There was a discussion recently about the portrayal of Sociopathic Characters in larps. The discussion brought about an intense and very well thought out discussion into what the term "Sociopath" means, what the myths and facts are, it's appropriateness in larps, and it's portrayal. I wanted to share my thoughts on the subject, as I think I have a somewhat unique view on the matter.
For the record, the term "Sociopath" is not recognized in most diagnostic circles. The correct term for it is Antisocial Personality Disorder. The disorder is part of a cluster of personality disorders that are often referred to as "Dramatic" or "Emotional" that is marked with a form of egocentrism, where the person suffering from the disorder is unable to put themselves in someone else's position. They perceive the world only through their own mindset and needs. With Narcissism, there is a sense of grandiose thinking of oneself, and a lack of empathy for others, Histrionic have a sense of being the center of attention and will act out in unusual and often excessive ways to seek out that attention, Borderline patients have a black and white view on things, which leads to erratic relationships with others as well as themselves.
Antisocial Personality disorder is, in short, the lack of empathy for other people. There's a degree of narcissism, but not to the same degree as it's own disorder. Those who suffer from ASPD are prone to lying, or manipulation. Many people in the field talk of ASPD sufferers as 'putting on a mask' to get what they need out of the situation. This makes them difficult to treat because 1) most therapies involve building a rapport that they can't bridge most of the time, 2) They will often put on a mask to give the therapist what they want to see and hear and 3) most of those suffering from ASPD can't admit there is something wrong with them. Not won't, but can't. Personality Disorders are a systemic problem with the way that a person perceives themselves and the world around them.
In my time as an intern for a psych ward, I ran into one person who I would consider to have ASPD. They were emotionally cold, had a high opinion of themselves and a low opinion of others, they insulted everyone and lashed out verbally when resisted. It was the lack of caring that they were hurting the other patients that made it so difficult, and it almost became our job to mitigate the damage he was doing to the other patients. They were 14, which put them legally into Conduct Disorder, but the signs were there. This person could not care or be made to care about anyone else but themselves.
It should be noted that this is describing those who are suffering from severe conditions and are not able to function in normal settings. Those who suffer from ASPD and are functioning tend to have a very strong sense of Ethics. They don't act out because they know that it is looked down upon by society and that will be detrimental to them. Unfortunately, Ethics are something that is learned and cultivated, making it difficult for individuals with the disorder to develop.
In fiction, we've seen varying forms of Sociopaths. The grand high example of them all is Hannibal Lector, in both the Anthony Hopkins and Mads Mikkelsen interpretations. Genius Savant with a magnetic personality, charm, and zero empathy for the lives of others. He kills people because they offend him, and their only worth is as food. A Heroic example of a Sociopath is Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock Holmes. While many interpretations of Holmes have him as a socially inept savant, but they've played it up to having being unable to understand the position of others, making his need to solve cases (and his methods of solving them) as a means of solving problems.
His counterpart Moriarty, played by Andrew Scott, mimics this and takes it even further by giving him no compunction to kill people just to taunt Sherlock. Watching these two interact is actually a compelling look at two different people suffering from the same disorder. Sherlock has something of an ethical core, while Moriarty will and can act in a callous and seemingly impulsive manner.
There was a mention of Jayne Cobb from Firefly, played by Adam Baldwin, as being a Sociopath. He is always looking out for himself, willing to harm and sell out others for his needs. I don't think he's a sociopath, though. There are moments throughout the show where he legitimately cares about others. When Kaylee is in the med center holding on to life, he's outside cradling himself worried. He sends money from his jobs to his mother and siblings. He shows regret when Mal confronts him on his back dealings with the Alliance. Jayne isn't a sociopath, he's a mercenary. His concerns are primarily focused on him and his next job. For him, that means being willing and able to hurt and harm. There is a moral core going on with him.
The three examples I mentioned above: Lector, Sherlock, and Moriarty, all have something in common. I kept using the word Savant. Savant syndrome is defined as having high capabilities above and beyond normality but have certain mental deficits. This is often depicted in media as being highly intelligent, but with no morality.
So, the question becomes: "How does this type of character work in a larp?" Larps are all about collaboration. We're in this together, exchanging our talents and stories with one another. Sociopathic PCs are, by definition, are unable to meet that level of collaboration effectively. Either due to their lack of empathy, their lack of regard for the well being of others, or their penchant for lying and manipulation. Most larps are set in situations where the players are part of a community of some sorts working together for a common goal. Placing someone who is unable to care about the motivations of those around them will most likely put them at odds with the group, possibly coming off as antagonistic. This becomes more exasperated if the PC in question's lack of empathy also includes the use of violence to get what they want. They run the risk of being antagonistic to the other PCs.
Two examples of this. In our Accord game, there were two PCs that could be classified in the Sociopath role. The first of them was a man possessed with a Demon of Wrath. He was a creature of want, need and lashing out when it suited him. He had developed a fixation with one of the other PCs, and while he couldn't do...all that he wanted to do with the PC, he purposefully sought out people who looked like the PC to enact his fantasies. He then displayed this to his infatuation. This is one of a litany of things this PC had done. He was subsequently murdered by other PCs, which despite the rule of "Thou shalt not kill other members of the Accord" it was generally agreed that not a single tear would be shed by most of the people present for his death.
In contrast, there is a Vampire PC currently in play. Highly polite and heavy on the protocol, but is very clearly someone who will kill and has killed graphically and without compunction if he deems it suitable. There's no sense of guilt here, it makes perfect and practical sense that people need to die. The only reason why none of us are killing him in the face is because, as a member of the Accord, he acknowledges that that would be something looked down upon and would be detrimental to his own needs and wants. Highly Ethical, Zero Moral. It's generally agreed that this man is, without a doubt, a sociopath. For the time being though, he's our sociopath.
This brings me to another point. Sociopathic PCs work in games where Sociopathic PCs can be considered protagonists. White Wolf's line of World of Darkness games, both Classic and New lines, are geared towards a dark and cynical world where no matter how bad things are in our current timeline, the Worlds of Darkness are infiinitely worse. Think of a perpetual New York City in the 70's and 80's, or Tim Burton's Gotham City. Everything is polluted, disgusting and cynical. In a dark setting like that, it's conceivably alright to play someone who isn't able to care for the well being of others.
There are, however, some things that should be considered when playing Sociopaths in games. This is not a definitive list, but consider:
Even if it's appropriate in setting, it may not be for the group. You're still working with people, even if there is an antagonistic/non traditional relationship going on. Some people and groups may not want to explore the darker aspects of the world. Discuss this with your STs and groups before introducing this character to game.
Communication At All Times. Considering the manipulative and callous nature sociopathic characters tend to exhibit, it should be clear to all players involved that these scenes may be very dark and distorted. By playing a character that doesn't hold themselves responsible to anyone or any morals, you have to be responsible for not hurting other players. Bleed is a thing, bleed can happen, communicate and check in with all parties out of character to make sure everyone is cool.
Prepare to be the bad guy. You're playing a character that, in a sane and rational world, would be either in jail, seeking medical treatment, or killed. You run the risk of being an Antagonistic PC if not playing one outright. Every person playing an Antagonistic PC should be prepared to accept that their PCs will most likely never see the end of the campaign.
The player of the Possessed PC from earlier knew his character wouldn't make it out, not if anyone was playing anyone with a shred of moral decency. The player of the Vampire PC has made his situation a bit bearable by being a "necessary evil" kind of character, in that we all know that he's a vicious monster, but is productive and helpful. Most of us are aware though that there may come a day where he too will have to attain his karmic retribution.
Don't make this a joke. This is more of my bias than anything else. I'm not a fan of playing mental illness for comedic effect. Personality Disorders are serious. This isn't something that can be turned on or off for them, it can only be managed and control. It's not funny to them, or those who have to live or work with them, don't treat it as such. As the Unwritten Rules of the Camarilla once said, a player can tell a joke, but a player shouldn't be a joke.
This is not for everyone. I'm leaving this for last because I want to put this forward. Playing a character such as this is difficult. How do you play someone who isn't capable of expressing genuine emotions with others? How do you form a frame of reference to be able to do that, being an emotional and empathic being?
I can only speak for myself on this matter. My character, Owen Asteria, was meant to be a sociopathic character. His ethics formed primarily around keeping his family protected and safe (oft times from themselves). Everything else was on the table. He has murdered, lied, and stolen. There is at least one story where he sexually assaulted a rapist. It was left ambiguous why he did this, either because the victim was assaulted in his territory and he found it entirely informal, or because he found the notion of predating the predator to be deeply ironic. It's probably safe to say he did it for both, and because he could.
That was all written, with no role play involved. Role Playing as Owen, though, he has shown a much more moralistic center than he was ever intended to. He has shown mercy to people and has been rather generous. This has more to do with the fact that Craig is responding to these a bit more than Owen. Craig likes people to have a good time role play, whereas Owen would probably kill someone. I've literally had an argument with myself where several PCs have earned the ire of Owen wanting to kill someone and Craig having to go "I'm not big on making people roll new sheets unless they've really had to. Have they really had to?"
So keep that in mind, playing this means committing yourself to some of the darker aspects of whatever game you're playing. It also means that you, as the player, need to be responsible to the people you're playing with. This is about having a fun time, and playing something that can be easily demonized and the closest thing therapists would qualify as 'Evil' is risky. So be cautious and mindful.
**Note: most of the descriptions and definitions here are generalizations for the sake of brevity. The wikipedia articles on Personality Disorders, Antisocial Personality Disorders and Sociopathy are great resources to give an overview of what ASPD and Sociopathy. Research is your friend, larp responsibly.
C
Sunday, October 5, 2014
Friday, September 12, 2014
Enough Rope
This last weekend was another game of Vampire The Requiem, where Owen Asteria (played by me) held Court for the Vampires of New York. Wine was served, jokes were made, deals were done and monsters were monsters. Owen's despondency (it's a character played by me, so it's kind of a given) has grown increasingly as more and more people are clearly being manipulated/working with his Avus (vampiric Mentor) and overall Archnemesis in the Liam Neeson Ra's Al Ghul way, Erik Destler (and NPC). Owen has been tortured, mentally and physically by this man in the hopes to train him. Every time Erik's name has been mentioned, Owen goes from sociable to...well...
It's not pretty. The problem was that Destler kept coming in to play, which removed him as a shadowy threat that Owen's been playing counter to the entire time. Owen is Prince to fight Destler's Macciavelli-was-a-Simp machinations. The more his name gets dropped, the more it removes the distant threat. So this month I was convinced that Owen as either going to have to deal with yet one more instance of his Avus. It never happened, or if it did, Owen was never made aware of it. Instead, a rash of art thievery came to a head when one of the thieves was captured. Owen, who himself used to be of the illegal acquistion profession before he was made a Vampire, showed leniency to the thief, which lead to another piece of his past bite him in the ass.
The point of this anecdote is two-fold: Brandon my Storyteller, friend, and writing partner, is a bastard. The second point is that these elements of my story keep coming up because this was stuff I had written into his back story or worked on previously with Brandon. My character keeps getting tortured and prodded mentally and physically because I set the stage for him to be so.
And I wouldn't have it any other way.
Brandon and I both come from a similar school of writing and characterization: give the characters as much rope as they need to hang themselves with, and then sit back and watch them try to get out. I think we get this from reading Jim Butcher a lot, whose protagonists (hello Harry Dresden) tend to get themselves into trouble through past associations or because of some stupid concept of heroism or assholishness and then have to spend just as much time digging himself out of the hole he was digging to bury the original problem. We both believe that a protagonist that coasts by brings very little tension or drama in to a situation. What's the point of engaging with the character when there is really nothing to make you want to read more?
And that works for me, because I'm someone who needs to be engaged. I'm not the kind of larper who likes to use it as a means of being social. Some people do, and if it works by them, power to em. I tried it and I felt like a tourist. As a native New Yorker, I don't do tourism that well.
Lately, since I've been spamming Star Trek: The Next Generation, I've been thinking about larp in terms of the Holdoeck, especially when people started doing those long simulations like The Big Goodbye, or the Wild West, or some pulpy space opera, or talking to DaVinci in his workshop. Those were larps. And there were a few kinds of way people experienced the way they were in the holodeck. Some people were content with just riding out the ride, like Riker in a juke-joint, just sitting back and enjoying himself. Picard could play Dixon Hill all he wanted and get a kick out of it because he loved following the clues of a mystery and see where it lead, then you have Date who has read all of Arthur Conan Doyle's material and can end a round of Sherlock in seconds the moment the correct prompt is presented...much to the chagrin of everyone else.
I'm a Picard-kind of player. I follow a thread and see where it goes and hope it leads me to a satisfactory ending and not a permanent ending. This thought is why I think I enjoy playing a Fate Mage so much in Awakening. We don't get all of the answers, and while we can affect a lot of things, we still have to deal with the consequences. We take a thread and we follow it and see where it leads and sometimes we have to be clever to follow it and some times to get out of it and figure out where it ends and how it ends.
This was something I had mentioned when I signed up for Rise of Tiburon. I mentioned to Josh Jaffe that I'm the kinda player who needs to be engaged in something or else my brain wanders off and I lose the character. Give my PC something to do and a reason to do something and I can keep character until I collapse. He did this, and I worked my ass off to build a robot with a bunch of other equally engaged lunatics.
My conversation with Brandon on this style of play lead to this discussion: We're playing in a fictional world, and we get to be heroes, monsters, and citizens. Give yourself something to do, give yourself ties and an excuse to go off on your own adventures and drag others with you. Give yourself an excuse to get yourself in trouble and have to deal with the consequences of it. It's not for everyone, some players may not be up for it. Some storytellers may not be up for it either, instead focusing more on just straight up challenges or focus on just the 'tourism' becoming something more. Conversations and encounters by those there to be social will get with one another. Play to your strengths, find storytellers that allow for your strengths.
Meanwhile, I'm sizing up the noose I have for Owen and going "now, how the hell do I get out of this one?"
Later,
C
It's not pretty. The problem was that Destler kept coming in to play, which removed him as a shadowy threat that Owen's been playing counter to the entire time. Owen is Prince to fight Destler's Macciavelli-was-a-Simp machinations. The more his name gets dropped, the more it removes the distant threat. So this month I was convinced that Owen as either going to have to deal with yet one more instance of his Avus. It never happened, or if it did, Owen was never made aware of it. Instead, a rash of art thievery came to a head when one of the thieves was captured. Owen, who himself used to be of the illegal acquistion profession before he was made a Vampire, showed leniency to the thief, which lead to another piece of his past bite him in the ass.
The point of this anecdote is two-fold: Brandon my Storyteller, friend, and writing partner, is a bastard. The second point is that these elements of my story keep coming up because this was stuff I had written into his back story or worked on previously with Brandon. My character keeps getting tortured and prodded mentally and physically because I set the stage for him to be so.
And I wouldn't have it any other way.
Brandon and I both come from a similar school of writing and characterization: give the characters as much rope as they need to hang themselves with, and then sit back and watch them try to get out. I think we get this from reading Jim Butcher a lot, whose protagonists (hello Harry Dresden) tend to get themselves into trouble through past associations or because of some stupid concept of heroism or assholishness and then have to spend just as much time digging himself out of the hole he was digging to bury the original problem. We both believe that a protagonist that coasts by brings very little tension or drama in to a situation. What's the point of engaging with the character when there is really nothing to make you want to read more?
And that works for me, because I'm someone who needs to be engaged. I'm not the kind of larper who likes to use it as a means of being social. Some people do, and if it works by them, power to em. I tried it and I felt like a tourist. As a native New Yorker, I don't do tourism that well.
Lately, since I've been spamming Star Trek: The Next Generation, I've been thinking about larp in terms of the Holdoeck, especially when people started doing those long simulations like The Big Goodbye, or the Wild West, or some pulpy space opera, or talking to DaVinci in his workshop. Those were larps. And there were a few kinds of way people experienced the way they were in the holodeck. Some people were content with just riding out the ride, like Riker in a juke-joint, just sitting back and enjoying himself. Picard could play Dixon Hill all he wanted and get a kick out of it because he loved following the clues of a mystery and see where it lead, then you have Date who has read all of Arthur Conan Doyle's material and can end a round of Sherlock in seconds the moment the correct prompt is presented...much to the chagrin of everyone else.
I'm a Picard-kind of player. I follow a thread and see where it goes and hope it leads me to a satisfactory ending and not a permanent ending. This thought is why I think I enjoy playing a Fate Mage so much in Awakening. We don't get all of the answers, and while we can affect a lot of things, we still have to deal with the consequences. We take a thread and we follow it and see where it leads and sometimes we have to be clever to follow it and some times to get out of it and figure out where it ends and how it ends.
This was something I had mentioned when I signed up for Rise of Tiburon. I mentioned to Josh Jaffe that I'm the kinda player who needs to be engaged in something or else my brain wanders off and I lose the character. Give my PC something to do and a reason to do something and I can keep character until I collapse. He did this, and I worked my ass off to build a robot with a bunch of other equally engaged lunatics.
My conversation with Brandon on this style of play lead to this discussion: We're playing in a fictional world, and we get to be heroes, monsters, and citizens. Give yourself something to do, give yourself ties and an excuse to go off on your own adventures and drag others with you. Give yourself an excuse to get yourself in trouble and have to deal with the consequences of it. It's not for everyone, some players may not be up for it. Some storytellers may not be up for it either, instead focusing more on just straight up challenges or focus on just the 'tourism' becoming something more. Conversations and encounters by those there to be social will get with one another. Play to your strengths, find storytellers that allow for your strengths.
Meanwhile, I'm sizing up the noose I have for Owen and going "now, how the hell do I get out of this one?"
Later,
C
Friday, August 29, 2014
Dear Neckbeards
To the members of the vocal male gamer contingent,
We have never met before, probably because I value things like hygiene, the open air, and the desire to have conversations in meat space except for on TeH InTERWEBS!!! Regardless of our lack of introduction, I have heard quite a deal of you, and from you, and you. You're really loud, and obnoxious. And Loudly obnoxious and obnoxiously loud.
Anyway, the reason I'm writing you this letter is to convey this message as a fellow member of the gamer community who identifies as male:
Who The Fuck Do You Think You Are?
Over the past few days, I've heard reports from the great Gamer Grapevine about members of the community and slut shaming, fat shaming, disability shaming. I've heard about bullying, insults, trolling, and death threats. Oddly enough, most of this is aimed towards female identifying members of the gaming world. I know! It's weird, right? How dare women do things in our fields, why they should just act like the crumbly rubber dolls in your bedrooms, you lonely fucks.
Listen, I'm not one to beat about the bush, especially that hedge you call a beard. Dude, those things actually go on the chin and cheeks...you're too technologically savvy to think the Amish are in chic. So as someone from the same demographic as you, allow me to say that it makes me sick to my stomach that I am part of the same demographic as you feculent toe jams. Who in the flying fuck declared you the moral police of the gaming world? I don't remember a vote being called. I don't recall putting the sanctity of our community into your Cheetos encrusted hands. Nobody sent up the white smoke and if they did they should have shared that crap. So what fucking right do you have to bash these people down!?
Now, your first reply will be this: Who the fuck am I to moralize over your decisions. To put it simply, for your simple little minds, I'm a member of the community, I'm someone who enjoys discussing games, of playing games. I enjoy going to conventions and seeing something that six years ago I wouldn't imagine: people who shared the same desires I have. Not geeks, not nerds. People. These are people who are making these games in the hopes of making a meager life entertaining their fellow gamers. These are people who are trying to improve the quality of games and the gaming community. And yes, some of them are Women. I know, I was shocked when I first found out. And you know what I did afterwards? Got the fuck over it, especially since it meant seeing something, anything, other than you. These people you are bashing for your amusement are my friends You know the drill, friends are at a premium for those of us who are socially disinclined. My friends are as close to me as family.
And some of you have been openly attacking my family. There are two women I know who have been taunted, bullied and outright had their lives threatened.. I've always seen this community, the Geek Community, the Gaming Community as a gathering of people who never really fit right in growing up. Awkward, enthused, eccentric. This community has been a haven for some of us who never really knew what it felt like to be accepted.
And you're fucking it up for the rest of us. Threats? Harassment? When did you start thinking the jocks and preppy assholes who tormented you in school had a good model for treating others? Huh? When did calling someone a slut or fat become a way of advancing your status or argument, of being cool in your small, pointless cliques? When did you become the bullies?
I don't fucking get it. Maybe it's because I didn't grow up identifying as a geek until I was out of college when I could find outlets for my geeky self. Maybe it's because ever since I started gaming I have, from the Jedi and Ren Faire circuit, the the Mind's Eye Society; Dystopia Rising and all points around, been surrounded by bold, brilliant and beautiful women. Not girls, not chicks, Women. Oh, I know that word scares you, you feeble minded fanboy. Right now your bowels are in an uproar over how these fake gamer girls this, and how dare that girl at sunday afternoon larp didn't date you that. Maybe if you took some fiber, you'd be able to flush that irritable bowel. Or maybe you'd just be kind enough to flush yourselves.
Honestly, you would think that you'd be happy that the geek world was populated more by women, if nothing else than to dispel that we're all just a bunch of zit having virgins. But maybe that's the problem, that despite the fact that women are here and you still are a virgin that you've got this anger, and you want to lash out. You're in denial, so much so that your feet are soaked through and you are seeing the fucking Pyramids. So much so that when a woman makes an acclaimed game, you have to drag her sexlife -real or perceived- to discredit her. Does it matter if it's a game worthy of the acclaim? You're in so much denial that you would attach someone who are trying to make games accessible to people of disabilities. It's fine if you disagree with them, but at what point does shaming their disabilities -real or perceived- become the point of the argument?
Boys, you're in denial, and it's time to go into the other phases of Grief. You're douchebags. Similar to the preppy jock elitist scum we all dealt with in school, I call them Guy Dudebros, because they all look dress and act alike and in the end are as generic as you can get. You, my misogynistic meatheads, have henceforth been dubbed Neckbeard Dudebros. You are the unwashed (in some cases, literally. Ew.) masses of the gamer community. You're that cyst on the neck of gamer life that smells of rancid offal and causes harmless yet annoying pain. You contribute nothing, you dedicate your pointless lives in tearing others down from your safe, crusty seats and congratulate yourself like you actually did something. You've done nothing. You've wasted your time and the times of others. Some of us have shit to do, some of which, whether you realize it or not, you actually benefit from.
And, I hate to tell you this, but quite a few of them that do these things aren't men...and I'll tell you a little bit more for free. Most of them...and maybe even all of them, don't frankly care whether you live or die. Maybe if you changed your attitude...or bathed. What smells like onions?
You need to understand that we as a Communty are up and moving in a new direction. All of us. Gamers everywhere. The internet's got us all connected and people have more access to various forms of gaming and media than they've ever been able to have. We've gone beyond the dungeon crawls in your parents den. We're playing Cards Against Humanity on Google Hangout, doing Panel Discussions in New York with panelists piping in from Denmark on Skype. We've got brilliant developers coming up with game after game and getting them published and moving through Kickstarter and Patreon.
And somewhere, you're not celebrating this. Does it threaten you? Does it scare you that your notions of what it means to be a gamer are wrong?
Good.
Because quite frankly, I'm tired of having to live by your image of being a male gamer, of being a Male Anything. I'm tired of having to witness grown men leering at teen girls at conventions and shaming them when they don't appreciate their advances. I'm tired of men shaming others as a means of discrediting their work. I don't want to live in your closed minded world. I want the barn door open and all manner of things to fly loose. If you don't want to accept that people -man, woman and all points therein and without- are out there doing things you don't like, than do the world a favor, you mouthbreathing turds. Go back to your lonely little basements and Stay There.
Some of us just want to play games, you're the ones sucking the fun out of it.
We have never met before, probably because I value things like hygiene, the open air, and the desire to have conversations in meat space except for on TeH InTERWEBS!!! Regardless of our lack of introduction, I have heard quite a deal of you, and from you, and you. You're really loud, and obnoxious. And Loudly obnoxious and obnoxiously loud.
Anyway, the reason I'm writing you this letter is to convey this message as a fellow member of the gamer community who identifies as male:
Who The Fuck Do You Think You Are?
Over the past few days, I've heard reports from the great Gamer Grapevine about members of the community and slut shaming, fat shaming, disability shaming. I've heard about bullying, insults, trolling, and death threats. Oddly enough, most of this is aimed towards female identifying members of the gaming world. I know! It's weird, right? How dare women do things in our fields, why they should just act like the crumbly rubber dolls in your bedrooms, you lonely fucks.
Listen, I'm not one to beat about the bush, especially that hedge you call a beard. Dude, those things actually go on the chin and cheeks...you're too technologically savvy to think the Amish are in chic. So as someone from the same demographic as you, allow me to say that it makes me sick to my stomach that I am part of the same demographic as you feculent toe jams. Who in the flying fuck declared you the moral police of the gaming world? I don't remember a vote being called. I don't recall putting the sanctity of our community into your Cheetos encrusted hands. Nobody sent up the white smoke and if they did they should have shared that crap. So what fucking right do you have to bash these people down!?
Now, your first reply will be this: Who the fuck am I to moralize over your decisions. To put it simply, for your simple little minds, I'm a member of the community, I'm someone who enjoys discussing games, of playing games. I enjoy going to conventions and seeing something that six years ago I wouldn't imagine: people who shared the same desires I have. Not geeks, not nerds. People. These are people who are making these games in the hopes of making a meager life entertaining their fellow gamers. These are people who are trying to improve the quality of games and the gaming community. And yes, some of them are Women. I know, I was shocked when I first found out. And you know what I did afterwards? Got the fuck over it, especially since it meant seeing something, anything, other than you. These people you are bashing for your amusement are my friends You know the drill, friends are at a premium for those of us who are socially disinclined. My friends are as close to me as family.
And some of you have been openly attacking my family. There are two women I know who have been taunted, bullied and outright had their lives threatened.. I've always seen this community, the Geek Community, the Gaming Community as a gathering of people who never really fit right in growing up. Awkward, enthused, eccentric. This community has been a haven for some of us who never really knew what it felt like to be accepted.
And you're fucking it up for the rest of us. Threats? Harassment? When did you start thinking the jocks and preppy assholes who tormented you in school had a good model for treating others? Huh? When did calling someone a slut or fat become a way of advancing your status or argument, of being cool in your small, pointless cliques? When did you become the bullies?
I don't fucking get it. Maybe it's because I didn't grow up identifying as a geek until I was out of college when I could find outlets for my geeky self. Maybe it's because ever since I started gaming I have, from the Jedi and Ren Faire circuit, the the Mind's Eye Society; Dystopia Rising and all points around, been surrounded by bold, brilliant and beautiful women. Not girls, not chicks, Women. Oh, I know that word scares you, you feeble minded fanboy. Right now your bowels are in an uproar over how these fake gamer girls this, and how dare that girl at sunday afternoon larp didn't date you that. Maybe if you took some fiber, you'd be able to flush that irritable bowel. Or maybe you'd just be kind enough to flush yourselves.
Honestly, you would think that you'd be happy that the geek world was populated more by women, if nothing else than to dispel that we're all just a bunch of zit having virgins. But maybe that's the problem, that despite the fact that women are here and you still are a virgin that you've got this anger, and you want to lash out. You're in denial, so much so that your feet are soaked through and you are seeing the fucking Pyramids. So much so that when a woman makes an acclaimed game, you have to drag her sexlife -real or perceived- to discredit her. Does it matter if it's a game worthy of the acclaim? You're in so much denial that you would attach someone who are trying to make games accessible to people of disabilities. It's fine if you disagree with them, but at what point does shaming their disabilities -real or perceived- become the point of the argument?
Boys, you're in denial, and it's time to go into the other phases of Grief. You're douchebags. Similar to the preppy jock elitist scum we all dealt with in school, I call them Guy Dudebros, because they all look dress and act alike and in the end are as generic as you can get. You, my misogynistic meatheads, have henceforth been dubbed Neckbeard Dudebros. You are the unwashed (in some cases, literally. Ew.) masses of the gamer community. You're that cyst on the neck of gamer life that smells of rancid offal and causes harmless yet annoying pain. You contribute nothing, you dedicate your pointless lives in tearing others down from your safe, crusty seats and congratulate yourself like you actually did something. You've done nothing. You've wasted your time and the times of others. Some of us have shit to do, some of which, whether you realize it or not, you actually benefit from.
And, I hate to tell you this, but quite a few of them that do these things aren't men...and I'll tell you a little bit more for free. Most of them...and maybe even all of them, don't frankly care whether you live or die. Maybe if you changed your attitude...or bathed. What smells like onions?
You need to understand that we as a Communty are up and moving in a new direction. All of us. Gamers everywhere. The internet's got us all connected and people have more access to various forms of gaming and media than they've ever been able to have. We've gone beyond the dungeon crawls in your parents den. We're playing Cards Against Humanity on Google Hangout, doing Panel Discussions in New York with panelists piping in from Denmark on Skype. We've got brilliant developers coming up with game after game and getting them published and moving through Kickstarter and Patreon.
And somewhere, you're not celebrating this. Does it threaten you? Does it scare you that your notions of what it means to be a gamer are wrong?
Good.
Because quite frankly, I'm tired of having to live by your image of being a male gamer, of being a Male Anything. I'm tired of having to witness grown men leering at teen girls at conventions and shaming them when they don't appreciate their advances. I'm tired of men shaming others as a means of discrediting their work. I don't want to live in your closed minded world. I want the barn door open and all manner of things to fly loose. If you don't want to accept that people -man, woman and all points therein and without- are out there doing things you don't like, than do the world a favor, you mouthbreathing turds. Go back to your lonely little basements and Stay There.
Some of us just want to play games, you're the ones sucking the fun out of it.
Saturday, August 23, 2014
The Quest
So I found out at the last minute (read: an hour and a half before it's premiere) that ABC was debuting a new Reality Series called "The Quest". It was shown as like The Amazing Race, but in a medieval fantasy world. Regular men and women from our side of reality are cast and put into the roles of heroes and are set on a quest to save the realm. Fast reading through some of the reviews, everyone is calling this a form of Live Action Role Play. Everyone but the showrunners.
After three episodes, here's my take on it.
A lot of the reasons why larping is such a hard hobby to describe to people outside of larping is because larps are about everyone being the performance. It's not something you can easily show to a passive audience. The only way it's worked in the past is through documentary, interspersing the action that is going on with comments from the players. Reality Shows also follow this pattern of showing you the action while having one of the folks in the scene comment on it while separated from it.
And that's how they did it here.
So, okay, the premise so far. 12 people from 'our world' were chosen by the Three Fates to become Paladins on a quest to save the fantastical kingdom of Everrealm from the oncoming Verlox. Each Paladin was given a piece of The Sunspear, an ancient weapon to fight back the dark. Only by overcoming challenges with and between each other can the one True Hero emerge to wield the Sunspear restored against Verlox. From Sanctum, the Capital of Everrealm, the 12 paladins live together and a constantly moving world world (aided by actors from around Austria, where the castle they are staying in really is).
Watching the first episode, I saw a lot of familiar tropes going on that many people who've ever done a fantasy role play have ever experienced. The players, still in their normal street garb, are transported across an underground river where they are met by the Fates, who guide them to their main contact. They're representing the threshold into game space, from here on in, no one is going to be in Kansas anymore. They enter and recover the fragments of the sunspear while meeting their contact, Crio. Crio leads them to the castle through a dark forest. Just as they're making their way, an Ogre appears and kills Crio's friend. Everyone bails, but as soon as the danger is over they reassess what just happened, which leads to one of the Paladins going "Okay, from here on out we NEVER Let that happen again".
They make it to Sanctum, and are then immediately put into jail by the obligatorily smarmy Vizier. It's at this point that the players get a chance to converse and talk. So you have a "You all meet in Jail" scenario, which allows the players to get to know each other and to establish themselves. Some talk about climbing the walls to escape, whilst others try to rationalize this and wait for Crio to try and spring them. After a while, they do get sprung, and it becomes clear that they will be housed in the castle and trained to defend themselves and the realm.
The format of the show is really simple. Plot happens in the first ten or fifteen minutes of the show, then comes the challenge of the day. In the first episode it was learning to fire ballistas into dummy soldier, the second involved archery and accuracy with a spear, and the third required a puzzle to get ingredients to an antidote. At the end of each challenge, the three Paladins who do the worst must complete a second challenge before the Fates. If they win, they are excused, the two who did not win risk Banishment from the world as voted on by their fellow Paladins. They then continue the plot which leads to the next episode. It's a simple plot, but there is a lot going on here.
The main thing is this: This entire premise stands out because they are interacting with a fully fleshed out world. There is a lot going on, and it's clear we're only getting the highlights. These players are immersed in the world and treat it as if it's really happening. This is aided and abetted by the NPCs that are moving about, either as citizens or as named NPCs who guide and interact with them.
What makes this whole thing special is that it's a reality show with a plot. The Reality comes from the players while everything around them is part of the show and scripted. This sometimes leads to them all huddled together as the plot happens around them, watching as the actors take part. I also have the feeling that the filming of this was done in days and not in weeks. Something about the pacing makes me think that each day is a challenge. One, because of the production value put into the show, Two, because the actors go home every day while the Paladins sleep in the castle. I would love to see this be done with a more controllable town where, if the players wished to, could go out and see people interacting and playing with one another and the players. It'd give more a sense of depth to the world.
The show reminds me of another reality show. It was called "Murder in Small Town X" it was aired in 2001, it focused on murder in a fictional town in Maine, with the players being the investigators brought in to find the killer. There was a very David Lynchian aspect to the show, with The town was entirely populated with actors whom interacted with one another around the players and with the players. There was a story and a world to explore It was at the time very ambitious, and marked with Tragedy as the winner of the show was a New York Firefighter who died during 9/11 just one week after the finale aired.
One of my major hang ups with 'Reality TV' is that it's not Reality. It's artifice, of people duking it out for fame and for money. That sets a horrible precedent. The players of the Quest aren't playing for the money, there is no money. They are playing purely for the experience, for the story. I think this enhances it for the players, as their voting of the other players removal is more emotional. There is no sense of greed, but many of them are trying to figure out a way to achieve the goal of saving the world. Many of them have said during the voting process 'They may be the One True Hero, they may not. I'm voting for them because they will help us get to that end". I think this also allows for the viewers to sit and enjoy, because there are consequences to the world around these guys. They aren't in a bubble, and their actions have consequences and there is a definite end along the way.
As a Writer, I have to help but to laugh at some of the things I see on the show. It's truly a "Fantasy Role Play Trope 101" course with generic names for locations and using common character types. The sneering Vizier, the Faithful Steward, the Unimpressed Hardass Combat Instructor, all of them are at the heart of this game and many more. The dialogue that is not exposition can almost be quoted five seconds before they say it. This does not take away from the experience, because you're watching a group of people getting to live the life of a fantasy role play protagonist.
The Quest has become a popular show, hitting many TV Watch Lists. This shows to me that people are more amenable for people to do something as outrageous as this, to follow a fantastical notion and accept that these relatively normal people are willing to do something that is as undeniably geeky and undeniably cool as living out the dream as being a hero in a fantasy novel. To quote a few of my friends, it's Larp Light. This gives me hope that people may be more accepting of the fact that we, as larpers, try to do similar. Of course, I'm a closet idealist.
Also interesting to note is that several of the players in the game are friends of my friends in the geek field. Christian is a staple of the Renfaire Circuit and Adria is a larper and Cammie herself. I'm always amazed at how small the community is, and yet how isolated we sometimes can be with one another. It will be interesting to see what the show has to offer and maybe one day I'll be able to meet some of the players and get to ask some questions.
In short, watch the Quest. It's a fun adventure, for the players, and for the audience. It gives a fairly good account of what a larp can be to those who view it from the outside, a rarity in our communiity. For those of us who larp, this is a dream come true. And I hope that it is the first of many seasons.
Later,
C
Here's a Link to The Quest's Hulu Page: Watch Here
For the sake of Nostalgia: here's a Youtube Playlist of all of Murder in Small Town X's episodes: Watch Here
If you like this blog, and wish to make a donation, consider supporting me on my Patreon Account. It allows me to continue doing games and conventions and you'll get special prizes. You'll never be charged for reading, but any support is appreciated. Thanks
After three episodes, here's my take on it.
A lot of the reasons why larping is such a hard hobby to describe to people outside of larping is because larps are about everyone being the performance. It's not something you can easily show to a passive audience. The only way it's worked in the past is through documentary, interspersing the action that is going on with comments from the players. Reality Shows also follow this pattern of showing you the action while having one of the folks in the scene comment on it while separated from it.
And that's how they did it here.
So, okay, the premise so far. 12 people from 'our world' were chosen by the Three Fates to become Paladins on a quest to save the fantastical kingdom of Everrealm from the oncoming Verlox. Each Paladin was given a piece of The Sunspear, an ancient weapon to fight back the dark. Only by overcoming challenges with and between each other can the one True Hero emerge to wield the Sunspear restored against Verlox. From Sanctum, the Capital of Everrealm, the 12 paladins live together and a constantly moving world world (aided by actors from around Austria, where the castle they are staying in really is).
 |
| The Fates are The Judges, The Sunspear the Reward. |
Watching the first episode, I saw a lot of familiar tropes going on that many people who've ever done a fantasy role play have ever experienced. The players, still in their normal street garb, are transported across an underground river where they are met by the Fates, who guide them to their main contact. They're representing the threshold into game space, from here on in, no one is going to be in Kansas anymore. They enter and recover the fragments of the sunspear while meeting their contact, Crio. Crio leads them to the castle through a dark forest. Just as they're making their way, an Ogre appears and kills Crio's friend. Everyone bails, but as soon as the danger is over they reassess what just happened, which leads to one of the Paladins going "Okay, from here on out we NEVER Let that happen again".
They make it to Sanctum, and are then immediately put into jail by the obligatorily smarmy Vizier. It's at this point that the players get a chance to converse and talk. So you have a "You all meet in Jail" scenario, which allows the players to get to know each other and to establish themselves. Some talk about climbing the walls to escape, whilst others try to rationalize this and wait for Crio to try and spring them. After a while, they do get sprung, and it becomes clear that they will be housed in the castle and trained to defend themselves and the realm.
The format of the show is really simple. Plot happens in the first ten or fifteen minutes of the show, then comes the challenge of the day. In the first episode it was learning to fire ballistas into dummy soldier, the second involved archery and accuracy with a spear, and the third required a puzzle to get ingredients to an antidote. At the end of each challenge, the three Paladins who do the worst must complete a second challenge before the Fates. If they win, they are excused, the two who did not win risk Banishment from the world as voted on by their fellow Paladins. They then continue the plot which leads to the next episode. It's a simple plot, but there is a lot going on here.
The main thing is this: This entire premise stands out because they are interacting with a fully fleshed out world. There is a lot going on, and it's clear we're only getting the highlights. These players are immersed in the world and treat it as if it's really happening. This is aided and abetted by the NPCs that are moving about, either as citizens or as named NPCs who guide and interact with them.
What makes this whole thing special is that it's a reality show with a plot. The Reality comes from the players while everything around them is part of the show and scripted. This sometimes leads to them all huddled together as the plot happens around them, watching as the actors take part. I also have the feeling that the filming of this was done in days and not in weeks. Something about the pacing makes me think that each day is a challenge. One, because of the production value put into the show, Two, because the actors go home every day while the Paladins sleep in the castle. I would love to see this be done with a more controllable town where, if the players wished to, could go out and see people interacting and playing with one another and the players. It'd give more a sense of depth to the world.
The show reminds me of another reality show. It was called "Murder in Small Town X" it was aired in 2001, it focused on murder in a fictional town in Maine, with the players being the investigators brought in to find the killer. There was a very David Lynchian aspect to the show, with The town was entirely populated with actors whom interacted with one another around the players and with the players. There was a story and a world to explore It was at the time very ambitious, and marked with Tragedy as the winner of the show was a New York Firefighter who died during 9/11 just one week after the finale aired.
One of my major hang ups with 'Reality TV' is that it's not Reality. It's artifice, of people duking it out for fame and for money. That sets a horrible precedent. The players of the Quest aren't playing for the money, there is no money. They are playing purely for the experience, for the story. I think this enhances it for the players, as their voting of the other players removal is more emotional. There is no sense of greed, but many of them are trying to figure out a way to achieve the goal of saving the world. Many of them have said during the voting process 'They may be the One True Hero, they may not. I'm voting for them because they will help us get to that end". I think this also allows for the viewers to sit and enjoy, because there are consequences to the world around these guys. They aren't in a bubble, and their actions have consequences and there is a definite end along the way.
As a Writer, I have to help but to laugh at some of the things I see on the show. It's truly a "Fantasy Role Play Trope 101" course with generic names for locations and using common character types. The sneering Vizier, the Faithful Steward, the Unimpressed Hardass Combat Instructor, all of them are at the heart of this game and many more. The dialogue that is not exposition can almost be quoted five seconds before they say it. This does not take away from the experience, because you're watching a group of people getting to live the life of a fantasy role play protagonist.
The Quest has become a popular show, hitting many TV Watch Lists. This shows to me that people are more amenable for people to do something as outrageous as this, to follow a fantastical notion and accept that these relatively normal people are willing to do something that is as undeniably geeky and undeniably cool as living out the dream as being a hero in a fantasy novel. To quote a few of my friends, it's Larp Light. This gives me hope that people may be more accepting of the fact that we, as larpers, try to do similar. Of course, I'm a closet idealist.
Also interesting to note is that several of the players in the game are friends of my friends in the geek field. Christian is a staple of the Renfaire Circuit and Adria is a larper and Cammie herself. I'm always amazed at how small the community is, and yet how isolated we sometimes can be with one another. It will be interesting to see what the show has to offer and maybe one day I'll be able to meet some of the players and get to ask some questions.
In short, watch the Quest. It's a fun adventure, for the players, and for the audience. It gives a fairly good account of what a larp can be to those who view it from the outside, a rarity in our communiity. For those of us who larp, this is a dream come true. And I hope that it is the first of many seasons.
Later,
C
Here's a Link to The Quest's Hulu Page: Watch Here
For the sake of Nostalgia: here's a Youtube Playlist of all of Murder in Small Town X's episodes: Watch Here
If you like this blog, and wish to make a donation, consider supporting me on my Patreon Account. It allows me to continue doing games and conventions and you'll get special prizes. You'll never be charged for reading, but any support is appreciated. Thanks
Saturday, August 16, 2014
Chronos Universal Larp System
I wrote last month about my experience playing in Rise of Tiburon, an amazing larp run by Nerdy City. The game used a version of the debuting Chronos card system as it's interface for actions in the game. I'd heard about it a year back just as it was entering it's Unfortunately, I didn't get a lot of interaction with the system. This by no means lessened the experience of the game, but I made myself a small and silent vow to make up for the deficit and buy the corebook.
My copy of Chronos came in today. It's not a large book, only 70 pages in total. There is, however, a lot of information going on here. The book is designed almost in a 'Book of Five Rings' format, with each chapter taking on one of the four classical elements which in turn feeds into the theme of their corresponding chapter. Interspersed throughout the book are four short vignettes from four different worlds, three of which appear to be focused around a specific game set on these rules: Ex-Arcana, Dreamless, and Devil Days. The fourth was an assassination set in a contemporary setting focusing on an assassination in the middle of a gaming convention. Writing what you know, huh guys?
My copy of Chronos came in today. It's not a large book, only 70 pages in total. There is, however, a lot of information going on here. The book is designed almost in a 'Book of Five Rings' format, with each chapter taking on one of the four classical elements which in turn feeds into the theme of their corresponding chapter. Interspersed throughout the book are four short vignettes from four different worlds, three of which appear to be focused around a specific game set on these rules: Ex-Arcana, Dreamless, and Devil Days. The fourth was an assassination set in a contemporary setting focusing on an assassination in the middle of a gaming convention. Writing what you know, huh guys?
Chronos is a card based mechanic system. You build a deck consisting of a core card, and supplemental skills, specialties and augment cards. This deck is for all intents and purposes your character sheet, but reads more or less like a Tarot spread. This makes it very easy to transition from a Tabletop -which they refer to as Narrative Play, more on that later- and larps. The Core card has the standard stats such as Health, Focus, Speed and so on, but also has several skill stats such as Brawn, Dexterity, Acumen, Resolve. There are two sets of these numbers on each card, one for action and one for defense. Challenges are done by adding up the action and adding up the defense, the one with the higher number wins the action.
When combat is declared, the entire scene is taken into Chronos Time. All physical actions are slowed down, and all combat must be (safely) acted out in that time. Combat rounds last 30-60 seconds, and anyone who doesn't do an action in that time has not acted for that round. This means that, if everyone knows what to do and knows what cards they are using, the roleplay doesn't stop just because someone wants to fight someone else. This also means that instead of sitting there deliberately thinking of what to do, you have to respond to what is actually going on. This also means that combat is going to end soon. There is an entire conversation/rant that I'd like to give on this concept but it would detract from the review. Follow ups to come.
So having a card based role play system leads to some other interesting concepts. Along with the core deck, there will also be cards based on specific games in the line, expansions and other such things. This is actually ingenious from a business stand point, as you're selling both the games and the cards. However, it's weakness is that, for the most part, you're limited to by however many cards you have. This can be augmented by printing out pdf copies, but if someone just has the core deck printed out to him, then they reach limits. I'd recommend buying the pdf and the deck just as a backup, it's 10 dollars more, but it's a long term investment.
So having a card based role play system leads to some other interesting concepts. Along with the core deck, there will also be cards based on specific games in the line, expansions and other such things. This is actually ingenious from a business stand point, as you're selling both the games and the cards. However, it's weakness is that, for the most part, you're limited to by however many cards you have. This can be augmented by printing out pdf copies, but if someone just has the core deck printed out to him, then they reach limits. I'd recommend buying the pdf and the deck just as a backup, it's 10 dollars more, but it's a long term investment.
The book goes into description of the Universe of Chronos, or more appropriately, Multiverse. Each game of Chronos is related by one thing: Aether. Aether is an energy source from outside Space/Time that allows for marvelous advances to occur. How it manifests depends on the world it's in, as is the way it's harvested. The general concept shows that Aether appears at some point in history, and from there time splits off into an alternate realm. So this is how Steampunk Mages may come about, how Devils can roam about in the 1950's and fight for the souls of boring squares and how the Fae can make it's deals. All of these worlds exist both separately and yet connected by the Aether. This allows for a potential overarching story, both by whatever game runner wishes to take it on and by Eschaton themselves. It gives me an idea for a story/character concept I'd love to attempt one day (guys, if you're listening...)
The other two chapters focus on more practical matters. One talks about running a Chronos game, but some sections talks about logistical concerns that any gamerunner should consider. Most fascinating though is the discussion defining what, as far as the Chronos system is concerned, is the intent of play for these games. They speak of safety, consent, and an understanding that these products that they are making and running are a form of play and play should be paramount. The goal, they say, is to make an immersive world that goes beyond rules and costumes and for the time being feels real.
In the brief time I got to hold a set of Chronos cards for Rise of Tiburon, I never once felt the need to use them. They told me of what I could do, at what at the core of my character I was. My character had a childlike glee for building fighting machines. When we were handed out our decks, I was expecting a core card that described to me something along the lines of the Innocent, with a lot of Acumen and Resolve but low on Dexterity and Brawn. I had found he was a Trickster, prone to obfuscating and keeping things secret. His cards also had a hardy bit of Brawn to them. That informed me a lot of my character and his play. I never had to use them, but they told me what he could do.
And that's the least, and in some ways the most this system can do. The Chronos system is an ambitious effort, both mechanically and as a business venture. I think the overarching universe of Chronos is something that can lead to a lot of variations, homebrewed games, and interesting crossovers that would make for fun encounters. I'm personally interested in Ex Arcana, which shouldn't be a surprise considering my love of all things Mage. It will be interesting to see where the Chronos Universe goes, both through Eschaton and the gaming community.
Later
C
If you like this blog, and wish to make a donation, consider supporting me on my Patreon Account. It allows me to continue doing games and conventions and you'll get special prizes. You'll never be charged for reading, but any support is appreciated. Thanks
The other two chapters focus on more practical matters. One talks about running a Chronos game, but some sections talks about logistical concerns that any gamerunner should consider. Most fascinating though is the discussion defining what, as far as the Chronos system is concerned, is the intent of play for these games. They speak of safety, consent, and an understanding that these products that they are making and running are a form of play and play should be paramount. The goal, they say, is to make an immersive world that goes beyond rules and costumes and for the time being feels real.
In the brief time I got to hold a set of Chronos cards for Rise of Tiburon, I never once felt the need to use them. They told me of what I could do, at what at the core of my character I was. My character had a childlike glee for building fighting machines. When we were handed out our decks, I was expecting a core card that described to me something along the lines of the Innocent, with a lot of Acumen and Resolve but low on Dexterity and Brawn. I had found he was a Trickster, prone to obfuscating and keeping things secret. His cards also had a hardy bit of Brawn to them. That informed me a lot of my character and his play. I never had to use them, but they told me what he could do.
And that's the least, and in some ways the most this system can do. The Chronos system is an ambitious effort, both mechanically and as a business venture. I think the overarching universe of Chronos is something that can lead to a lot of variations, homebrewed games, and interesting crossovers that would make for fun encounters. I'm personally interested in Ex Arcana, which shouldn't be a surprise considering my love of all things Mage. It will be interesting to see where the Chronos Universe goes, both through Eschaton and the gaming community.
Later
C
If you like this blog, and wish to make a donation, consider supporting me on my Patreon Account. It allows me to continue doing games and conventions and you'll get special prizes. You'll never be charged for reading, but any support is appreciated. Thanks
Thursday, August 7, 2014
What Changed But the Name
So as some of you will be noticing, we're no longer running under the banner of "Confessions of a Wrathful Larper". There are reasons behind that, the first is simple: I'm not that Wrathful. Ranty, sure. Pedantic, oh yeah. But I'm not Wrathful. I'm not going on this site and going "Yeah? That guy? Eff that guy!"
Unless they're powergaming douchenozzles who think that LARPs and Role Play are all about proving how much of a numbers crunching badass you are. Congrats! You passed Algebra. You're the guy! NOW GO AWAY AND LEAVE ME TO MY MAKE BELIEVE.
As I was saying, I'm also changing it because I'm also aware of the fact that people are reading this (which is actually kinda terrifying) and that they too have some opinion about the profession, or moreso are making their lives around the profession (which is also just as terrifying). I'm now looking for support for my larp addiction through Patreon. In short, I'm trying to be professional in my presentation.
Alright, fine. Professional-ish...
And in the end "Confessions of a Wrathful Blogger" while snarky and sounds like the title of a book that would one day be turned into a movie starring Jay Burchel (my god...that could work...), it also doesn't draw the right kind of attention.
Some of you may be asking me why I chose the new title "Other Worlds Than These". I chose it because it's a Stephen King reference. In The Gunslinger Jake Chambers, reality hopping surrogate son of perennial badass Roland Deschain, says this at a pivotal point of the book. 'Go Then, for there are other worlds than these" and that line changes the rules quite a lot shortly thereafter. I also chose it because this is really what we're discussing in this blog, the exploration of different worlds, different mindsets, different ways of performing and creating those worlds. Even in regards to larp community itself, which is sometimes a world in and of itself, separate but linked to the real world.
So, nothing's changed. I'm still me, the site is the same, but hopefully this is a nice step forward towards improving the site and getting my voice out there.
Later,
C
PS: Also, this came in the mail today
Unless they're powergaming douchenozzles who think that LARPs and Role Play are all about proving how much of a numbers crunching badass you are. Congrats! You passed Algebra. You're the guy! NOW GO AWAY AND LEAVE ME TO MY MAKE BELIEVE.
As I was saying, I'm also changing it because I'm also aware of the fact that people are reading this (which is actually kinda terrifying) and that they too have some opinion about the profession, or moreso are making their lives around the profession (which is also just as terrifying). I'm now looking for support for my larp addiction through Patreon. In short, I'm trying to be professional in my presentation.
Alright, fine. Professional-ish...
And in the end "Confessions of a Wrathful Blogger" while snarky and sounds like the title of a book that would one day be turned into a movie starring Jay Burchel (my god...that could work...), it also doesn't draw the right kind of attention.
Some of you may be asking me why I chose the new title "Other Worlds Than These". I chose it because it's a Stephen King reference. In The Gunslinger Jake Chambers, reality hopping surrogate son of perennial badass Roland Deschain, says this at a pivotal point of the book. 'Go Then, for there are other worlds than these" and that line changes the rules quite a lot shortly thereafter. I also chose it because this is really what we're discussing in this blog, the exploration of different worlds, different mindsets, different ways of performing and creating those worlds. Even in regards to larp community itself, which is sometimes a world in and of itself, separate but linked to the real world.
So, nothing's changed. I'm still me, the site is the same, but hopefully this is a nice step forward towards improving the site and getting my voice out there.
Later,
C
PS: Also, this came in the mail today
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| Babies First Dice! |
Saturday, July 26, 2014
Playing with FATE
After Dexcon, Shoshana gave me one task when it came to working with Phoenix Outlaw:
"Read the Fate Corebook. Read It, Learn It, Love It."
And, I did just that.
So let's get real for a second, my table top gaming experience is pretty shallow. Aside from White Wolf's New World of Darkness and three games (individual games, not campaigns) of D&D, I have no experience with tabletop games. I'm the kind of larper who looks at the system last, rather wishing to explore the world, themes and character types that can be played. I'm a Narrativist, surprise! Talking about systems and mechanics, which invariably leads to the talk about numbers, bores me to no end. When I want to hear about your character, I don't want to hear about the math, I want to hear about your character.
As someone who is desperately trying to develop his own psychotic Larp Project, the most difficult thing I've discovered is trying to build a system that works for the world. Game mechanics exist as an interface for the world we're playing in, more often than not as a means of doing in the game what we cannot physically do in reality. Some games eschew this and favor a "what you see is what you get" style of play, which I rather prefer. But in some games, especially Salon/Theater style games, you need a means of interfacing with a world that you cannot readily duplicate.
I'm of the mind that in a Tabletop game, which is all narration and discussion, you need a system to interact with the world in some way. But it's far too easy to get focused on the math, and soon you're forgetting about the Role Play and focusing about the Game, how to get the best results and how to get the best gear to get the best results. For those of you just tuning in, I do not like Min Maxing and Munchkining on general principles unless the game is literally just a smash and grab game.
So for me to get giddy about a game system means something pretty significant to me.
The Fate system is a narrative driven game system. Where most games are slavishly focused on the system of the game and emphasize rules, exceptions to the rules and the enforcement of the rules, Fate outright states it's Golden Rule as: Figure what you want to do, then consult the rules to help you do it. This is enforced further by the system's Silver Rule: Never let the rules get in the way of what makes narrative sense. These statements sort of go in the opposite direction of the way I've seen most larps be handled, where the rules are meant to keep everyone, both the players and the gamerunners, honest with one another. This makes it clear that, under no circumstances, that the story trumps the rules, and that this is a collaborative effort between the players and gamerunners.
The character creation for the game is set in primarily Four different sections: Aspects, Skills, Stunts and Stress. Aspects make up the Core of a Character, what makes them matter. These are in the form of specific phrases that are broken down in to subjects: High Concept, which denotes who they are and what they do; Their Trouble Aspect is what complicates their life. This may be seen as a negative thing, and it does stand the chance to bite the character in the ass, but there is a benefit to it; Then there are minor Aspects that can describe character relations, background events, and other things that add depth of character, often put into the context of a one sentence phrase. White Wolf does this on their sheets under Character Concept, except the Aspects are mechanically beneficial as they can potentially help aid characters in relevant actions. Importantly, most of those Aspects are developed by players building ties with one another and the ST, creating past events and ties that connect them and add bonds.
The games Skill system believes in broad strokes. Where most games rely on numbers to describe a quantitative aspects, Fate relies more on the Qualitative. Skill ratings tell how good you are in something and action pulls/rolls (if you're using cards or die) tell just how well you did a thing. The Fate System assumes that every PC is a competent individual. At the very least, PCs are mediocre and don't get bonus' to their pulls, whereas in other systems they get minuses for not paying in to a skill. They leave it mostly to chance in Fate, which is something of a point. It is blind towards equipment modifiers, someone with a gun can do just as well with a sword or even with their fists. We'll get to why in a bit. While there is a set placement of skills like Notice, Deceive, Shoot, Fight, Physique and Crafts, the system allows for customization and additions. The Dresden Files Larp has Discipline for most Supernatural actions.
Now, in most systems, certain purchases of skills means you're able to take specific actions. With Fate, that is up to Narration. In the Dresden Larp I ran, someone used Fire Magic to absorb an attacking creature made of Flame. There was nothing on his sheet specifying that he could do that, but there was a logical reason that he could, conceivably do that action. So we did the appropriate pull and, low and behold, absorbed said infernal beastie like a Ghost in a Trap.
Specific Skills come in the form of Stunts. Stunts are special actions that the players can use sparingly throughout games. Need a quick boost of a skill? Or are you capable of performing the functions of one skill with another? Do you have something that, in normal circumstances, just wouldn't be possible? Those are Stunts. They aren't always on, but they are spectacular. The Key thing to keep in mind about Stunts is that they are made entirely by the player with the Storyteller's help and approval. The books give examples of stunts, but they are only meant to give an understanding of what can be done.
Finally, we have Stress. Stress replaces the concept of health damage. First off, there are two forms of Stress: Physical and Mental. Stress alone doesn't mark how much damage you've taken, but how prone you are to take damage. When your Stress bars fill up, you go into Stress Out, which removes you from the combat completely. The only way to get back in is to take a Consequence. Consequence is where the real damage is, where Stress goes away after every combat scene. Consequences are like Aspects, in that they are small phrases, but those that denote the damage you've taken. From a gash over the eyes, induced into paranoia, to Blinded or I can't feel my legs. Gaining Consequences keeps you in the fight, but gain enough of them and your character dies.
At the Heart of this entire system are Fate Points. Fate Points are granted to the players depending on their stunt spread, more with lesser stunts and less with more. They form a sort of economy as Fate Points allow you to invoke your Aspects to aid in pulls or roleplay, to activate Stunts and to add something to the story being told. You get Fate back by accepting the ST compelling your Aspects, creating drama and story to happen to you, or by conceding a conflict. It's an entirely Meta-level economy, having relatively no basis in the game, and it's telling that the only way to gain back points is by allowing potentially bad things to happen to your character.
So the pros for the Fate System is that it focuses on and rewards a Narrative based game. A lot of my tabletop friends have made several comments though about some of it's cons. It doesn't take into account the use of weapons (the newest edition of the core book addresses this, but it also notes that focusing on better Armor/Better Weapons is the path towards Loot Hunts). This makes a little less sense when you consider that the Stress isn't actual damage, and Merely the measuring stick for what gets you the Consequences, which is the real damage, has their own negative and long lasting effects. Even then, it's still all primarily for the benefit of telling a Story over playing a game.
I think a lot of the hang ups seem based on the fact that this is a system that isn't based on the standard D&D model of thinking. It's an entirely different Operating System that relies on This means that the concepts of class and stats are put to the back. In a fight, a social character can potentially do more damage than a combat character if they use their aspects right or if the cards are fortunate. It puts it more firmly in the hands of chance...or Fate, to be honest.
A friend of mine, who is a veteran table top player. Said that as a table top system he didn't like Fate, but after having played it in a Larp, he felt it was more appropriate. This comment reminded me of my usual rant about Role Playing Games and Live Action Role Play, and how the "G" isn't present in LARP for damn good reason. I think that people focus on the Game aspect, and assume that that means the need to win and avoidance of losing. I tend to focus more on the Role Play, and emphasize the Play. It's make believe, and the rules are there to give us the frame of the sandbox, they aren't the game entirely.
I think the Fate System agrees with this.
The comment also brings about a good point about translating systems to meet different requirements for different forms of play. The White Wolf systems are still primarily used for the Larps, pared down a bit to make some adjustments for the focus on role play...but it's still very clearly based on a tabletop. This comes out all the more when combat or a scene that requires mechanics to function need to be done. All of the roleplay and action stops and it literally becomes a table top game again. The Fate system lends itself and it's emphasis on the RP side of RPG that it works as a tool for Larps.
This is especially true since, through many of it's guides and directions, it evokes the notion that Larps are communal projects and require cross cultivation between each other. In table tops, you can rely on your sheet at the least. In a larp, where you are physically playing your character, you require the players around you to fill in the blanks in the world and with each others ties. Fate runs heavily on that concept.
Fate is, to me, a system that I as someone who looks more to character factors and background than dots and points as system I can get behind and utilize for some of my projects. This has actually gotten me interested in making a Tabletop game for friends, and possibly a theater larp. This system is NOT for everyone, but I welcome it as a system that lends itself to what I look for in a game and that can be customized to suit the needs of the game and translated into various formats of Play. If you prefer the traditional methods, then this simply isn't the system for you.
Later
If you like this blog, and wish to make a donation, consider supporting me on my Patreon Account. It allows me to continue doing games and conventions and you'll get special prizes. Thanks
"Read the Fate Corebook. Read It, Learn It, Love It."
And, I did just that.
So let's get real for a second, my table top gaming experience is pretty shallow. Aside from White Wolf's New World of Darkness and three games (individual games, not campaigns) of D&D, I have no experience with tabletop games. I'm the kind of larper who looks at the system last, rather wishing to explore the world, themes and character types that can be played. I'm a Narrativist, surprise! Talking about systems and mechanics, which invariably leads to the talk about numbers, bores me to no end. When I want to hear about your character, I don't want to hear about the math, I want to hear about your character.
As someone who is desperately trying to develop his own psychotic Larp Project, the most difficult thing I've discovered is trying to build a system that works for the world. Game mechanics exist as an interface for the world we're playing in, more often than not as a means of doing in the game what we cannot physically do in reality. Some games eschew this and favor a "what you see is what you get" style of play, which I rather prefer. But in some games, especially Salon/Theater style games, you need a means of interfacing with a world that you cannot readily duplicate.
I'm of the mind that in a Tabletop game, which is all narration and discussion, you need a system to interact with the world in some way. But it's far too easy to get focused on the math, and soon you're forgetting about the Role Play and focusing about the Game, how to get the best results and how to get the best gear to get the best results. For those of you just tuning in, I do not like Min Maxing and Munchkining on general principles unless the game is literally just a smash and grab game.
So for me to get giddy about a game system means something pretty significant to me.
The Fate system is a narrative driven game system. Where most games are slavishly focused on the system of the game and emphasize rules, exceptions to the rules and the enforcement of the rules, Fate outright states it's Golden Rule as: Figure what you want to do, then consult the rules to help you do it. This is enforced further by the system's Silver Rule: Never let the rules get in the way of what makes narrative sense. These statements sort of go in the opposite direction of the way I've seen most larps be handled, where the rules are meant to keep everyone, both the players and the gamerunners, honest with one another. This makes it clear that, under no circumstances, that the story trumps the rules, and that this is a collaborative effort between the players and gamerunners.
The character creation for the game is set in primarily Four different sections: Aspects, Skills, Stunts and Stress. Aspects make up the Core of a Character, what makes them matter. These are in the form of specific phrases that are broken down in to subjects: High Concept, which denotes who they are and what they do; Their Trouble Aspect is what complicates their life. This may be seen as a negative thing, and it does stand the chance to bite the character in the ass, but there is a benefit to it; Then there are minor Aspects that can describe character relations, background events, and other things that add depth of character, often put into the context of a one sentence phrase. White Wolf does this on their sheets under Character Concept, except the Aspects are mechanically beneficial as they can potentially help aid characters in relevant actions. Importantly, most of those Aspects are developed by players building ties with one another and the ST, creating past events and ties that connect them and add bonds.
The games Skill system believes in broad strokes. Where most games rely on numbers to describe a quantitative aspects, Fate relies more on the Qualitative. Skill ratings tell how good you are in something and action pulls/rolls (if you're using cards or die) tell just how well you did a thing. The Fate System assumes that every PC is a competent individual. At the very least, PCs are mediocre and don't get bonus' to their pulls, whereas in other systems they get minuses for not paying in to a skill. They leave it mostly to chance in Fate, which is something of a point. It is blind towards equipment modifiers, someone with a gun can do just as well with a sword or even with their fists. We'll get to why in a bit. While there is a set placement of skills like Notice, Deceive, Shoot, Fight, Physique and Crafts, the system allows for customization and additions. The Dresden Files Larp has Discipline for most Supernatural actions.
Now, in most systems, certain purchases of skills means you're able to take specific actions. With Fate, that is up to Narration. In the Dresden Larp I ran, someone used Fire Magic to absorb an attacking creature made of Flame. There was nothing on his sheet specifying that he could do that, but there was a logical reason that he could, conceivably do that action. So we did the appropriate pull and, low and behold, absorbed said infernal beastie like a Ghost in a Trap.
Specific Skills come in the form of Stunts. Stunts are special actions that the players can use sparingly throughout games. Need a quick boost of a skill? Or are you capable of performing the functions of one skill with another? Do you have something that, in normal circumstances, just wouldn't be possible? Those are Stunts. They aren't always on, but they are spectacular. The Key thing to keep in mind about Stunts is that they are made entirely by the player with the Storyteller's help and approval. The books give examples of stunts, but they are only meant to give an understanding of what can be done.
Finally, we have Stress. Stress replaces the concept of health damage. First off, there are two forms of Stress: Physical and Mental. Stress alone doesn't mark how much damage you've taken, but how prone you are to take damage. When your Stress bars fill up, you go into Stress Out, which removes you from the combat completely. The only way to get back in is to take a Consequence. Consequence is where the real damage is, where Stress goes away after every combat scene. Consequences are like Aspects, in that they are small phrases, but those that denote the damage you've taken. From a gash over the eyes, induced into paranoia, to Blinded or I can't feel my legs. Gaining Consequences keeps you in the fight, but gain enough of them and your character dies.
At the Heart of this entire system are Fate Points. Fate Points are granted to the players depending on their stunt spread, more with lesser stunts and less with more. They form a sort of economy as Fate Points allow you to invoke your Aspects to aid in pulls or roleplay, to activate Stunts and to add something to the story being told. You get Fate back by accepting the ST compelling your Aspects, creating drama and story to happen to you, or by conceding a conflict. It's an entirely Meta-level economy, having relatively no basis in the game, and it's telling that the only way to gain back points is by allowing potentially bad things to happen to your character.
So the pros for the Fate System is that it focuses on and rewards a Narrative based game. A lot of my tabletop friends have made several comments though about some of it's cons. It doesn't take into account the use of weapons (the newest edition of the core book addresses this, but it also notes that focusing on better Armor/Better Weapons is the path towards Loot Hunts). This makes a little less sense when you consider that the Stress isn't actual damage, and Merely the measuring stick for what gets you the Consequences, which is the real damage, has their own negative and long lasting effects. Even then, it's still all primarily for the benefit of telling a Story over playing a game.
I think a lot of the hang ups seem based on the fact that this is a system that isn't based on the standard D&D model of thinking. It's an entirely different Operating System that relies on This means that the concepts of class and stats are put to the back. In a fight, a social character can potentially do more damage than a combat character if they use their aspects right or if the cards are fortunate. It puts it more firmly in the hands of chance...or Fate, to be honest.
A friend of mine, who is a veteran table top player. Said that as a table top system he didn't like Fate, but after having played it in a Larp, he felt it was more appropriate. This comment reminded me of my usual rant about Role Playing Games and Live Action Role Play, and how the "G" isn't present in LARP for damn good reason. I think that people focus on the Game aspect, and assume that that means the need to win and avoidance of losing. I tend to focus more on the Role Play, and emphasize the Play. It's make believe, and the rules are there to give us the frame of the sandbox, they aren't the game entirely.
I think the Fate System agrees with this.
The comment also brings about a good point about translating systems to meet different requirements for different forms of play. The White Wolf systems are still primarily used for the Larps, pared down a bit to make some adjustments for the focus on role play...but it's still very clearly based on a tabletop. This comes out all the more when combat or a scene that requires mechanics to function need to be done. All of the roleplay and action stops and it literally becomes a table top game again. The Fate system lends itself and it's emphasis on the RP side of RPG that it works as a tool for Larps.
This is especially true since, through many of it's guides and directions, it evokes the notion that Larps are communal projects and require cross cultivation between each other. In table tops, you can rely on your sheet at the least. In a larp, where you are physically playing your character, you require the players around you to fill in the blanks in the world and with each others ties. Fate runs heavily on that concept.
Fate is, to me, a system that I as someone who looks more to character factors and background than dots and points as system I can get behind and utilize for some of my projects. This has actually gotten me interested in making a Tabletop game for friends, and possibly a theater larp. This system is NOT for everyone, but I welcome it as a system that lends itself to what I look for in a game and that can be customized to suit the needs of the game and translated into various formats of Play. If you prefer the traditional methods, then this simply isn't the system for you.
Later
If you like this blog, and wish to make a donation, consider supporting me on my Patreon Account. It allows me to continue doing games and conventions and you'll get special prizes. Thanks
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