I've come to the conclusion that game developers are secretly anthropologists. They may not notice it or really think about it when they make their games, but the ground work is there. Their writing and mechanics define the expectations and permissions of the world that they wish to create. Some games have really thought about this. Dystopia Rising's system has a spread out mechanics, where if you are going to survive in the threatening environment of the world after nuclear and zombie related war, then you NEED to interact with others. Combat-centric characters need the support characters to survive, and the support need combat centric characters to sell their gear to or use their skills. It's a game of trying to work in symbiosis under great stress of both a personal and environmental level.
The White Wolf system used in Mind's Eye Society really doesn't allow that. It focuses more on the individual. Their skills, their assets, their resources. That makes it very easy to think only of oneself. Combined with the predatory and political nature of the White Wolf games, things tend to take on a CvC and sometimes PvP angle without it being intended. This has caused epic levels of drama both in and out of game. Entire games collapse because people aren't working together In Character or Out because they are too busy focusing on their own.
This has sometimes turned the games that are played into what I've previously referred to as "Pokemon with Sheets". By this I mean that players aren't roleplaying, they are just showing off their sheet savvy. I've seen this turn into a toxic environment, which ultimately ends in the murder of those games. Playing your sheet is, to me, anathema to the whole process of roleplaying.
What this all leads to is me trying to come to terms with the development of my own game: Kensei. Kensei is a larp set during a competitive martial arts tournament. While the game is focused around the fighters, there is an entire community around them of managers, trainers, gamblers, medics, merchants and media. It's meant to be a game about competition. The problem: I've seen too many people trying to game the system, breaking the spirit of the game.
How do I work on a game that is inherently about winning and victory without making it a complete clusterfuck of players trying to out do each other?
Some of the ideas so far are as follows. They are subject to change:
1) All skills must be accomplished by Role Play
Even if you're a fighter, if you're using a skill, it must require some element of role play. From a special attack, to persuading a merchant to slash his prices for you, to even bumping up your Health and Energy stats. You must have a significant level of role play to justify your skills. Your character defines your skills as much as the reverse.
2) You can only advance through collaboration
This is aimed more at the fighters than anyone else. The Social characters are there for the Fighters, but the Fighters cannot advance without working in some form or another with the other characters. A Fight can walk in by themselves and just fight. You can do that, that's great. But you and your gear won't advance. You need to know a trainer, and you need to know merchants and maybe even medics to work with. Keeping the media on your side is also a good idea because
3) Your actions do go noticed
One of the things I enjoyed from playing Requiem was the role of the Harpy. One part Social Column, Another Part Court Reporter. They were the eyes and judging gaze of society. They could raise and lower a person's status within the City, which overall granted some extra benefits and responsibilities. In theory, Harpies were an in character way of keeping the players both in character and true to the venue and the culture. I like the employment of that.
4)Interaction and Oversight by the GMs
The GMs represent both the out of character and in character authority in games. The Marshals are the referees. They must be present for all combat scenes through one form or another to ensure that the rules were maintained. If someone tries to break the rules, well, they also get to be the events security Ninjas, who can put a character down if needed.
5) Trust and Mediation
This is a game where people are in open competition with one another. Their characters can deploy backhanded tactics, their players shouldn't. Ops will have mediation and debrief available for those who need them when situations become too intense or if players come into conflict with one another.
Those are the ideas from now. The problem with developing the culture is that you can plan all you want but the players have to take to it. Another thing about cultures is that they tend to evolve over the years. Maintaining the spirit of the game is something that requires being mindful of the game world, and the players and checking to see if improvements can be made. The idea is to be proactive with involvement in improvements. I've seen too many games fold under their own rules by changing things due to incidences.
For those designers and game runners, how do you help maintain the culture of your games? How do you keep the game honest to it's setting and themes without compromising your players?
Later,
C
Monday, May 4, 2015
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Translating Magic and Fate
So, as some of you will realize, I really do enjoy Mage: The Awakening. Like, really like Mage. Some people talk about Vampire (either Requiem or Masquerade), or Changeling, or whatever game being theirs. Awakening is mine.
Mage the Awakening is White Wolf's spiritual successor to it's Classic Mage: The Ascension. Awakening is set in the New World of Darkness line and deals with that line on both a cosmic scale, while still boiling it down to a key facet. In this game, Magic is the manipulation of the fabric of Reality, with Mages being able to perceive and manipulate those forces. Their souls were tied in to the higher realms of power and being. Mages grew powerful, Mages grew in numbers, and then Mages grew proud. They broke Reality as it was beyond repair, creating a gaping maw of reality that permeates the souls of most of the world. Magic is now at a premium, and the ability to use it is hampered by those who cannot use it. Mages must now contend with a world that no longer bows to it.
Awakening is the game of the cost of phenomenal cosmic powers. What happens when you go from a normal human to being the next best thing to a deity? What happens when you must encounter others like you and take sides in their eons long struggles with each other? When is it your fight? Is it your fight? How do you function in a world where the normal population is unable on an innate level to believe you, and therefore is as much an enemy as the monsters and mages you stand against?
It also asks the question of the Soul. A Mage's soul is their link to the forces of Creation. Without it, they are nothing. This is something that fascinates me the most, as someone who loves to discuss the psyche and soul to his heart's content.
There's just one problem: I hate the system the game is based on.
Awakening is part of the New World of Darkness system. It's a crunchy system, even for it's more straightforward lines like Hunter or Vampire. So many factors go into the creation of the character's sheets, it becomes hard to not focus on them. With Mage, it's even worse because Magic isn't free and you run the risk of pulling several times for one single spell. While this works (maybe) for a table top, it rarely works for a Larp. I've heard it said multiple times that Mage is the hardest game to run as a Larp. The math is too much.
There are also hundreds of spells that a player can do for their characters. where the other templates are limited to only a handful. So unless you know exactly what your character is doing next, you could be stuck. There have been many times where an ST has to tell a player that if they don't know the spell they are doing or the affect, they they can't use it during their turn. It takes up time, and larps should not be about doing pulls.
I often feel that when they were translating New World of Darkness from Tabletop to Larp, they didn't go as far as they could have. When situations get really action heavy, larps devolve into Tabletop games. I've had players, most of whom are larp designers and role playing veterans, up and leave because they weren't interested in playing a larple-top
Part of the reason I stopped running Mage was due to the focus on the pulls, which lead to a focus on the sheets, which lead to the lack of focus on the world. No one wanted to experience the plot, they just used the magic to solve the plot. This is a common problem in the MES, aided and abetted by a system that makes everything Quantitative and therefore measurable and finite. You know how strong your Storyteller can make his characters, so you know how you need to make your characters stronger. When you game the system, are you really playing a larp?
A few weeks ago, I was talking to my friend, who is also the Mage storyteller in our Accord game (the game needs experts on the different templates, there are that many) and we talked about the difficulties of playing a Mage in this game. We're also part of the New York Chronicle of Dresden Lives, he a player and me a Storyteller. We talked about the system, which is based on Evil Hat's Fate Core system. It's a narrative system where half of the character The magic in the game is easy and the combat pulls are simplistic. It deals with Qualitative action. How well did a thing happen as opposed to how much of a thing happened. It's simple, it's fun and it can be done without over thinking it.
For example: this past weekend we ran a game of Dresden at Imagine Nation Festival, which was in a camp in Connecticut. We played, in the dark of night, a combat heavy game with roving bands of hunters against the supernatural community. The combat system was explosive and dynamic and didn't take forever. People got to act out what they were doing, thereby diminishing (though not completely covering) the break from immersion. And these weren't small things, people acted being blasted into each other, of eating holy relics of dead gods, they did those things.
So, after thinking about it, I figured what would it be worth to convert Mage the Awakening to the Fate Core system?
That's one of my current projects, to try and translate the mechanics of Mage over to Fate Core. The setting would be left relatively untouched. There would still be the five paths of Mages, each an expert of two of the ten elements of Reality. There would still be five Orders of Awakened Society: The Pentacle. There would still be the Abyss and Disbelief, which level the playing field against the Mages.
The transition so far has been easy. Nothing set in stone, but going over it with my friends (whose names I won't say because they are officers of the MES) there are some points that I'm liking.
Simplifying Magic:
Magic is a stratified system in Awakening, only some can be done at a certain level of experience. Each level opens up access to certain rotes: specified versions of it. However, searching for these rotes can lead to overly long wait times we talked about before. In the Fate Core version, the magic would be considered a Creative Thaumaturgy. Creative Thaumaturgy isn't a specific spell, it's the player declaring a general action using their magic and the Storyteller filling in the blanks. This aspect gets removed from play alot, because it's hard to quantify how that affects the world.
With Fate Core, most skills are done like this. They break down the actions a character can take in four simple steps: Fight, Defend, Overcome an Obstacle, Create an Advantage. With that, and the fact that it deals in Qualitative and not Quantitative affects makes magic much more creative and expressive.
Example: A Mage with control of Fate (because reasons) is in a situation and they are about to get hit hard in the face. They have a few options here, if all they want to do is magic. They can Defend with their magic, and make a pull counter to the attack aimed at their face. They pull their rating in Fate Magic, and whatever difference between the attack pull and the defense pull will lead to Stress. The Defend pull is really well and the Storyteller says that a patch of water on the ground makes the attacker twist his ankle, skewing the blow into ineffectivity. Damn the luck
The Mage can of course attack with Fate, which is simpler and more straight forward. The Mage curses the action, causing the attacker to slip on the patch of the water on the floor and hurting themselves pretty bad. Damn the luck
The Mage, once they aren't being bashed in the head, could try to create an advantage on either the scene or the person. One of my favorite Fate spells is to curse a person, restricting them from acting a certain way. That would count as an advantage on them. The Mage would be able to invoke that to the detriment of the attacker. Damn their luck.
Finally, the Mage could do the most sensible thing: Run. They use their Fate magic to Overcome an Obstacle and find an exit. They pull against the challenge of finding an exit. The spell leads them to a conveniently unlocked door which they bolt out of. The attacker doesn't get to them in time and instead has a door slammed in their face. Damn their luck.
Magic Skills would be part of their own Skill Pyramid. You'd have One good skill and the rest beneath it. It'd be capped, initially, at a (+3), which is about fair and makes invoking your Aspects (Ie; keeping it in the tone of your character) all the more important. You want a stronger spell? Narrate how your Warrior Mage enters a combat ready stance before he uses Space Magic to attack you with his sword from across the room. Make the roleplay actions count towards the magic.
Paradox as a Consequence, Gnosis as a Skill
Paradox is one of those major things that happens when you start futzing with Magic too much. It's when Reality strikes back against any magic it deems is pushing the boundaries a bit too much. The stronger spells in Awakening were considered Vulgar, something that was clearly not plausible or went in the face of Reality on a significant level. Creating Thunder or Fire, changing the physical structure of one's self or another. Paradox is also invoked when Sleepers, normal humans who can't perceive magic, view magic. Their sense of reality is so unshakeable that the magic fizzles and Reality enforces itself further.
In the original, Paradox was it's own mechanic and lead to potentially a lot more pulls before you even pulled for your spell. In Fate Core, they have the Stress Tracks. Stress is the equivalent to damage, though they go away during a scene. The writing describes it as all the little chances that you didn't get hurt, but it's only a matter of time. The real damage, the ones that linger, are Consequences. If your stress fills and you want to stay in combat and not be at the mercy of others, you take a consequence. In physical combat, you may have a broken arm, rib or be gut stabbed (whatever appropriate). In mental or social settings, you may find yourself Under a Compulsion, or Socially Disgraced. This can happen with Magic.
When casting something deemed Vulgar or Implausible, you pull for Paradox Stress. If you continue to fill up the Stress, you're either out of action or take a Consequence. These can follow the normal parameters of being marked by Paradox, or have a magical anomaly hover around you or worse, Hunted by An Abyssal Manifestation as a Consequence. To be nice, you can spend Fate Points to get mitigate the stress, but you only have so many Fate Points and you only have so many stress and consequence slots.
With all Stress and Consequence slots, there is a skill to help deal with that. For physical situations, you have Physique, your physical endurance. For Mental/Social, you have Will. The higher these Skills are, the more stress you can take. Tank characters would have their physique or will as their top Skill. For Mages, this would be Gnosis. Gnosis in the Original game was your Power Stat, how strong your magic was. It was also the level at which your Paradox pulls were measured. The goal was to pull your Gnosis or Higher, making someone with a Gnosis of 7 (out of 10) very powerful but with a 66% chance of evoking Paradox.
Because the game system in Fate Core is based more on the strength of the Skill and is a Qualitative system, Gnosis makes sense as being their "Magical Toughness". The stronger your Gnosis, the more Paradox Stress you can take on before it explodes. Fate Core focuses more on what you can do, so this changes the tone, but keeps the flavor.
Path as Aspect
While in Accord, there were a few instances where my PC, a Fate and Time Mage, had run into another Time Mage. In Awakening, you gain your magic by bonding yourself by one of five magical realms. Those realms govern two of the ten principles of magic, but you could learn any of the others with little-substantial difficulty. Rhys, my PC, was from the realm that Governed Fate and Time, the other Mage wasn't, but they were also equal to him in Time. In the White Wolf version, this means that if the two of them got into a Time fight (which is a Storyteller Nightmare) then the fight would be even with Rhys being able to cast it free while the other Mage had to spend Mana. You'd think that was a high enough price, but it really isn't. Most fights are over before you expend yourself completely.
So, in the Fate Core version, the Path of the Mage, which denotes what Powers are their strongest, would be considered as Aspects to be envoked when combatting other Magic. It shows that those Mages have governance over those spheres of Magic, yet have to acknowledge the mastery of the others in theirs. This helps mitigate the loss of the concept of Mastery.
The Aspects can also help identify the Character's Order and especially their Legacy. Legacies are subsections of Mages that add specificity in the type of Magic they do. Most of it went towards making strong spells not invoke Paradox, but they also were great for flavor. There were Scientist Space Mages, Mages who can read Fate through the magic inherent in Cities and hundreds of others. Those are Aspects, the kinds of things that come up during stories and that flavor how a Character acts, that can be compelled into plot when needed.
This is all still a work in progress, and I'm still not sure what I intend to do with it. Maybe I'll try to run it at a convention game, or just play it as a troupe game with some friends. This isn't something I want to hock off. It's a labor of love, and those deserved to be shared.
If you have any ideas as to how else these can be translated, or enjoy Mage, send me a comment below. I'll post updates as time goes on.
Later,
C
Mage the Awakening is White Wolf's spiritual successor to it's Classic Mage: The Ascension. Awakening is set in the New World of Darkness line and deals with that line on both a cosmic scale, while still boiling it down to a key facet. In this game, Magic is the manipulation of the fabric of Reality, with Mages being able to perceive and manipulate those forces. Their souls were tied in to the higher realms of power and being. Mages grew powerful, Mages grew in numbers, and then Mages grew proud. They broke Reality as it was beyond repair, creating a gaping maw of reality that permeates the souls of most of the world. Magic is now at a premium, and the ability to use it is hampered by those who cannot use it. Mages must now contend with a world that no longer bows to it.
Awakening is the game of the cost of phenomenal cosmic powers. What happens when you go from a normal human to being the next best thing to a deity? What happens when you must encounter others like you and take sides in their eons long struggles with each other? When is it your fight? Is it your fight? How do you function in a world where the normal population is unable on an innate level to believe you, and therefore is as much an enemy as the monsters and mages you stand against?
It also asks the question of the Soul. A Mage's soul is their link to the forces of Creation. Without it, they are nothing. This is something that fascinates me the most, as someone who loves to discuss the psyche and soul to his heart's content.
There's just one problem: I hate the system the game is based on.
Awakening is part of the New World of Darkness system. It's a crunchy system, even for it's more straightforward lines like Hunter or Vampire. So many factors go into the creation of the character's sheets, it becomes hard to not focus on them. With Mage, it's even worse because Magic isn't free and you run the risk of pulling several times for one single spell. While this works (maybe) for a table top, it rarely works for a Larp. I've heard it said multiple times that Mage is the hardest game to run as a Larp. The math is too much.
There are also hundreds of spells that a player can do for their characters. where the other templates are limited to only a handful. So unless you know exactly what your character is doing next, you could be stuck. There have been many times where an ST has to tell a player that if they don't know the spell they are doing or the affect, they they can't use it during their turn. It takes up time, and larps should not be about doing pulls.
I often feel that when they were translating New World of Darkness from Tabletop to Larp, they didn't go as far as they could have. When situations get really action heavy, larps devolve into Tabletop games. I've had players, most of whom are larp designers and role playing veterans, up and leave because they weren't interested in playing a larple-top
Part of the reason I stopped running Mage was due to the focus on the pulls, which lead to a focus on the sheets, which lead to the lack of focus on the world. No one wanted to experience the plot, they just used the magic to solve the plot. This is a common problem in the MES, aided and abetted by a system that makes everything Quantitative and therefore measurable and finite. You know how strong your Storyteller can make his characters, so you know how you need to make your characters stronger. When you game the system, are you really playing a larp?
A few weeks ago, I was talking to my friend, who is also the Mage storyteller in our Accord game (the game needs experts on the different templates, there are that many) and we talked about the difficulties of playing a Mage in this game. We're also part of the New York Chronicle of Dresden Lives, he a player and me a Storyteller. We talked about the system, which is based on Evil Hat's Fate Core system. It's a narrative system where half of the character The magic in the game is easy and the combat pulls are simplistic. It deals with Qualitative action. How well did a thing happen as opposed to how much of a thing happened. It's simple, it's fun and it can be done without over thinking it.
For example: this past weekend we ran a game of Dresden at Imagine Nation Festival, which was in a camp in Connecticut. We played, in the dark of night, a combat heavy game with roving bands of hunters against the supernatural community. The combat system was explosive and dynamic and didn't take forever. People got to act out what they were doing, thereby diminishing (though not completely covering) the break from immersion. And these weren't small things, people acted being blasted into each other, of eating holy relics of dead gods, they did those things.
So, after thinking about it, I figured what would it be worth to convert Mage the Awakening to the Fate Core system?
That's one of my current projects, to try and translate the mechanics of Mage over to Fate Core. The setting would be left relatively untouched. There would still be the five paths of Mages, each an expert of two of the ten elements of Reality. There would still be five Orders of Awakened Society: The Pentacle. There would still be the Abyss and Disbelief, which level the playing field against the Mages.
The transition so far has been easy. Nothing set in stone, but going over it with my friends (whose names I won't say because they are officers of the MES) there are some points that I'm liking.
Simplifying Magic:
Magic is a stratified system in Awakening, only some can be done at a certain level of experience. Each level opens up access to certain rotes: specified versions of it. However, searching for these rotes can lead to overly long wait times we talked about before. In the Fate Core version, the magic would be considered a Creative Thaumaturgy. Creative Thaumaturgy isn't a specific spell, it's the player declaring a general action using their magic and the Storyteller filling in the blanks. This aspect gets removed from play alot, because it's hard to quantify how that affects the world.
With Fate Core, most skills are done like this. They break down the actions a character can take in four simple steps: Fight, Defend, Overcome an Obstacle, Create an Advantage. With that, and the fact that it deals in Qualitative and not Quantitative affects makes magic much more creative and expressive.
Example: A Mage with control of Fate (because reasons) is in a situation and they are about to get hit hard in the face. They have a few options here, if all they want to do is magic. They can Defend with their magic, and make a pull counter to the attack aimed at their face. They pull their rating in Fate Magic, and whatever difference between the attack pull and the defense pull will lead to Stress. The Defend pull is really well and the Storyteller says that a patch of water on the ground makes the attacker twist his ankle, skewing the blow into ineffectivity. Damn the luck
The Mage can of course attack with Fate, which is simpler and more straight forward. The Mage curses the action, causing the attacker to slip on the patch of the water on the floor and hurting themselves pretty bad. Damn the luck
The Mage, once they aren't being bashed in the head, could try to create an advantage on either the scene or the person. One of my favorite Fate spells is to curse a person, restricting them from acting a certain way. That would count as an advantage on them. The Mage would be able to invoke that to the detriment of the attacker. Damn their luck.
Finally, the Mage could do the most sensible thing: Run. They use their Fate magic to Overcome an Obstacle and find an exit. They pull against the challenge of finding an exit. The spell leads them to a conveniently unlocked door which they bolt out of. The attacker doesn't get to them in time and instead has a door slammed in their face. Damn their luck.
Magic Skills would be part of their own Skill Pyramid. You'd have One good skill and the rest beneath it. It'd be capped, initially, at a (+3), which is about fair and makes invoking your Aspects (Ie; keeping it in the tone of your character) all the more important. You want a stronger spell? Narrate how your Warrior Mage enters a combat ready stance before he uses Space Magic to attack you with his sword from across the room. Make the roleplay actions count towards the magic.
Paradox as a Consequence, Gnosis as a Skill
Paradox is one of those major things that happens when you start futzing with Magic too much. It's when Reality strikes back against any magic it deems is pushing the boundaries a bit too much. The stronger spells in Awakening were considered Vulgar, something that was clearly not plausible or went in the face of Reality on a significant level. Creating Thunder or Fire, changing the physical structure of one's self or another. Paradox is also invoked when Sleepers, normal humans who can't perceive magic, view magic. Their sense of reality is so unshakeable that the magic fizzles and Reality enforces itself further.
In the original, Paradox was it's own mechanic and lead to potentially a lot more pulls before you even pulled for your spell. In Fate Core, they have the Stress Tracks. Stress is the equivalent to damage, though they go away during a scene. The writing describes it as all the little chances that you didn't get hurt, but it's only a matter of time. The real damage, the ones that linger, are Consequences. If your stress fills and you want to stay in combat and not be at the mercy of others, you take a consequence. In physical combat, you may have a broken arm, rib or be gut stabbed (whatever appropriate). In mental or social settings, you may find yourself Under a Compulsion, or Socially Disgraced. This can happen with Magic.
When casting something deemed Vulgar or Implausible, you pull for Paradox Stress. If you continue to fill up the Stress, you're either out of action or take a Consequence. These can follow the normal parameters of being marked by Paradox, or have a magical anomaly hover around you or worse, Hunted by An Abyssal Manifestation as a Consequence. To be nice, you can spend Fate Points to get mitigate the stress, but you only have so many Fate Points and you only have so many stress and consequence slots.
With all Stress and Consequence slots, there is a skill to help deal with that. For physical situations, you have Physique, your physical endurance. For Mental/Social, you have Will. The higher these Skills are, the more stress you can take. Tank characters would have their physique or will as their top Skill. For Mages, this would be Gnosis. Gnosis in the Original game was your Power Stat, how strong your magic was. It was also the level at which your Paradox pulls were measured. The goal was to pull your Gnosis or Higher, making someone with a Gnosis of 7 (out of 10) very powerful but with a 66% chance of evoking Paradox.
Because the game system in Fate Core is based more on the strength of the Skill and is a Qualitative system, Gnosis makes sense as being their "Magical Toughness". The stronger your Gnosis, the more Paradox Stress you can take on before it explodes. Fate Core focuses more on what you can do, so this changes the tone, but keeps the flavor.
Path as Aspect
While in Accord, there were a few instances where my PC, a Fate and Time Mage, had run into another Time Mage. In Awakening, you gain your magic by bonding yourself by one of five magical realms. Those realms govern two of the ten principles of magic, but you could learn any of the others with little-substantial difficulty. Rhys, my PC, was from the realm that Governed Fate and Time, the other Mage wasn't, but they were also equal to him in Time. In the White Wolf version, this means that if the two of them got into a Time fight (which is a Storyteller Nightmare) then the fight would be even with Rhys being able to cast it free while the other Mage had to spend Mana. You'd think that was a high enough price, but it really isn't. Most fights are over before you expend yourself completely.
So, in the Fate Core version, the Path of the Mage, which denotes what Powers are their strongest, would be considered as Aspects to be envoked when combatting other Magic. It shows that those Mages have governance over those spheres of Magic, yet have to acknowledge the mastery of the others in theirs. This helps mitigate the loss of the concept of Mastery.
The Aspects can also help identify the Character's Order and especially their Legacy. Legacies are subsections of Mages that add specificity in the type of Magic they do. Most of it went towards making strong spells not invoke Paradox, but they also were great for flavor. There were Scientist Space Mages, Mages who can read Fate through the magic inherent in Cities and hundreds of others. Those are Aspects, the kinds of things that come up during stories and that flavor how a Character acts, that can be compelled into plot when needed.
This is all still a work in progress, and I'm still not sure what I intend to do with it. Maybe I'll try to run it at a convention game, or just play it as a troupe game with some friends. This isn't something I want to hock off. It's a labor of love, and those deserved to be shared.
If you have any ideas as to how else these can be translated, or enjoy Mage, send me a comment below. I'll post updates as time goes on.
Later,
C
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
Maintaining Friendships Built in Larping
This article was prompted by several online friends, you know who you are.
For the past six years (yes, I'm including Jedi in it, hush) role play has been the central hub of most of my social activities. Through meeting people during games, I've gotten to become acquainted with other people. I'm blessed to say that larping is one of the best things to happen to me socially.
But what happens when that becomes the sole means of interaction between you and their friends? Sometimes we live too far away and can only afford to come down during games, sometimes that wacky thing called Life happens and our day to day gets in between us and the people we consider dear to ourselves. Stuff happens.
I've run into situations like that. And as I said before, larping is a great source of friendship and a great unifying tool. However, it isn't often the best way to maintain a friendship. I have and had friends whom, because of life, I only got to see at game. It was fine, at first, but after a while I began to realize that I was interacting more with their characters than I was with them. That's the problem with using larp as the central rock of your friendships: half the time you're not you and they aren't them. So what here is real?
The key to keeping a friendship between larpers is to extend the friendship outside of larping. We're living in an age where we can chat with, interact, and see each other from miles away. I have friends I converse with on Facebook, Tumblr, Skype and Google Hangouts. Even if it's briefly, the key is to touch base with one another on a somewhat frequent basis. It's dependent on you and your friends as to what 'frequent' means.
I can't stress how important it is to have communication outside of game and about things that do not revolve around game. There are incidences where when I'm hanging out with friends I please ask that we not bring up games. I can be enthused and excited with the best of the puppy dogs, but after a while even I get tired of having the same discussions over and over again. Finding a common ground outside of larping is necessary. I've had frienships wither away, and the usual sign has been when you notice that you're only interacting with the other friend during game, or only about game. To me, that's not friendship. That's being really tight players together. While they're both good, one does not necessarily mean the other.
Another important thing to do is to check in with each other during game. This is especially important if you're playing characters who are emotionally invested in one another. By this I mean as lovers, family, comrades, rivals, or enemies. Always check in with one another afterwards to reinforce that what part is the character and what part is the friendship. I've watched and taken part in too many conversations as a PC which was dripping with unspoken subtext from out of character. It gets awkward and potentially leads to the relationship (the out of character one) turning toxic.
These are just some of the things that I've found helpful in relationships. What have you found that helps?
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Dreamation 2015
I just got back from Dreamation 2015, the annual convention run by Double Exposure, the organizers for DexCon, Metatopia and many other events. This was also the first time as an official member of the Phoenix Outlaw Production staff, working as a Storyteller and GM. It was a good con and one hard worked at.
The Dresden Lives games experienced what we (the Storytellers) were calling a Mid-Season Finale. The Chronicle , the grand sum of the story as told with the players, has spanned many years and numerous conventions across the United States This weekend was the culmination of all of those plots and moving on to a new mode. Conspiracies were found out, and antagonists were revealed. There was also a conversation of power and responsibility, themes that are prevalent throughout the Dresden Files. When the things that bump come out of the dark to attack you, how do you make your stand? In a room full of Wizards, Vampires, Shifters, Mobters, Valkyries, Changelings and a whole host of other creatures and human, it's interesting to see where people made their stand.
I got to play three different characters throughout these games. Each one had their own motivations and troubles. The first was a doctor who was monitoring children prophesied to help bring about the end of the world. Unfortunately, those children were the children of the supernatural community of New York (read: a large chunk of the players) and they were mightily pissed. The character meant well, and would easily flip to the player's side when things were explained. However, he was also limited in what he could do to help them.
So, a few pissed off supernaturals essentially having an office drone asking them if they've tried turning it on and off? Yeah, that went well. In the span of ten minutes he was arrested, released, arrested, cornered and then had his heart ripped out of his chest. Full on Temple of Doom.
I next played a faceless monster who was once a human but had his personality completely deleted for the Conspiracy that abducted the children. He was set as a door guard, a powerful one, to keep the children protected. People tried to beg him, people tried to cajole him, and there were plenty of threats abound. They could have attacked him, and most of them would have made it through. But then one character made a decision. Because of plot, he had access to an alternate option. With the Storyteller's approval, he offered to take the children to another plane of being, effectively keeping them out of the way for everyone. That got them through. But it came at the cost of the PC who did, thereby marking the first PC death.
The faceless guardian remained with the children in the plane, swearing to protect them to their family members. Even at the next night's game, he was brought up. That made me feel good because he made an impact on people.
The next night I played Warden Parrish. Parrish is a Warden, which in the Dresden Files world means that he is a human Wizard who works for the White Council, the ruling body for Mortal Magic users.He's their cops, soldiers, and executioners. Wardens don't take "I didn't know" as an answer and are quick with the flick of the blade. The City of New York, for their gross litany of miscalculations, omissions, and just acts of wackiness, were held on trial by the Supernatural Community as a whole, with three Wardens presiding in Tribunal. Of the Three, Parrish was the most remote. Barely speaking, eyes blocked by sunglasses. Hands covered in black gloves. The only thing revealed on him was his sword. He wasn't a big talker, but when he did it was decisive.
Playing Parrish, I didn't want him to be just "I'm the one who kills you." He's Javert-like in that he will hunt you down until judgment day if he thinks you need a huntin'. But he's not one-dimensional. He has his own mind about how things work. I got a lot of compliments after game about how intimidating Parrish came off. He'll be a fun Face NPC (read: an recurring NPC) to play.
It was interesting watching the threads tie together during Dresden. Years of secrets got outted and revealed and characters had to make a lot of interesting decisions that will undoubtedly affect the second season.
I didn't sign up for much during the weekend. Aside from working on Dresden I had entered myself into a boffer tournament. It was sponsored by Oblivion Larp, a dystopian Boffer Larp in New Jersey. Several of the runners of Oblivion came in to Dresden the day before, giving me the opportunity to go "HELLO NEW FRIENDS". I've never done a boffer tournament before, point of fact I really don't get the chance to do boffer larps due to money and time. So getting a chance to try out some things was interesting to say the least. It also made for good research in developing Kensei, as I'm currently still bashing my head as how to make a combat system that is entertaining to both the fighters and the audience.
There were three tourneys. The dagger fighting one, the open weapon tournament, and a gauntlet course. The dagger fighting I went 1 out of 2 matches. I'm not much of a inclose fighter with weapons. I pretty much fell in love with a miniature Buster Sword, which had a wonderful reach and a wide blade to allow for easy deflections and blocks. I went 2 of the 3 matches I was in. Of the 5 stations of the gauntlet, I only made it to the second one. It was an interesting blend of folks who just liked to try out boffering and players who have been doing this for a long as time and clearly have weapons training. It left me feeling much more positive about Kensei, and needing to do this more.
What is also did was give me some awesome cardio as well. Unfortunately, my gas tank went empty shortly after that. I'm still trying to figure out better ways to keep my energy going during these conventions. To know when to hold em and keep playing and to know when to fold em. It's one of the things that keeps me from DR (aside from the aforementioned time+money) is that I am not a 24 hour marathon person. I like my sleeps. I was debating going to Ex Arcana, the Chronos system larp developed by Eschaton Media and Nerdy City productions (the venerable House of Jaffe). I was on line to sign in for game, when I felt my energy jackknife.
You see, not only was the boffer tournament matches exerting in ways I haven't done in months, it's Lent and I--like a moron--gave up soda. For those of you who haven't met me, I'm a Coke Fiend. I love my little red soda cans. So giving that up and then running a convention where I can't eat meat on Friday and can't drink cold caffeinated beverages (I don't drink hot drinks, sorry) meant that my blood-sugar levels were going WEEE! at various points.
So, I did the smart thing, backed out and let people who had never played it get a shot. When I went upstairs to nap, I looked at my recently purchased book for Ex Arcana (now available in PDF and softcover on DriveThruRPG) I realized my name was listed in the Playtesters section. I'd forgotten outright that I played a game before, so that became a magnificent surprise. I also know that there will be other games, and now that I have the deck and the book and actually know what the hell is going on, I now have plans and ideas.
My convention, otherwise, was rather chilled out. After going to a few of the Double Exposure conventions this year, I feel like I know a sizeable chunk of the population by face if not by name. For someone whose social anxiety is practically a lifestyle choice, this is a relief. I got to talk to Ashley Zdeb, co-founder of Eschaton Media. Eschaton is responsible for Dystopia Rising, the Apocalyptic Boffer Larp that is now a widespread network throughout North America. It's my opinion that DR has helped to redefine how boffer larps could be played. We also talked about the amazing response to the Chronos Larp system, and how Ex Arcana is being received. I know several of the incoming games, and many of the homebrews that were put on (example: of the Six Chronos games: two were based on TRON and Neverwhere, respectively) show off the versatility of the system. We also talked about our shared background in the Mind's Eye Theater/White Wolf games.
I also got to see Sarah Lynne Bowman, editor of the Wyrdcon Companion and my Jungian Psychology in Larp Sempai. We didn't get down to sit and talk much, which was sad. We were too busy running around and doing our games. Sarah is an awesome human being and one of the people spearheading the academic backing of role playing games in all its forms. Also present, but I never got the chance to meet her, was Whitney 'Strix' Beltran, another researcher and expert in mythology. So there were arguably the two preeminent researchers into mythology and larp AND I COULDN'T FIND THE TIME TO TALK TO THEM.
One Day. Dammit.
Finally, friend of mine from Mind's Eye Society came to his first convention, in which he damned me for making him have fun and make new friends. I consider that a victory. He was a playtester for my Dresden game in June and now he got to play the same character in the official larp. I do believe he's hooked in, and is now a member of a group in the game that has some very large overarching plot. It's nice to have someone from my first and main source of gaming come into the new world I've come to enjoy, and then make them drink the cool-aid and want to come back for more.
it's all part of the job :D
The Dresden Lives games experienced what we (the Storytellers) were calling a Mid-Season Finale. The Chronicle , the grand sum of the story as told with the players, has spanned many years and numerous conventions across the United States This weekend was the culmination of all of those plots and moving on to a new mode. Conspiracies were found out, and antagonists were revealed. There was also a conversation of power and responsibility, themes that are prevalent throughout the Dresden Files. When the things that bump come out of the dark to attack you, how do you make your stand? In a room full of Wizards, Vampires, Shifters, Mobters, Valkyries, Changelings and a whole host of other creatures and human, it's interesting to see where people made their stand.
I got to play three different characters throughout these games. Each one had their own motivations and troubles. The first was a doctor who was monitoring children prophesied to help bring about the end of the world. Unfortunately, those children were the children of the supernatural community of New York (read: a large chunk of the players) and they were mightily pissed. The character meant well, and would easily flip to the player's side when things were explained. However, he was also limited in what he could do to help them.
So, a few pissed off supernaturals essentially having an office drone asking them if they've tried turning it on and off? Yeah, that went well. In the span of ten minutes he was arrested, released, arrested, cornered and then had his heart ripped out of his chest. Full on Temple of Doom.
I next played a faceless monster who was once a human but had his personality completely deleted for the Conspiracy that abducted the children. He was set as a door guard, a powerful one, to keep the children protected. People tried to beg him, people tried to cajole him, and there were plenty of threats abound. They could have attacked him, and most of them would have made it through. But then one character made a decision. Because of plot, he had access to an alternate option. With the Storyteller's approval, he offered to take the children to another plane of being, effectively keeping them out of the way for everyone. That got them through. But it came at the cost of the PC who did, thereby marking the first PC death.
The faceless guardian remained with the children in the plane, swearing to protect them to their family members. Even at the next night's game, he was brought up. That made me feel good because he made an impact on people.
The next night I played Warden Parrish. Parrish is a Warden, which in the Dresden Files world means that he is a human Wizard who works for the White Council, the ruling body for Mortal Magic users.He's their cops, soldiers, and executioners. Wardens don't take "I didn't know" as an answer and are quick with the flick of the blade. The City of New York, for their gross litany of miscalculations, omissions, and just acts of wackiness, were held on trial by the Supernatural Community as a whole, with three Wardens presiding in Tribunal. Of the Three, Parrish was the most remote. Barely speaking, eyes blocked by sunglasses. Hands covered in black gloves. The only thing revealed on him was his sword. He wasn't a big talker, but when he did it was decisive.
Playing Parrish, I didn't want him to be just "I'm the one who kills you." He's Javert-like in that he will hunt you down until judgment day if he thinks you need a huntin'. But he's not one-dimensional. He has his own mind about how things work. I got a lot of compliments after game about how intimidating Parrish came off. He'll be a fun Face NPC (read: an recurring NPC) to play.
It was interesting watching the threads tie together during Dresden. Years of secrets got outted and revealed and characters had to make a lot of interesting decisions that will undoubtedly affect the second season.
I didn't sign up for much during the weekend. Aside from working on Dresden I had entered myself into a boffer tournament. It was sponsored by Oblivion Larp, a dystopian Boffer Larp in New Jersey. Several of the runners of Oblivion came in to Dresden the day before, giving me the opportunity to go "HELLO NEW FRIENDS". I've never done a boffer tournament before, point of fact I really don't get the chance to do boffer larps due to money and time. So getting a chance to try out some things was interesting to say the least. It also made for good research in developing Kensei, as I'm currently still bashing my head as how to make a combat system that is entertaining to both the fighters and the audience.
There were three tourneys. The dagger fighting one, the open weapon tournament, and a gauntlet course. The dagger fighting I went 1 out of 2 matches. I'm not much of a inclose fighter with weapons. I pretty much fell in love with a miniature Buster Sword, which had a wonderful reach and a wide blade to allow for easy deflections and blocks. I went 2 of the 3 matches I was in. Of the 5 stations of the gauntlet, I only made it to the second one. It was an interesting blend of folks who just liked to try out boffering and players who have been doing this for a long as time and clearly have weapons training. It left me feeling much more positive about Kensei, and needing to do this more.
What is also did was give me some awesome cardio as well. Unfortunately, my gas tank went empty shortly after that. I'm still trying to figure out better ways to keep my energy going during these conventions. To know when to hold em and keep playing and to know when to fold em. It's one of the things that keeps me from DR (aside from the aforementioned time+money) is that I am not a 24 hour marathon person. I like my sleeps. I was debating going to Ex Arcana, the Chronos system larp developed by Eschaton Media and Nerdy City productions (the venerable House of Jaffe). I was on line to sign in for game, when I felt my energy jackknife.
You see, not only was the boffer tournament matches exerting in ways I haven't done in months, it's Lent and I--like a moron--gave up soda. For those of you who haven't met me, I'm a Coke Fiend. I love my little red soda cans. So giving that up and then running a convention where I can't eat meat on Friday and can't drink cold caffeinated beverages (I don't drink hot drinks, sorry) meant that my blood-sugar levels were going WEEE! at various points.
So, I did the smart thing, backed out and let people who had never played it get a shot. When I went upstairs to nap, I looked at my recently purchased book for Ex Arcana (now available in PDF and softcover on DriveThruRPG) I realized my name was listed in the Playtesters section. I'd forgotten outright that I played a game before, so that became a magnificent surprise. I also know that there will be other games, and now that I have the deck and the book and actually know what the hell is going on, I now have plans and ideas.
My convention, otherwise, was rather chilled out. After going to a few of the Double Exposure conventions this year, I feel like I know a sizeable chunk of the population by face if not by name. For someone whose social anxiety is practically a lifestyle choice, this is a relief. I got to talk to Ashley Zdeb, co-founder of Eschaton Media. Eschaton is responsible for Dystopia Rising, the Apocalyptic Boffer Larp that is now a widespread network throughout North America. It's my opinion that DR has helped to redefine how boffer larps could be played. We also talked about the amazing response to the Chronos Larp system, and how Ex Arcana is being received. I know several of the incoming games, and many of the homebrews that were put on (example: of the Six Chronos games: two were based on TRON and Neverwhere, respectively) show off the versatility of the system. We also talked about our shared background in the Mind's Eye Theater/White Wolf games.
I also got to see Sarah Lynne Bowman, editor of the Wyrdcon Companion and my Jungian Psychology in Larp Sempai. We didn't get down to sit and talk much, which was sad. We were too busy running around and doing our games. Sarah is an awesome human being and one of the people spearheading the academic backing of role playing games in all its forms. Also present, but I never got the chance to meet her, was Whitney 'Strix' Beltran, another researcher and expert in mythology. So there were arguably the two preeminent researchers into mythology and larp AND I COULDN'T FIND THE TIME TO TALK TO THEM.
One Day. Dammit.
Finally, friend of mine from Mind's Eye Society came to his first convention, in which he damned me for making him have fun and make new friends. I consider that a victory. He was a playtester for my Dresden game in June and now he got to play the same character in the official larp. I do believe he's hooked in, and is now a member of a group in the game that has some very large overarching plot. It's nice to have someone from my first and main source of gaming come into the new world I've come to enjoy, and then make them drink the cool-aid and want to come back for more.
it's all part of the job :D
Monday, February 16, 2015
The Heat of Combat
I'm co-opting my blog to discuss stuff from my work with New York Jedi. Don't worry, it's relevant to the larpers too. Our conversation was about characters and combat and how the latter needs the former. This is my thinking on the matter.
A fight is rarely just for the sake of fighting. There is always something about it going in, there's always a reason why people are fighting. The phrase 'just for the sake of fighting' doesn't apply because there is something that lead to that thinking. We aren't machines that are programmed just to hit things. We aren't NPCs meant to just stand there and knuckle up. We're Characters, the focus of our stories and the support of other stories. We have motivations, reasons, and methods.
And that's what fighting allows us to do. As a writer, it's always been my belief that fights are a ways to show character without having to say a word. When you're in a situation when something as important as someone's Life is on the line, you're going to see what people will pull out of their metaphorical bags. Even if you're a cold blooded murderer who is used to killing and shows no emotion, that's something that should show.
One of my pet peeves when watching fight choreography is when the fight is mechanically beautiful--the actors and stunt men are all on cue and all--and there is zero characterization going. My major target are the fight scenes in The Star Wars prequels. They are magnificently choreographed and rehearsed, and visually stimulating. However, if you look at the actors in their fight, there is nothing going on there. They are doing a rehearsed dance. There's no emotional content there...and yes, Jedi feel emotion they just aren't bound to it. It's one of the reasons I prefer the Luke vs Vader fights, because there's a game going on there in Empire. Vader is testing and toying with Luke. In Return of the Jedi, Luke is pissed and hauling away. You can cut to that scene, having never known anything about what was going on, and realizing that there are stakes in this fight.
In Revenge of the Sith, two guys take part in a protracted fight amongst a literal lava field. Zero feelings coming off them. The environment is what the emotion, and the only reason why we know there are stakes is because we've know where this fight ends.
The same thing happens in The Matrix films, especially the later one. The most grievous example for this is the Neo/Seraph fight. Here...watch this:
And that's it. There's nothing really telling us anything about these characters. There's nothing indicating in the fight itself (key word) that this was a test of character or judgment, which is what it is alluded to. It really just seems to be a fight for the sake of having a fight. As a geek who loves shiny things, it's visually appealing. As someone who sees this stuff as research, it's annoying. It feels like porn, where the plot is there only to justify the action...as it were.
You can have a brilliantly choreographed fight while still have character. One of my favorite fights is the Shu Lien vs Jen scene from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.:
In this fight, you're seeing raw talent and potential against training and experience. Jen, who is a young learner with a powerful sword, is arrogant in her power but can be seen wavering at times when Shu Lien tries something new. Shu Lien has experience with multiple weapons, but she's also clearly getting frustrated as the fight goes on. They don't seem to want to kill each other, if anything it looks like an argument they're having without saying a word.
Fights are tools to bring about dramatic tension. It either is the cause of the tension, or what breaks the tension. It's like a fever breaking, and once it does there is a level of release. Of Catharsis. A good fight in storytelling should bring about an emotional release. The people watching it should care that this fight happens, otherwise you're just there flapping your arms around and serving no one.
Which brings me to Larping. Yes, I hadn't forgotten you, my dear friends. As many of my friends in Mind's Eye Society will tell you is that I hate the combat system. A lot of work went into converting the tabletop rules for the White Wolf games into something that was more convenient for larp. Somewhere, though, it never really translated over. So, whenever combat scenes happened, people would go right back to tabletopping it out. That was never fun for me. We'd go from being these dramatic characters to suddenly playing what was essentially Pokemon with our sheets. That grinds a good RP flow to a halt and kills the mood for me. I've just handed STs my sheet with my information when we realize that the combat is going to last anywhere longer than ten minutes.
Combat only seems to work in Mind's Eye Society when the integrity of the setting is upheld. When I mean Setting in this instance, I mean the physical location your characters are occupying. This is done by making the space you as players are occupying as close an approximation as possible. This is difficult when you're a monthly game low on resources and moving from studio to studio, but with careful planning you can get creative.
One of my favorite combat scenes I ever took part of, I was an NPC, a group of three. The Vampires had us cornered for making them create more Vampires and then mindwiping everyone. The fight happened in a room next to where the main game was being played, so only the people in the fight were actually present. That gave us a whole room to move around in. There was only one exit: The door. The first thing the Vampires did was put someone against the door in case one of the NPCs made a run for it. And we did. There was movement, strategy and thinking that had to be played out relatively live (if somewhat drawn out). It was a lot more dynamic and a lot more dramatic then just sitting in a circle and waiting our turn to attack.
My favorite combat scene in MES that I've ran happened over a MacGuffin. There was a fight over a tape recording left by one of the Mage Leaders from twenty years ago. It had sensitive information for a lot of people. Conflicts arose and a fight broke out. Watching two Mages duke it out physically and magically while one tried to leave the room was refreshing.
Talking with a friend of mine during the writing of this, he made some valid points. The rules in World of Darkness games seem more intent on Killing than Fighting. There is also another point he made: In Larp Combat, it always seems to be a standing fight. No one tends to look for cover. This isn't Final Fantasy and we just stand there until our turns start. If there's a fight, I'm running for fucking cover.
Lately, I've been gravitating towards systems that promote more acting out the actions. I've lately been looking at Dresden Lives, which is currently testing out it's mechanics. The system has both Physical and Mental damage, meaning that there are more ways to deal with a person other than hitting them with a sword. There's also the matter that health pools are a lot less than most games. Death can happen fairly easily in these games. There's less incentive to jump in blindly as a player.
Then there is also the boffer larp games. I mean, there are the 'boffer monkeys' who just go out to hit things, but there's a sense of combat and urgency when you have to play it out. Part of me does notice the scrimmage line style of boffering, two groups meeting face to face like battles of old. I'd love to see more strategy, but then again I need to get out more and experience boffer larps better.
So the question becomes 'how do we make combat more interesting'. I have a few ideas, some are better for the stage, some for larps. All apply.
1) Show, don't tell.
As someone who likes writing grand epics about their characters, allow me to be the first person to say this: I don't really care to hear about your character background. Show me your character, make me want to ask questions.
2) God Mode Is Lazy
Having a character who can't be killed or otherwise defeated is lazy ass storytelling. It's lazy for the stage and it's lazy for larps. Where is the drama or the reward for putting your character through this? What is the incentive for someone to engage with you when the outcome is already known? Which brings me to...
3) A High Stakes Game
Fighting is rarely just for the sake of the fight, even nihilism is reason. People don't just fight each other. So what are the stakes in this fight? Is there a goal, an item, Fate of the City? Your life? What is the cost if you don't win on both a personal and grand scale level.
4) People are Watching
A fight for storytelling is also a fight infront of an audience. They need to be engaged. This is common stage combat 101. If your audience doesn't care, you're not doing something right. This works in larps too, the key is that your audience are also the other players, and the storytelling staff (if you aren't one yourself).
These things go counter to what I believe to be the common US conception of "I hit it with my axe". People sometimes play just to hit things. That's cool, but there's a growing population that enjoy the telling of their story. Fighting is one way to do that. It's one of the reasons I want to make a larp based around it in the form of a martial arts tournament. It's finding the balance between winning and playing that is the trick.
Later.
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
After Hours
This story is set in the Mind's Eye Society's Accord game, in which the various supernatural entities in the World of Darkness are working together in secret to combat an extra dimensional threat. My character, Rhys, is a Mage of Fate and Time who can speak to city's, in particular New York. This was a writing exercise to test his influences: his allies and contacts. How did he know them, how did their relationships work, what hooks did they have in him? All information in this story is Out of Character unless given permission by me or the Storyteller. All characters and actions are fictitious, no similarities intended. Hope you enjoy. - C
Quarter to four and the last song was singing sweetly into the club. I made it a slow one, a good one, to let the people come out of their adrenaline haze of dancing and partying. It was a signature song of mine to end off with.
Destiny turned her face
Nightmares and fallen shapes
State of dreaming has left me numb
Blue eyes and wandering lips
True lies with fingertips
Hidden tales of forbidden
Love...you left me miserable, miserable, miserable, miserable...
I finished my can of Coke, placing it next to its three other fallen comrades. It was my first gig as a DJ after the Halloween rush. I made it a policy to give myself a month or so off after having to play at so many places, and when I did go back to work, goth venues were off the list until well after the New Year. There is such a thing as overload, and I don't do music that I'm not in the mood to play. And ever since I started actually working with Dylis, Wolf Filth's music leaves a bitter taste in my mouth on the best of days.
Maybe we're just sleepwalkin'.
Maybe we're just sleepwalkin'...
The music faded away, like a dream. "And that's all there is to it tonight, folks. You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here." A call of jeers for the lame pun. "Suffer, mortals. I love you all, now go home and enjoy your hangovers."
Crowds dispersed, as they often did. I grabbed my gear, which thanks to this club actually having a stable DJs booth was merely my playlist laptop. I slapped on my back pack and started making my goodbyes.
"Rhys!"
A lanky man with long blonde hair and a face nearly as long came running up to me. "Rhys!" He repeated. His Scottish burr rolling my name, making it sound more like the traditional Rice and not the anglicized Reese that I preferred.
"Hi Alain," I said. I tried to match the man's enthusiasm. However, the set took it out of me and there was never really any way to match Alain's gleeful charm. "What's up?"
He smiled, he did that a lot. "Some of the guys wanted to know if you wanted to come hang with us. We're planning a ritual and thought you'd make a good match."
I shook my head, "Too pooped to pop." Alain and his buddies were part of the occult fringe. I'd been a part of their rituals before, which were essentially five person raves where they danced, fucked and smoked their ways into perpetual oblivion to alter their perceptions of reality, and therefore the waking world. I liked them, but my ritual orgy days faded when I got a boyfriend...at least until he gave permission.
Alain, clearly disappointed, nodded. "You still working on that book?"
That book was my treatise on urban magic. My blog, the small little thing on the occult as it manifests in cities, had some small following, mostly by people like Alain. "Dribs and drabs here, a few projects got in the way." I ignored the flash of memories of armies of dead things fighting each other on the behest of a bored little godling. "I'll let you know when I finish it."
"Cool," he said. "Oh, remember those guys who came by the pad a while back? The fringe CUT guys?" I nodded. "No one's been able to find them any where."
I resisted a smile. "Church probably got to them, then. Put them in the L. Ron Hubbard 5000 brainwasher and put them back to work." It was an easy lie. Much easier than 'my friends, a werewolf and a half-demon, ripped their faces off and closed off the tear in reality and sanity they opened up.' We don't tell these kinds of things to friends and loved ones.
The occultist laughed, "you know it. I'll tell you if I hear anything."
I nodded and watched my friend part. I repositioned my bag and moved over to the bar. "Whatever soda thing you have back there, I need the caffeine."
"Diet or regular?" the bartender asked.
I eyed him, "Do I look like I'm on a diet?"
He said nothing, and hit the draft for regular soda. I downed it, tasting the sugar and caffeine shoot through. "Ah," I said. "Gracias."
"House," he replied, shaking me off as I grabbed my wallet. "You don't drink much during sets. No point in hitting you up for the driver drinks."
"Appreciated," I said. A few of the bouncers moved in the corner of my eye. I followed them to a booth where a girl had been passed out. If she looked underage, that probably meant she was underage.
"You got a phone back there?" I asked the bartender. He produced a landline from behind the bar. Checking back, the bouncers were talking to the girl, who was answering their questions. Hopefully, her address would be one of them. I punched in the phone number of an old friend. "Hey Tom, it's Rhys. I got a girl here who needs a ride home. Can you get someone you can trust to get her there? I'll consider it pay back for the stick up a while ago."
A few minutes of negotiating with Tom and conferring with the bouncers, and the ride was secured for the disheveled young partygoer. I trusted Tom to not bring in someone who couldn't be trusted in handling the situation like a human being. I also trust him to know what would happen if I found out.
I left shortly after the car pulled away, the girl leaving a lot more relieved and a hell of a lot more sober than before. How did I know that she would be okay?
I asked, of course. Asking about the immediate future of a girl trying to get home was small, but it was important, at least for her and at the most for me.
As I stepped out in to the cold winter of New York City, I felt a sense of satisfaction that was only in part from me. Explaining my connection to the City is difficult. It's instinctive, the City throws you something and you need to make up your mind what that means. That the cab that took the girl hit every green light until they made the turn meant to me that it was going to be okay. If they hit a red light, it may mean nothing, may mean something. May mean everything. New York didn't spoon-feed answers, and it expected those who could speak to it not to be spoon fed.
I walked up through the Village, a part of the City that always felt at war with itself about remaining posh but never too posh. Like you wanted to be a part of it but couldn't, and in many ways shouldn't. My walk lead me into the more real residential spaces of Chelsea, the bars finally closing and the bartenders, bouncers and dancers all going to after hours clubs in some of the seedier holes in the ground. Some went home to sleep before they had to wake up for their second or third jobs.
My footsteps lead me into a diner. It was an older place that didn't even make the attempt to hide that it was a greasy spoon. Fluorescent lighting and too bright paint made it glaring against the orange hue of the streetlit exterior. I took a seat at the counter, noticing a group of brightly dressed people in a corner booth. A further look told me that they were brightly dressed, but barely dressed at that. Streetworkers on their lunch breaks.
They kept to themselves, and talked together. They looked like a private group. Considering what they did, that wasn't surprising. They were the only ones who knew the things they had to do and were expected of them. They were the only ones who shared in their pain.
As I waited for my pancakes, the door swung open. Four cops, in heavy winter coats, came walking in. The room got still, but not a still as the booth in the corner. The hookers kept their heads down, not even wanting to give probable cause to the police. The police, in turn, didn't seem to notice or care and took a booth in the front.
I didn't pay them much mind, I flipped on my headphones and started playing some music. My pancakes, runny with syrup, didn't last long. If I had my way, I'd have circled them from above and swooped down. I didn't do that, on the grounds that I didn't want to be kicked out of yet another diner.
With my food gone, I threw a few bills down on the counter. The waitress eyed me something fierce. It was clearly too much.
"Next round of coffee for that booth," I gestured to the cops. "And that booth," I gestured to the hookers. "Are on me." Somewhere, I sensed almost a dozen set of eyes hit the back of my neck. They knew I had just gestured about them. It wasn't that large of a diner.
The waitress eyed me, but took the money. I sat there, finishing the remains of a milk shake while blasting my music, while the waitress went off to do another coffee rounds. I kept my back to all of them, but kept my eyes in line to the door.
After a few minutes, the hookers filed out. Most of them looked to me for a second, as if they were waiting for me to say and do anything. When I didn't answer back, they slunk back out into the night. A little while later, the cops followed suit, nodding to me when they left.
I grabbed my things, and fished out another twenty for the tip. The waitress again eyed me. "Why?"
I shrugged, "We're all New Yorkers."
"That's not an answer." She said.
"It is." I said with a smile. "We're a part of this really great dream that is New York. A shining City where everyone and anything can happen. It's merciless, unforgiving, but also protective of its own. My job, or at least my hobby, is to try and help the City and the people in it."
"And a cup of coffee is supposed to help?" She asked.
I shrugged, "Does it hurt?"
She didn't answer that, she didn't have to. I smiled and walked out. No, it doesn't hurt. It felt good to help, to make the City a bit better. If some day those little bits of luck pay back, I'll take what I get. If not, I'll keep walking. Like the twenty I left on the counter. The blessing I put on it and the diner isn't much, will barely last a day. Maybe it will help out the waitress and maybe the waitress will remember me the next time I come by.
Lyrics from Sleepwalking, by the Chain Gang of 1974
Quarter to four and the last song was singing sweetly into the club. I made it a slow one, a good one, to let the people come out of their adrenaline haze of dancing and partying. It was a signature song of mine to end off with.
Destiny turned her face
Nightmares and fallen shapes
State of dreaming has left me numb
Blue eyes and wandering lips
True lies with fingertips
Hidden tales of forbidden
Love...you left me miserable, miserable, miserable, miserable...
I finished my can of Coke, placing it next to its three other fallen comrades. It was my first gig as a DJ after the Halloween rush. I made it a policy to give myself a month or so off after having to play at so many places, and when I did go back to work, goth venues were off the list until well after the New Year. There is such a thing as overload, and I don't do music that I'm not in the mood to play. And ever since I started actually working with Dylis, Wolf Filth's music leaves a bitter taste in my mouth on the best of days.
Maybe we're just sleepwalkin'.
Maybe we're just sleepwalkin'...
The music faded away, like a dream. "And that's all there is to it tonight, folks. You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here." A call of jeers for the lame pun. "Suffer, mortals. I love you all, now go home and enjoy your hangovers."
Crowds dispersed, as they often did. I grabbed my gear, which thanks to this club actually having a stable DJs booth was merely my playlist laptop. I slapped on my back pack and started making my goodbyes.
"Rhys!"
A lanky man with long blonde hair and a face nearly as long came running up to me. "Rhys!" He repeated. His Scottish burr rolling my name, making it sound more like the traditional Rice and not the anglicized Reese that I preferred.
"Hi Alain," I said. I tried to match the man's enthusiasm. However, the set took it out of me and there was never really any way to match Alain's gleeful charm. "What's up?"
He smiled, he did that a lot. "Some of the guys wanted to know if you wanted to come hang with us. We're planning a ritual and thought you'd make a good match."
I shook my head, "Too pooped to pop." Alain and his buddies were part of the occult fringe. I'd been a part of their rituals before, which were essentially five person raves where they danced, fucked and smoked their ways into perpetual oblivion to alter their perceptions of reality, and therefore the waking world. I liked them, but my ritual orgy days faded when I got a boyfriend...at least until he gave permission.
Alain, clearly disappointed, nodded. "You still working on that book?"
That book was my treatise on urban magic. My blog, the small little thing on the occult as it manifests in cities, had some small following, mostly by people like Alain. "Dribs and drabs here, a few projects got in the way." I ignored the flash of memories of armies of dead things fighting each other on the behest of a bored little godling. "I'll let you know when I finish it."
"Cool," he said. "Oh, remember those guys who came by the pad a while back? The fringe CUT guys?" I nodded. "No one's been able to find them any where."
I resisted a smile. "Church probably got to them, then. Put them in the L. Ron Hubbard 5000 brainwasher and put them back to work." It was an easy lie. Much easier than 'my friends, a werewolf and a half-demon, ripped their faces off and closed off the tear in reality and sanity they opened up.' We don't tell these kinds of things to friends and loved ones.
The occultist laughed, "you know it. I'll tell you if I hear anything."
I nodded and watched my friend part. I repositioned my bag and moved over to the bar. "Whatever soda thing you have back there, I need the caffeine."
"Diet or regular?" the bartender asked.
I eyed him, "Do I look like I'm on a diet?"
He said nothing, and hit the draft for regular soda. I downed it, tasting the sugar and caffeine shoot through. "Ah," I said. "Gracias."
"House," he replied, shaking me off as I grabbed my wallet. "You don't drink much during sets. No point in hitting you up for the driver drinks."
"Appreciated," I said. A few of the bouncers moved in the corner of my eye. I followed them to a booth where a girl had been passed out. If she looked underage, that probably meant she was underage.
"You got a phone back there?" I asked the bartender. He produced a landline from behind the bar. Checking back, the bouncers were talking to the girl, who was answering their questions. Hopefully, her address would be one of them. I punched in the phone number of an old friend. "Hey Tom, it's Rhys. I got a girl here who needs a ride home. Can you get someone you can trust to get her there? I'll consider it pay back for the stick up a while ago."
A few minutes of negotiating with Tom and conferring with the bouncers, and the ride was secured for the disheveled young partygoer. I trusted Tom to not bring in someone who couldn't be trusted in handling the situation like a human being. I also trust him to know what would happen if I found out.
I left shortly after the car pulled away, the girl leaving a lot more relieved and a hell of a lot more sober than before. How did I know that she would be okay?
I asked, of course. Asking about the immediate future of a girl trying to get home was small, but it was important, at least for her and at the most for me.
As I stepped out in to the cold winter of New York City, I felt a sense of satisfaction that was only in part from me. Explaining my connection to the City is difficult. It's instinctive, the City throws you something and you need to make up your mind what that means. That the cab that took the girl hit every green light until they made the turn meant to me that it was going to be okay. If they hit a red light, it may mean nothing, may mean something. May mean everything. New York didn't spoon-feed answers, and it expected those who could speak to it not to be spoon fed.
I walked up through the Village, a part of the City that always felt at war with itself about remaining posh but never too posh. Like you wanted to be a part of it but couldn't, and in many ways shouldn't. My walk lead me into the more real residential spaces of Chelsea, the bars finally closing and the bartenders, bouncers and dancers all going to after hours clubs in some of the seedier holes in the ground. Some went home to sleep before they had to wake up for their second or third jobs.
My footsteps lead me into a diner. It was an older place that didn't even make the attempt to hide that it was a greasy spoon. Fluorescent lighting and too bright paint made it glaring against the orange hue of the streetlit exterior. I took a seat at the counter, noticing a group of brightly dressed people in a corner booth. A further look told me that they were brightly dressed, but barely dressed at that. Streetworkers on their lunch breaks.
They kept to themselves, and talked together. They looked like a private group. Considering what they did, that wasn't surprising. They were the only ones who knew the things they had to do and were expected of them. They were the only ones who shared in their pain.
As I waited for my pancakes, the door swung open. Four cops, in heavy winter coats, came walking in. The room got still, but not a still as the booth in the corner. The hookers kept their heads down, not even wanting to give probable cause to the police. The police, in turn, didn't seem to notice or care and took a booth in the front.
I didn't pay them much mind, I flipped on my headphones and started playing some music. My pancakes, runny with syrup, didn't last long. If I had my way, I'd have circled them from above and swooped down. I didn't do that, on the grounds that I didn't want to be kicked out of yet another diner.
With my food gone, I threw a few bills down on the counter. The waitress eyed me something fierce. It was clearly too much.
"Next round of coffee for that booth," I gestured to the cops. "And that booth," I gestured to the hookers. "Are on me." Somewhere, I sensed almost a dozen set of eyes hit the back of my neck. They knew I had just gestured about them. It wasn't that large of a diner.
The waitress eyed me, but took the money. I sat there, finishing the remains of a milk shake while blasting my music, while the waitress went off to do another coffee rounds. I kept my back to all of them, but kept my eyes in line to the door.
After a few minutes, the hookers filed out. Most of them looked to me for a second, as if they were waiting for me to say and do anything. When I didn't answer back, they slunk back out into the night. A little while later, the cops followed suit, nodding to me when they left.
I grabbed my things, and fished out another twenty for the tip. The waitress again eyed me. "Why?"
I shrugged, "We're all New Yorkers."
"That's not an answer." She said.
"It is." I said with a smile. "We're a part of this really great dream that is New York. A shining City where everyone and anything can happen. It's merciless, unforgiving, but also protective of its own. My job, or at least my hobby, is to try and help the City and the people in it."
"And a cup of coffee is supposed to help?" She asked.
I shrugged, "Does it hurt?"
She didn't answer that, she didn't have to. I smiled and walked out. No, it doesn't hurt. It felt good to help, to make the City a bit better. If some day those little bits of luck pay back, I'll take what I get. If not, I'll keep walking. Like the twenty I left on the counter. The blessing I put on it and the diner isn't much, will barely last a day. Maybe it will help out the waitress and maybe the waitress will remember me the next time I come by.
Lyrics from Sleepwalking, by the Chain Gang of 1974
Friday, December 19, 2014
Wyrdcon Companion 2014
Hey guys, I know I've been pretty silent the past two months. Life got really crazy. Of such life-crazy making things is that I've been writing fiction for a website called Enigma Life, a website that caters to those who enjoy art, culture and mystery. So far one story, based on David and Goliath, has been published on their site and another is in the works! So yeah, I'm getting published. I've found writing works better when someone offers to pay you for it. Maybe if people start throwing cash my way, I can finish that goddamned novel I've been working on!
This week marks the 2014 release of the Wyrdcon Companion, an annual academic journal dedicated to role play in its various forms. Last year I got to meet the large core of the editors behind Wyrdcon's yearly journal at the Living Games Conference, namely Aaron Vanek and Sarah Lynne Bowman, both of whom are amazing human beings. During the conference, I got to have a really indepth sit down with Sarah, which included everything from discussions on Carl Jung, academia on the whole, and a shared love/hate relationship with certain theater larp games. In short, if I ever have a spirit journey, the form my guide will take will probably be Sarah...or she'll just show up herself.
During these conversations, I got into the discussion of one of my favorite topics: Mythology. I've loved myths ever since I was a kid. We had talked about larping and how we as regular (well, nominally regular) people are creating myths on a regular basis. I had written about it previously...almost two years ago...jesus. So one thought lead to another and with some heavy prompting by both Sarah and Shoshana Kessock, I started writing Playing In Myth for the Companion.
I had used my previous article as the inspiration, but other than that the paper was it's own creature. A lot of the writing was based on Mythic Imagination, a book written by Joseph Campbell's student, Steven Larsen. Larsen, during his studies of humans creating personal myths for themselves in contemporary times, actually visited and talked to an early 90's larp group about their experiences and what goes in to making their world and the experiences their characters and players go through. I read through the entire book and said "this makes perfect sense and...holy crap, he outright sees larping as a tool of mythmaking, and mythmaking as a tool of developing human psyches".
Now, for those of you who don't know me, allow me to confess something: I hate, with a violent passion, academic papers. I hate them on such a deepseated level that there is a chance my children will have a hatred of them instilled, and so will their children and so on and so forth. Research papers are so effing dry and inanely put together that the only people who can read them are the people who wrote them. It doesn't help that my style of writing, which is so much built on narrative, is anathema to research papers. I have been told, at three different schools, by three different professors for three different projects, that I have a wonderful narrative voice...which is why my paper assignments failed.
So, with that in mind, working on this article for Wyrdcon represented a challenge. My work wasn't going to be peer-reviewed (ie; viciously circled by academics and picked apart to make sure it was accurate in it's measurments) which is a major relief because Sarah and Whitney Beltran are the leading voices for mythology/Jungian aspects in role play and I did not wish to be under the microscope on my first time out. Sarah helped me out along the way, up to and including walking me through places where my biggest weakness: passive voice, kept cropping up. My friend, Sara (yes, this did get confusing) helped be my sounding board and editor for this when I needed it.
Now, it's published, and I'm looking at the document right now and it's surreal seeing words I wrote in a journal I've been reading for two years now. The hell do I do with this?
Celebrate, that's what I'm going to do.
Reading through the document itself, I gravitated straight away to Kevin Burns article on Larp and Psychotherapy. He touched a lot of points that I've experienced myself and also hit some of my favorite theories and practices I picked up in internship. Also, Pete Woodworth's discussion on the subculture of misogyny that has become inflamed in gaming. He speaks to his fellow male gamers eloquently and with experience...which I am grateful for, because every time I try to write something on the subject, I keep devolving into this.
In the end, I don't know where this will take me. I have another idea for next year's journal. Right now, this is tremendous moment for me personally, and I'm just going to celebrate it.
Later,
C
The Wyrdcon Companion Page, including all released copies in .pdf format.
This week marks the 2014 release of the Wyrdcon Companion, an annual academic journal dedicated to role play in its various forms. Last year I got to meet the large core of the editors behind Wyrdcon's yearly journal at the Living Games Conference, namely Aaron Vanek and Sarah Lynne Bowman, both of whom are amazing human beings. During the conference, I got to have a really indepth sit down with Sarah, which included everything from discussions on Carl Jung, academia on the whole, and a shared love/hate relationship with certain theater larp games. In short, if I ever have a spirit journey, the form my guide will take will probably be Sarah...or she'll just show up herself.
During these conversations, I got into the discussion of one of my favorite topics: Mythology. I've loved myths ever since I was a kid. We had talked about larping and how we as regular (well, nominally regular) people are creating myths on a regular basis. I had written about it previously...almost two years ago...jesus. So one thought lead to another and with some heavy prompting by both Sarah and Shoshana Kessock, I started writing Playing In Myth for the Companion.
I had used my previous article as the inspiration, but other than that the paper was it's own creature. A lot of the writing was based on Mythic Imagination, a book written by Joseph Campbell's student, Steven Larsen. Larsen, during his studies of humans creating personal myths for themselves in contemporary times, actually visited and talked to an early 90's larp group about their experiences and what goes in to making their world and the experiences their characters and players go through. I read through the entire book and said "this makes perfect sense and...holy crap, he outright sees larping as a tool of mythmaking, and mythmaking as a tool of developing human psyches".
Now, for those of you who don't know me, allow me to confess something: I hate, with a violent passion, academic papers. I hate them on such a deepseated level that there is a chance my children will have a hatred of them instilled, and so will their children and so on and so forth. Research papers are so effing dry and inanely put together that the only people who can read them are the people who wrote them. It doesn't help that my style of writing, which is so much built on narrative, is anathema to research papers. I have been told, at three different schools, by three different professors for three different projects, that I have a wonderful narrative voice...which is why my paper assignments failed.
So, with that in mind, working on this article for Wyrdcon represented a challenge. My work wasn't going to be peer-reviewed (ie; viciously circled by academics and picked apart to make sure it was accurate in it's measurments) which is a major relief because Sarah and Whitney Beltran are the leading voices for mythology/Jungian aspects in role play and I did not wish to be under the microscope on my first time out. Sarah helped me out along the way, up to and including walking me through places where my biggest weakness: passive voice, kept cropping up. My friend, Sara (yes, this did get confusing) helped be my sounding board and editor for this when I needed it.
Now, it's published, and I'm looking at the document right now and it's surreal seeing words I wrote in a journal I've been reading for two years now. The hell do I do with this?
Celebrate, that's what I'm going to do.
Reading through the document itself, I gravitated straight away to Kevin Burns article on Larp and Psychotherapy. He touched a lot of points that I've experienced myself and also hit some of my favorite theories and practices I picked up in internship. Also, Pete Woodworth's discussion on the subculture of misogyny that has become inflamed in gaming. He speaks to his fellow male gamers eloquently and with experience...which I am grateful for, because every time I try to write something on the subject, I keep devolving into this.
In the end, I don't know where this will take me. I have another idea for next year's journal. Right now, this is tremendous moment for me personally, and I'm just going to celebrate it.
Later,
C
The Wyrdcon Companion Page, including all released copies in .pdf format.
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