So, as I said in the introduction, I'm now Storyteller for New York City's Mage the Awakening. For those of you not in the LARP/Cam/MES circles (if so, how the Hell did you find this?) a Storyteller, or ST, is responsible for developing, delivering, and maintaining the story for a venue (specific game) to which they are assigned. We approve everything that comes in, and run with the decisions that go out.
Out of all of the games in the New World of Darkness, I like Mage the most. Mage is the story of humans Awakening to the Truth, that the world they exist in is in fact a Fallen shell of it's former glory. Magic existed once, as did society's that revelled and build with it as we do hammer and nails. Then Mages took to war with themselves, and the in their vanity cut themselves off from the Realms Supernal, the source of Magic. Those who use magic here are able to tap into the power of the Realms, to hack into Reality.
I like it because, out of all of the other games, it's one of the more human. In Vampire, Changeling, etc, something horrible and traumatic happens to you and you are effectively cut off from the world. This isn't the case in Mage. You Awake, you still have a life. You grow old, die, have children. You aren't a monster or have to hide from the world. You can live a relatively normal life on the side. However, there is always the chance of shucking that all away to embrace the power of being a Mage, leading up to the inevitable declaration that you are a God.
I originally intended to run for Mage in May 2013. The games are resetting, and everything is changing. All of the stories, plots, and characters from this Chronicle are being retired. Every one will be creating new characters in new versions of the city's they inhabit. It's a world builder's dream. Of course, we don't normally get everything exactly the way we wanted it. The current Domain Storyteller (the one running the entire city and all games therein) was my predecessor in Mage, and when he was elected to the whole Domain, someone had to fill his place. I was the only one who ran, so I got the position. So now it's my job to close out the Chronicle, as well as consider building up the New One.
Oh, goody.
Now, before then, my only experience as a Storyteller was working as an Assistant ST for Vampire the Requiem, the flagship game in New York. I learned a lot about Storytelling and especially mechanics, which is a problem for me. But it was always an assistant gig, I had someone who was directly above me who was truly responsible. This was now my show, as much as it is for a Storyteller.
As I said before, the Storyteller is responsible for creating and dispensing plot, but they are also responsible in Maintaining the venue as well. By that I mean that it is their job to maintain continuity, both for the player and the venue as a whole. Each player has their own stories, fueled and shaped by interactions with the other players. There are times where interactions make a more interesting plot than what the ST has in mind. I will probably comment on that in a blog of it's own.
But that's one of the major things I'm focused on. I'm a writer, I can write plot and stories. However, I need to keep the plot fluid enough to account for the creativity and ingenuity of the players.
Two major pieces of advice a lot of my friends in the group . The first is to know what more story style is. Well, I like developing a frame story and then having people react to it, events will happen, but the focus is on the reactions, how people handle it. "This just happened, WHAT DO YOU DO" kind of stuff, I'm willing to run with most of what is going on.
The second piece of advice, given to me by my friend Jenn, was to be mindful of the administrative stuff. This is something I've had to keep in mind this first month as several people have already come for applications for various things. My main concern in all matters is "How does this affect the venue? Is there an RP reason for your character to have this? if so, how?"
This last part is important for me as a member of a group of players. It's a personal pet peeve I have about players who play the stats on their sheet more than they do a character. It's a point that will have it's own post sooner or later. The gist of it is that we are singular members of a global story. How does whatever we do enrich ourselves locally, regionally, nationally or globally.
To finish, let me quote a phrase that I have taken to heart. You can't spell "Sadist" or "Masochist" without using "ST". For anyone who has ever done this job, that notion is awfully prophetic
C
I always wonder what people mean by playing "Dots on a sheet" I mean..if I play a combat character, that means I'm in the game cause I enjoy combat. If I'm playing a social character, it's cause I'm there for the social aspects. The way to accomplish both of these tasks is by using dots on the sheet.
ReplyDeleteso what does it mean to you when you say "just playing out dots on a sheet" this answer is kind of important as it helps to illustrate your ST style.
By dots on the sheet, I mean relying SOLELY on what is on that sheet. It's all stats and less RP. A sheet tells me what you are Capable, but that should not be Everything. I'm referring to the extreme concept of just playing a glorified avatar of yourself with rediculous wooj wanting to show off. There is nothing truly interesting about this character but the sheet in his pocket. And yes, Combat players are in the position where they really DO need to rely on their sheet, but that should not be the only thing going for you. Hell, a good number of players in Requiem have stats that clearly place them in Combat Monkey Territory, but you wouldn't know it because of the good RP they put out. Hope this helps
ReplyDeleteIt certainly does. My character is TOTALLY Author-insert, mary sue, all that, but I try hard to give him more depth than even *I* have on occasion, this allows me as a player to take it in different ways that me as a player would probably not venture in real life. I think the weirdness I have about the saying "playing the dots on your sheet" is that when you're say..new? you don't always know exactly what else you can do, get away with, or enjoy without either having someone hold your hand, or by taking a massive risk; in a setting like the CAM/MES you wind up getting challenged more often because you try something outrageous, and people wanna see approvals, stats, or powers that say "yes, for reals I can do X thing"
ReplyDeleteI think that one way to combat "sheet-itis" is to concentrate (as ST/GM/DM/PM/HBOBBQ) on actually advising the player of a few things they can do that are out of the norm, and helping them "come out of their shell" I had this last week when I brought my friends to Mage/Requiem. They were actively worried that they'd have issues because they didn't know what their sheets really meant, and I had to explain a couple of options and then say "after that? go a little nuts"
I agree with you on that. The ultimate difference is this: A sheet is what you CAN do, it should not be ALL of you.
ReplyDeleteWhen you and your friends came down, you guys ran a tight rp game. I forget the lady's name (short, red haired, PC was kinda giving a Pepper-Potts-With-An-Even-Lower-BS-Tolerance vibe), but she was brand new, but she fucking owned the character.
Sheets are when you HAVE to use them, like actions, approvals, blah, blah blah, it should not be the total sum of what your character is. I've seen people literally sit as they are, do nothing, and when something happens whips out their MC-Christ level sheet, ending the conflict in a single swoop. That's not dramatic or entertaining to people who wanna play out a scene.
MC-Oh GoD Why? lol
ReplyDelete