Endy's RPG Stuff

Last week I quickly discussed how to read novels like a GM, i.e. what to pull from them. I will admit freely – this post is late, and will be far later than is comfortable for me. But I’m going to go over that which actually inspired this series.

Text-Based Roleplaying
Some of you may look down on those of us who supplement our tabletop gaming with online, freeform roleplaying. That in itself is something to be discussed, but I will accept that the two skillsets are complementary but distinct. But either way, each game has its own character sheet, just as with a tabletop game. Most of the time, these require histories – ranging from drastically short to overly long. So what can we take from this?

These players hand you backstories. Think about that, then look back at AD&D, and another topic I’ve discussed, Robin’s “Laws”. Most of what you will see there are the kind of player who are involved for the ‘kick’ of beating enemies. But to be able to transition from that to players with an emotional investment in their character as an individual is a great thing.

Look for ideas like:

• Relations (great for kidnappings and/or murders)
• Family Heirlooms (Awesome things to destroy or steal)
• Vanity (Consider having them outclassed, or caught in a fight and have their “beauty” destroyed)
• Past loved ones (They just handed you a villain on a silver platter)
• And lastly, Childhood Friends – these have great potential.

As with the last one, this is a short list of pointers. I’ll see you next week.

I admit it – I roleplay on various fora online, as well as around a table. I’ve got three different types of material that I have been reading, where I’ve been noticing that I truly do read like a GM. I wonder if you do too.
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Okay, I need comments here. You’ve seen the change between Recent Posts and the Dropdown Archive. Which do you prefer?

Alright, this follows directly from a comment made on my 1/13 post, which was in response to rereading Robin’s Laws and This post on Misterecho’s “Blog of a New RPGer”.
That comment and a lot more under this link!

Alright, I finally got to play Warhammer Fantasy 3rd edition. The GM was awesome. The party is great (though I will admit, I came on a bit strong and they think I’m evil – but that’s cool). I can’t say anything negative about the people involved, or the way the story has evolved. But the mechanical system of the game, I don’t particularly like. I’ll elaborate on why under the more tag.
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Hey, any of you all out there like Cyberpunk? Well, over on new2rpg http://new2rpg.wordpress.com/ and the 1KM1KT forum, Misterecho is running a Cyberpunk revival contest. I suggest you all get involved, if you can.
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This is sort of a random post, I’ll admit it. But I am joining a game this weekend, and since I know I have some people out there who pay attention to me, I’d like to know other people’s opinions on a subject that’s drawn some interest.
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I have been reading through Robin’s Laws of Good Game Mastering again. I’m not sure exactly how to feel about the book. Firstly, I have run several games for both new and experienced roleplayers. Everyone involved has said that I run the game effectively for them. But I’ve always wanted more, without understanding what that more might be. Sometimes it’s something like being able to be a player. Sometimes it’s being able to sit back and let the players write the adventure, as seen here: The Dirty Dungeon. Sometimes it’s just knowing what to do, when I’m lost and confused about what the players even want and they can’t communicate it to me – and then what happens is that Cool Hand Luke quote comes to mind: “What we got here is failure to communicate. Some men, you just can’t reach.”

But I (and I think most GMS) keep asking, why? Why can I not reach them? So out comes this book from Robin Laws. Robin’s Laws of Good Gamemastering. Right from the gate it’s comforting, the image on the cover is reminiscent of a dungeon crawl. It gives us the idea that there is one answer to everything. Something that instinctive GMs grab onto like bulldogs. The third page calls out to the leader in us – the idea that the game rests on our shoulders, without realizing one thing: That question of “What would be the most entertaining thing that could possibly happen, right now?” is answered by, “Ask the players.” It’s a scary notion. You want to be in control. You just got it, you don’t want to give it back. But there it is.

The book mixes advice we all know, with comforting platitudes for our souls.

All in all, it’s a good thing to have nearby. But it’s nowhere near the gospel that everyone at one point made it out to be. I will be pointing out pieces of this work as the weeks go on – sort of another fallback for me to use in case of a lack of inspiration.

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Also, don’t forget that Dyson Logos is still chugging along at a faster pace than I could dream of. And he pointed out RetroRoleplaying’s Blog as a point of interest for people who still enjoy the original D&D. I never got into this game, and I actually prefer new games than that, like the Marvel Super Heroes Advanced Set. Logos’ Friday Maps are amazing as usual, and using Thuffir IronHelm as a base character allows him to show off the point of this project – how each game relates to one another.

The Blog of a New RPGer is going strong, and I think anyone who’s here should go read there too.

Okay. That’s all from me for today. Any new blogs I should know about? Email me at PPLGoldblatt @ Yahoo.com (remove spaces)
Anything else? Comment it.

Well, it’s not actually my post. It’s something I read somewhere else that you all should be aware of. I know that a part of my development hell, and a part of why I may not always like some games, is because of an equilibrium between the dependable old setups and newer untested methods.

Go take a look at The Society of Torch, Pole, and Rope.

Okay, everyone. We all know I just missed two posts. I, like everyone else, was busy with the holidays, and I hadn’t built up a backlog of posts like the surprisingly slow Free RPG Blog. However, Mr. Lang has been busy lately and dealing with one’s offspring comes before RPGs in every particular, so I cannot blame him. Plus, he gave us a nice New Years’ treat: all of the games reviewed in 2009, organized by category. You can find it here:
http://www.thefreerpgblog.com/2009/12/become-expert-in-free-rpgs-2009-in-free.html.

That’s 29 games reviewed. About half the year’s worth of posts were of games, the others were helpful guides for all of us out there online.

My own progress has been slow and tedious. I almost created a 24-hour Wuxia RPG and now have been working on it over a month. It will not sit in development hell like the other two projects, Star TreX and Pokemon. I give you my word on that!

Alright. That’s all for now, I will be back with a post at latest on 1/13. Haven’t decided what it’ll be yet.