id=103
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− | ::: SOTC randomises which novels you're involved with (shuffle and deal).
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− |
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− | ::* Arc Matrix - Submit a two-pronged character arc. This consisted of two opposed possible outcomes for their characters as they develop through the course of the campaign. Examples provided were:
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− | :::* Frodo Baggins: find the endurance to serve as the ringbearer, or give in to temptation and despair
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− | :::* Andy Sipocwicz: achieve redemption as a good cop, or allow his demons to consume him
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− | ::: Once the two-way arcs were established, each player was then to select one PC for whom he served as a good influence, and another he pulled toward the negative outcome. In this latter case, the characters didn’t have to be consciously bringing ruin to their comrades. Rather, by pursuing their agendas, they could be unknowingly inching friends toward their dark destines. expand the arc a bit, and break those outcomes down into objective and outcome (or doom!) a bit more precisely, as in the first character's arc. Something that speaks a bit more to character motivation gives both player and GM a concept to grasp onto and pass back and forth. The other characters' arcs don't have that, I think. Theirs are a good starting point, but what is the objective behind the desired outcome? The resulting matrix looks like this:
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− | [[Image:Arc Matrix.png]]
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− | ::: When inserting plot to connect and unify the various killing-them-and-taking-their-stuff sequences, I’ll be looking for ways to hook into these triadic relationships between the characters. Players know which character is an influence on which character. The role-playing will develop one way if the players are conscious of the charted relationships, and quite another if they aren't.
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− |
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− | ::* hit them with Bangs -- really interesting situations that force them to make decisions that matter to the characters and to the players. This means understanding character motivations. When we create the characters, I will get the players to write down some relationships they have to NPCs and PCs and the power structures of the world. These will probably be "people who matter" (to the fictional people in the setting), so everything the PCs do will cause ripples or even splashes in the pond of situation in the world.
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− | ----
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− | ----
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− | How To Use Props In Your Games - 8 Tips
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− | By Johnn Four
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− | 1. Use Me-Props
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− |
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− | Avoid the trap of using props that are all about you the
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− | game master, and that have little to do with your players
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− | and their characters. It's easy to get wrapped up in
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− | handouts, charts, and pictures that show off your ideas and
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− | game world.
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− |
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− | While GM-focused props are interesting, and definitely
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− | better than nothing, you have an opportunity to wow your
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− | players by making your props all about them and their
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− | characters.
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− |
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− | Use props with consequences.
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− |
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− | One technique for this is to use props that have
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− | consequences and impact. For example, showing your group a
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− | map of your world helps your players conceptualize their
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− | characters' travels and the PCs' relative position within
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− | the land. This provides a bit of structure many gamers
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− | appreciate who would otherwise feel a bit lost when everyone
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− | talks about places and destinations.
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− |
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− | However, applying the me-props principle, how about making
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− | your world map more about your group's interests:
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− | * Place warnings. Add graphics of sea serpents and other
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− | monsters that actually indicate lairs and threats.
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− |
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− | * Issue challenges. Add text that dares the PCs to cross
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− | these lands or wander near those caves.
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− |
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− | * Useful reference. A map with a thousand dots and place
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− | names is useful, but mostly to you unless you are GMing a
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− | travel campaign. Instead, give your group a map dotted with
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− | ally locations, trading posts, training locations,
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− | information and contact points, secret routes and shortcuts,
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− | and hints and clues.
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− |
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− | * Exploration. What makes one place more interesting to
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− | explore than other? Communicate this on your map. The cliche
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− | map of just a few lines and an X works because it generates
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− | a sense of wonder, mystery, and excitement. How could you
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− | label and frame your map information to recreate mystery,
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− | wonder, and desire to explore (especially the locations for
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− | which you have adventures in mind).
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− |
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− | * Create blank versions of your maps, sparsely labeled, so
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− | players can log their travels or make notes important to
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− | them.
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− |
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− | Here's a test next time you plan a prop to see if it's a me-
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− | prop for your players. Ask yourself this:
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− | "Is this prop something each player is going to look at or
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− | pick-up once, and then put it down and not touch it again
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− | for the rest of the campaign?"
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− |
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− |
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− | 2. Use Visceral Props
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− | Visceral: affecting emotions.
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− |
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− | Use props that will get a reaction out of your players.
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− |
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− | Perhaps you have a gargantuan dragon mini ready to scare
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− | your group with when the PCs enter the massive cavern. One
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− | option is to have it sitting by the table, ready for the
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− | battle map. Another option is to hide it, and to think of a
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− | cool entrance plan for maximum surprise and effect.
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− |
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− | Perhaps it's hiding in an innocent looking box, and just
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− | before you unleash the creature you call a break, clear the
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− | room, and set things up so when the players sit down again
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− | you punch away the box and play a loud thunder crack sound
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− | effect.
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− |
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− | Another technique is using memorabilia. Find something from
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− | yesteryear, such as an old toy or game, and give it a place
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− | in your adventure. Players will reminisce a bit, or have a
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− | surge of great memories, or just get excited. Soon, the
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− | real-life aspect of the prop will fade into the background
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− | and gaming can come into focus again, but for the rest of
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− | the campaign that prop will be treasured, and remembered.
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− |
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− | Look for props that invoke emotion:
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− | * Clothing and costumes. Not only to get into character
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− | better, but to stir each other up, get imaginations
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− | activated, and to feel different for awhile.
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− |
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− | * Mock weapons. Nothing dangerous please. :) Imagine the
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− | excitement generated after you or a player performs a
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− | representation of their critical strike and a loud,
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− | "hiiiiyah!"
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− |
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− | * Clues left behind by the villain that contain truly funny
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− | jokes.
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− |
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− |
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− | 3. Find Props You Can Touch
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− |
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− | Photos, art, projected/computer maps and pics, and items
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− | from books and magazines make great props, but a prop that
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− | each player can touch, play with, experiment with, our use
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− | to accentuate their descriptions and roleplaying are
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− | wonderful. Use props everyone can touch, pass around the
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− | table, and pick up at any time.
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− |
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− | For example, one reader writes: "I use things to help my
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− | players feel what it is to be in a particular situation (one
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− | that can not happen in the real world). For example, to make
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− | them feel what it is to be in a purple worm belly, I use
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− | those non-toxic slimes they sell in stores. Or I can make
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− | them put their hands into a bowl full of baked macaroni to
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− | make them feel what it is to fall face first in a pool full
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− | of worms...YYEEEWWW! Disgusting."
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− |
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− | 4. Get Props That Make Players Think
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− | The line between character knowledge and player knowledge is
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− | based on your GMing style and the preferences of your
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− | players, but if permitted, use props such as puzzles to
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− | engage players' minds and imaginations that also have impact
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− | on the PCs and the game.
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− |
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− | For example, cra2 writes, "I have a book of knots and I'll
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− | tie up some doozies of varying degrees of complexity. When a
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− | player tries to use his rope use skill or escape artist
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− | skill, I'll toss him a rope knot and say, 'undo it.'"
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− |
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− | Here is a web site that shows you how to tie cra2's doozies:
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− | http://www.animatedknots.com/
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− |
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− | Over the years I've collected books on puzzles, logic
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− | problems, and lateral thinking problems. Find ways to insert
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− | these into your campaigns.
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− |
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− | Another idea is word games. Not all players will enjoy word
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− | puzzles, but for those who do, this type of prop is a huge
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− | amount of fun. For example, you might make a crossword using
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− | in-game clues, and the password to get by a magic gate is
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− | one of the words from the crossword. A hint is that the word
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− | does not have a clue in the numbered entries.
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− | "Hey, there's no clue for word #13."
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− |
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− | "Oh really? Weird. Maybe that's significant?"
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− |
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− | Such props are a great way to keep idle players busy, or to
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− | have a small part of your group who are working together on
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− | the answers feel like they're still contributing to the
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− | campaign during a split group situation.
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− |
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− | I remember the fun I had with the code wheel from the old
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− | Gold Box D&D computer games. On game start you'd be
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− | presented with a code, and you'd need to use a cardboard
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− | wheel to get the reciprocal code to activate the game for
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− | play. The codes were all in Forgotten Realms languages, so
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− | it was a neat prop.
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− |
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− |
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− | 5. Introduce Props At The Right Moment - They Are
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− | Distracting
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− |
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− | When you reveal your prop, gameplay will stop as the players
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− | check it out. If it's something small that can be handled,
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− | then expect a delay as players pass the prop around and take
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− | a few moments to examine it, make comments or jokes, and
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− | hand it on. If your prop has detail, expect several player
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− | questions and players spending time examining things
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− | closely. If the prop is a puzzle, your players will likely
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− | stop everything and try to solve it. If your prop requires
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− | assembly or set-up, expect more game delays.
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− |
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− | Think ahead and imagine how your group will react to your
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− | prop. If it's likely gameplay will come to a halt, then be
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− | strategic about its reveal.
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− |
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− | For example, if you have the option, introduce your prop
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− | toward the end of the session when energy typically flags.
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− | If it's a puzzle, wait until the very end of the game so
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− | players can work on it between sessions (unless you want to
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− | keep players busy with it in-game).
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− |
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− | If the prop is noisy or smelly, be aware of the real world
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− | timing. Late night noise doesn't go well with anyone trying
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− | to sleep upstairs.
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− |
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− | It might be appropriate to have a planned break just as the
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− | prop is introduced so the players can explore it without
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− | guilt or conflict. You want to avoid the situation of some
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− | players wanting to keep playing while some want to
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− | investigate the prop. An official, short break settles this
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− | issue nicely.
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− |
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− | If your prop is to generate a certain emotion, be aware of
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− | potential clashes with game mood and atmosphere. For
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− | example, if you hand out "magic" plastic clown masks to be
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− | used as weapons against the villain, but you had intended
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− | the villain battle to be dark and gritty, you are setting
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− | your tactics up for failure.
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− |
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− |
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− | 6. Make Prop Copies To Allow Multiplayer Play
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− |
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− | It's frustrating as a player to not have access to an
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− | important prop. If possible, have copies of your prop handy
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− | so players don't have to wait for access, or if one player
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− | tends to hog things.
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− |
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− | Photocopy - or print out - multiple copies of puzzles and
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− | paper-based props. Try to find multiple versions for other
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− | types of props.
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− |
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− | Keep props in front of your GM screen so players don't lose
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− | them or set them out of reach of the other players.
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− |
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− | Consider putting props on display away from the game table
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− | so anyone can get up and look without disturbing others or
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− | finding the prop is inaccessible.
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− |
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− | Beware of props that require just one brain or set of hands
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− | to deal with. These become exclusionary. If you have the
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− | option, employ these props to single, isolated, or split-off
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− | PCs. While all players will want to check the prop out,
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− | they'll acknowledge that just the one PC has in-game access
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− | to the prop and they should leave the player alone with the
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− | prop in peace to solve or deal with.
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− |
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− | For example, you can use a dream or vision to strategically
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− | introduce the prop to a single PC. If you can make the prop
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− | setting neutral, then you can place it when the time is
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− | right for just one PC to find. An NPC might take a PC aside
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− | and give the prop just to them for safekeeping. And, fudging
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− | skill checks let you open a secret area to give the prop to
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− | a PC at your chosen moment.
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− |
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− |
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− | 7. Avoid Fragile Props
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− |
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− | Props will be manhandled, dropped, dunked in pop and pizza,
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− | and otherwise abused, especially if they recur in multiple
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− | sessions. Is it ok if your prop gets damaged? If not, then
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− | take action to protect it.
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− |
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− | Warning your players to be careful with it is possible, but
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− | not fair to them. If a real, unavoidable accident does
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− | occur, then you end up with an upset player and a broken
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− | prop.
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− |
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− | Your best bet is to avoid fragile props. If that's not
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− | possible, then it's your responsibility to protect the prop:
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− |
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− | * Use a protective container
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− | * Have a do not touch policy
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− | * Only handle the prop yourself
| |
− | * Do not make it interactive in-game (if the PCs aren't
| |
− | supposed to touch it, then there's less pressure for the
| |
− | players to handle it)
| |
− | * Take a picture of it instead and bring the photo to the
| |
− | game
| |
− |
| |
− |
| |
− | 8. 10 Props Ideas
| |
− |
| |
− | 1) A Rubik's cube and a solutions book. Several solutions
| |
− | books give you patterns in addition to solutions to the
| |
− | original goal of getting all colours the same on all faces.
| |
− | You can use the alternate patterns as player challenges,
| |
− | with the book providing solutions for stuck players.
| |
− |
| |
− | Patterns might be used as keys to magical locks. The cube
| |
− | could be a magic item and each pattern generates a different
| |
− | effect. A pattern might be shown to a secret cult to gain
| |
− | admittance.
| |
− |
| |
− | You might also cut up the solutions book and have players
| |
− | quest for individual pages / solutions.
| |
− |
| |
− |
| |
− | 2) Create potions with cheap, clear glass and plastic
| |
− | containers. Baby food jars, dice holders, and containers
| |
− | from all the stuff you buy. Go to dollar stores and yard
| |
− | sales to find more containers.
| |
− |
| |
− | With a small collection, you can get coloured, crystallized
| |
− | juice (i.e. Tang or Cool-Aid) to fill the containers up to
| |
− | craft nifty potions. You can also get coloured sand or
| |
− | crystals from craft stores for this purpose.
| |
− |
| |
− |
| |
− | 3) Fake cigarettes. Wooden dowel is great for these. Cut the
| |
− | dowel into cigarette lengths. Paint 3/4 of each length
| |
− | white. Leave 1/4 brown. Roleplaying while holding one
| |
− | between your lips or in your hands.
| |
− |
| |
− |
| |
− | 4) Hidden pictures. Find the childrens books where an
| |
− | artist has hidden animals and other shapes into the art.
| |
− | Give players a page and ask them to find what's hidden.
| |
− |
| |
− | Perhaps turn the request into a riddle or puzzle to add
| |
− | another fun element. Give them a page with the following
| |
− | animal hidden on it, along with the riddle:
| |
− |
| |
− | I have wings but I'm not a bird.
| |
− | I am small and colourful.
| |
− | I live in gardens and fields and forests.
| |
− |
| |
− |
| |
− | 5) Halloween soon approaches. Get all the plastic swords,
| |
− | monster masks, pirate hats, and other props you can while
| |
− | they're in season!
| |
− |
| |
− |
| |
− | 6) Candles, especially floating candles in tinted water, can
| |
− | create a great mood for a nighttime setting, in dingy
| |
− | castles or dungeons, or just a fantasy/medieval setting.
| |
− | Just remember to have adequate ventilation, or you'll put
| |
− | everyone to sleep as the oxygen levels drop, and the walls
| |
− | will get stained with soot. Also, be wary of potential fire
| |
− | hazards, such as curtains, posters, flammable pets and
| |
− | clumsy players! (From: Gareth)
| |
− |
| |
− |
| |
− | 7) Headpieces. Hoods are a great way to convey mystery, or
| |
− | at least a different personality. Other headpieces, such as
| |
− | caps, crowns, scarves, (even tea towels for that middle
| |
− | eastern feel) are easy to get hold of. They are easy to put
| |
− | on and take off, and are immediately obvious to the group.
| |
− | (Plus, they don't usually get in the way of your notes, GM
| |
− | screen or dice rolling). An interesting option is to take a
| |
− | necklace with a large setting on it and wear it across your
| |
− | forehead...gives a real impression of something arcane and
| |
− | different. (From: Gareth)
| |
− |
| |
− |
| |
− | 8) Bottles. Trying to impersonate a drunk, an apothecary, a
| |
− | healer or a shadowy figure selling mysterious potions? Get a
| |
− | bottle (preferably glass), remove the label with warm water,
| |
− | and fill it with different coloured water, coffee (with or
| |
− | without milk), or any other liquid you want.
| |
− |
| |
− | With a bit of glue and paper, you can make your own labels,
| |
− | and there are a stunning variety of shapes and colours of
| |
− | bottles if you look hard enough. Antique shops and junk
| |
− | shops often have old bottles.
| |
− |
| |
− | You can even have PCs drink the contents when they quaff
| |
− | that unknown potion, but make sure it's safe to do so...if
| |
− | you use dishwashing liquid, make sure everyone knows! Also,
| |
− | your thirsty player will not appreciate it if the bottle
| |
− | they just drank had milk in it, and it was filled three
| |
− | sessions ago. (The look on their face is priceless, but it's
| |
− | not good for their health). (From: Gareth)
| |
− |
| |
− |
| |
− | 9) Need some treasure? Go through all those junk mail
| |
− | catalogs and antique auction brochures. Cut out the
| |
− | interesting pictures of "antique" items, jewelry, fancy
| |
− | rugs, furniture, and art. Use them as treasure for your
| |
− | party. When they rake in a big haul, or find something
| |
− | unusual, you can show them this picture, or simply hand it
| |
− | out and let them try to guess what the item is worth or what
| |
− | it is. (From: Chris Tutty)
| |
− |
| |
− |
| |
− | 10) As I am going through old travel magazines or National
| |
− | Geographic, I often see pictures of places and I try to
| |
− | think where that would be in my campaign world. So why not
| |
− | cut out those pictures and put them in a file for use when
| |
− | the PCs are in that area? (From: Chris Tutty)
| |
− |
| |
− |
| |
− | ----
| |
− | ----
| |
− |
| |
− | The Wire: Writing Into Your Arc
| |
− | Merlin Mann | Sep 25 2008
| |
− | Important
| |
− |
| |
− | While this article about The Wire deliberately contains as few actual spoilers about the show as possible, it does contain numerous links to pages with information that will tell you critical spoiler information about the stories and fates of the show’s characters. The article also contains language and links that are very much not safe for work. Please proceed with caution on all fronts.
| |
− |
| |
− | In the time since I gallantly announced what makes a good blog, I’ve had time to think more about the qualities of work that endures.
| |
− |
| |
− | Not thinking just of personal blogs here, or solely in terms of the ways that we can improve online publishing and social media —although clearly these are areas that could stand some improvement. I’m talking about the extent to which some of those qualities that I mentioned in that article relate to broader ideas around all creative work and the process behind how it gets made well and consistently by an auteur who’s only incidentally a merchant.
| |
− |
| |
− | And it’s especially got me thinking about how any thing we choose to make today can contribute to, for lack of a better phrase, an arc.
| |
− |
| |
− | So, naturally, I’ve been thinking a lot about The Wire.
| |
− |
| |
− | The Wire
| |
− |
| |
− | First, understand that I’m an unapologetic superfan of and evangelist for The Wire, which is David Simon’s epic, 5-season HBO drama about the life and work of a lot of very flawed characters in contemporary Baltimore. This is neither the first nor last time that I’ll quote Simon’s excellent description of the show’s theme, which is taken from his DVD commentary of the very first scene of s01e01:
| |
− |
| |
− | '''The Wire''' is really about the American city, and about how we live together. It’s about how institutions have an effect on individuals, and how … whether you’re a cop, a longshoreman, a drug dealer, a politician, a judge [or] lawyer, you are ultimately compromised and must contend with whatever institution you’ve committed to.
| |
− |
| |
− | Much has been written about the dense, literary quality of the show (read Kottke for context and great links), so it may not surprise you to learn I’m one of the many people who consider The Wire to be the best series that’s ever appeared on television; my wife and I have watched the first (and, in my opinion, best) four seasons at least three times.
| |
− |
| |
− | Yeah, that’s a plug for you to give The Wire a chance, but it’s not exactly my point.
| |
− | Ok. So, why The Wire?
| |
− |
| |
− | My point is that one big reason why The Wire was so good is its endlessly satisfying story arc, which is composed of many smaller, complementary arcs inside the big arc. That’s where a good story becomes a much more engrossing narrative that’s ultimately about more than itself.
| |
− |
| |
− | Like any creative work that connects with the people who enjoy it, The Wire tells a story. And, to some extent, every story is about change.
| |
− |
| |
− | Something happened. Or something is going to happen. Or something that everybody expected to happen hasn’t happened. But, it’s a change, and it’s having an impact on the lives of people we care about. Correct me if I’m wrong, but that’s basically the bones and teeth of every story from Adam & Eve through Harold & Kumar. Something changed, and now people have to deal.
| |
− |
| |
− | How that dealing spins out over the life of a project, how the story is told, and what the story says about the world are the sorts of questions we’re only encouraged to ask about Big Important Things like very old books and Bergman films. Which, of course, is bullshit.
| |
− |
| |
− | There’s no reason you can’t look at the lifetime of any good piece of story-telling — and, yes, why not, let’s say that could include blogs, Twitter accounts, and Flickr streams — and be able to see what the change is.
| |
− |
| |
− | Yes: if it’s any good, I can look at one page or one photo or one 140-character post and enjoy it for its value as one independent thing in the world. But over time, all those potentially thousands of pieces can and do snap together, often without our even realizing it. The question is, what story is it that we’re telling? What is the arc?
| |
− |
| |
− | And, that’s where I look to an example of middlebrow culture that falls somewhere between Bergman’s Death playing chess with Man on a beach and Scoble’s latest shaky video of a guy who likes golf speaking in press releases. But, The Wire is a piece of popular culture that beautifully illustrates how satisfying all those seemingly unrelated pieces of an arc can be — and how much richer they each become when the audience is engaged, challenged, and rewarded by the effort of giving the work 100% of their attention. Of course, it also helps if the creator is talented, tries really hard, and doesn’t treat the audience like a bunch of bored imbeciles. But, I digress.
| |
− |
| |
− | Like any story, The Wire has characters, settings, and things that happen over time. Example? Let’s start with a single, one-minute scene from s01e05 — an episode called “The Pager,” that’s from right around the time when the series really started cooking. Which, not coincidentally, was also when the intersecting arcs started to reveal themselves.
| |
− | The Scene
| |
− |
| |
− | Meet Jimmy McNulty.
| |
− |
| |
− | Jimmy’s a talented, politically deaf, pain-in-the-ass homicide detective and drunk who’s estranged from the mother of the two children he adores. One night, in the shitty little apartment he’s recently moved into, Jimmy’s too wasted on cheap scotch to properly assemble the Ikea furniture that he bought for his kids’ imminent visit. Jimmy is a mess, because he’s dealing with change. In his own inimitable way.
| |
− |
| |
− | But, see, you don’t really even need to know all this to just enjoy the scene. (Please watch from 0:09-1:25)
| |
− |
| |
− | One small scene of a guy who’s drunk and a little careless. There’s loud music playing in the next apartment. He has to make a few trips to get all of the stuff he bought into one room (bet he’s in a walk-up apartment, right?). Jimmy’s useless tonight, clearly more focused on the bottle than on assembling the parts of his new SÜLI. Here’s a middle-aged man whose bedroom contains a green plastic lawn chair. Plus, the whole sorry scene is grimly lit by a single high-wattage desk lamp — reminiscent of the unforgiving light flooding the interrogation rooms that Jimmy and his partner, Bunk, work every day. Painful already, right?
| |
− |
| |
− | So, that’s just one very small bit of character, setting, and thing-that-happens. While it’s certainly not a story, in and of itself, it’s still an entertaining, well-made scene to watch. Not as famous as Jimmy and Bunk’s deservedly best-known scene from the previous episode (warning: very NSFW), but you get the idea. You can already tell a few things about this show.
| |
− |
| |
− | It’s well photographed, the set is painfully realistic, and the man dealing with change seems convincingly Baltimorean and drunk (although the actor portraying him is stunningly British and, to my knowledge, mostly sober).
| |
− |
| |
− | Even if you have no idea what else happens on the other dozens of hours of this series, past and future, you could watch this one-minute scene and think, “yeah, that’s pretty good.”
| |
− | The Episode
| |
− |
| |
− | But, if you were able to watch the whole episode — and it’s a good one — you’d see an atypically intense and complex police drama about cops in an understaffed bureaucracy trying to gather string about a case that seems impossible to crack. You’d see that some of the cops are brilliant (“Natural PO-lice”), some are dedicated, a couple are intoxicated by brutality, and a memorable pair with a Gaelic pun for a name are hilariously useless and corrupt. None is perfect, but none is without his or her interesting and redeeming qualities. End to end, it’s a very colorful bunch.
| |
− |
| |
− | Same goes for the dealers and drug kingpins, who are struggling with their own related set of problems around bureaucracy, trust, and continuity inside a crumbling system. Theirs is a mature but increasingly vulnerable criminal enterprise that’s being menaced and robbed at will by a dangerous and unforgettable outsider with surprising tastes, ethics, and style.
| |
− |
| |
− | Along the way you’d see a lot of beautifully shot scenes that show (without telling) why these people are so desperate. Plus you’d be introduced to secondary characters who are anything but stage dressing, such as a junkie informant who’s inked and filled-in with the complex texture of a Mercutio or a Fagin.
| |
− |
| |
− | So, basically, if you gave this episode from June of 2002 about an hour of your time, and it was the only thing you ever saw of The Wire, you’d probably walk away thinking, “Wow, I didn’t understand almost any of that, but it was really interesting and well made. This looks like a great show that you have to actually watch and think about.”
| |
− |
| |
− | But, here’s where it gets really good, and where we start to see a bigger arc that may not have been clear before.
| |
− | The Season
| |
− |
| |
− | Indeed, if you watched that whole first season of The Wire, you’d find yourself rewarded with a storyline — an arc — that I will not spoil for you.
| |
− |
| |
− | But, you’d start to see that almost every character you meet ends up having some effect on at least a handful of other characters — even if they never knew the others existed. The decisions that people make early in the season have resonance throughout the story that plays out in unexpected ways. And the change that describes the generic arc of that first season (Antihero cops try to take down an antihero Baltimore drug crew) ends up telling a much deeper story than any typical police procedural that I’m familiar with.
| |
− |
| |
− | Even in one season, we’re seeing a story that’s closer to Dickens or Zola than any styrofoam plate full of Law & Order. This is nothing short of a Greek Tragedy about broken people trying to stay alive in a broken system. Nobody’s perfect, and everybody is fucked in one way or another.
| |
− |
| |
− | In my opinion, it’s a breathtaking set of 13 episodes. And if those hour-long TV shows were all you ever watched: again, you’d have enjoyed a real treat.
| |
− |
| |
− | But there’s a lot more story, more change, and still more to the arc.
| |
− | The Series
| |
− |
| |
− | Finally, if you watched all five seasons of The Wire, you’d see a lot more going on than you imagined from one season, one episode — let alone one short scene of a drunk cop trying to build children’s furniture by lamp light.
| |
− |
| |
− | You’d see each successive season turning to a different broken and dying institution: unions, government, public education, and print media, respectively. You’d see the same themes, and characters, and mistakes, and hopes, and horrible consequences brought back to life in different ways. Stuff that happened before still means something; possibly even more than you’d first realized.
| |
− |
| |
− | This is a show that uses previous story arcs to deepen and expand on current stories. It uses things you’d never noticed from previous viewings as the centerpiece for a whole new story. It suggests grace notes that are barely audible unless you’ve been listening carefully for a very long time.
| |
− |
| |
− | In sum, The Wire pays back the attention you invest in it like few pieces of art created in my lifetime. It’s vicious about telling every letter of the story with muscular precision — even when it chooses to do so at pace many would consider pointlessly deliberate: “dull.”
| |
− |
| |
− | And, because the story rarely stops to explain what’s happening for the folks who just wandered in from the first segment of Family Feud, it demands that you bring the same care and thought to watching the show that its creators brought to making it. Thinking, on both ends of the art. That is engagement.
| |
− |
| |
− | Like great literature, yes, you can return and enjoy this series on many levels and based on whatever you have to bring to it at a given time. It’s not only smarter than anything else that I’ve seen on TV, it’s also smarter than I am. Which I love.
| |
− | Arcs Matter Because Writing Matters
| |
− |
| |
− | I doubt that I’ll ever make anything one-tenth as intelligent, thoughtful, and engaging as The Wire, and, in all likelihood, neither will you. But, again, that’s not the point.
| |
− |
| |
− | The inspiration you need to take away from this is the idea that every scene matters to some arc. Even the one minute with the drunk furniture assembly. Whether your given “scene” is in a screenplay, or an Excel spreadsheet, or the Tweet that you’re about to type about your flight delay: it matters. It all matters.
| |
− |
| |
− | Like I said in the talk where I first brought up this thought about The Wire (video and slides of which below), if you think what you write about or otherwise choose to make doesn’t matter, talk to Stephen King.
| |
− |
| |
− | He started writing a book I adore before he nearly died, then finished it in excruciating pain after it turned out he was still barely alive, let alone whole. The story he tells about what happened in-between may change your mind about whether this stuff is worth caring about. Just understand: it matters to the people who follow your arc and it really ought to matter to you — long before some idiot with a rottweiler hits you with his giant van.
| |
− |
| |
− | There’s already one arc that you began the minute you made something, called it “done,” then put it someplace where people could see it. How that very, very large story gets told may be too late for you to completely control. Sorry, but that — as Omar would say — is all in the game.
| |
− |
| |
− | But you very much do have the power to design the arcs you make, starting today. And even if you haven’t figured out how your final episode ends, consider how the pieces you want to lay down might fit together. And how the string that you gather might crack a case you hadn’t expected.
| |
− |
| |
− | Who do you want to delight? Who do you pray gets your references? Who will you flatly refuse to explain your backstory to? What’s the one goddamned thing that only you can make today — and what arc might it fit into downstream? Which “average reader” are you prepared to find the courage to tell: “Fuck you.”
| |
− |
| |
− | Above all: whose attention will you reward with the best thing you can possibly make today?
| |
− |
| |
− | Good. Now go, and reward the shit out of them.
| |
| | | |
| ---- | | ---- |
Line 1,083: |
Line 534: |
| : Centered around grumbling about bad pay, bad insurance, and bad training. Oh, yeah, and going on what are essentially suicide missions devised by inept leaders. | | : Centered around grumbling about bad pay, bad insurance, and bad training. Oh, yeah, and going on what are essentially suicide missions devised by inept leaders. |
| | | |
− |
| |
− |
| |
− | ----
| |
− |
| |
− | =Building a New RPG=
| |
− |
| |
− | Amber has a character sheet, but the player doesn't get to see it after the first game. If you want to know whether you've finally gotten enough sword training to fight Julian, there's only one way to find out.
| |
| | | |
| | | |