Player Versus Story

As mentioned in a previous post, I am working on a game I can run at conventions this year. It got me thinking about story/game content versus what players want. I have been putting together my own stories almost since I started playing this game. I guess, as a writer, I enjoy creating worlds and watching people play in them.

Don't get me wrong. I do like published games. They are nice jump off spots or fillers. I am just not a fan of full campaigns that are pre-published. I feel they are too restrictive. Maybe that is just because I tend to run for players that like to think outside of the box. I remember running my first published game. I was completely unprepared for where my players took the story.

However, I have played in GM crafted games where the ability to get outside of the box is not possible. They thwart any attempt to go outside of the parameters of their story. This is such a boring approach to gaming for me.

GM: "You are in a square room. Each wall contains a door. What do you do?"

Players: "Try a door."

GM: "Which one?"

Players: pointing at the map "Umm, this one."

GM: "It is locked"

Players: "Split up, Fighter, try the doors. Rogue check for traps and lock mechanisms. The rest of us canvas and look for keys"

GM: "The fighter finds that all of them are locked except this one." points at the map. "Your search reveals no keys or other contraptions for unlocking the other doors."

Rogue Player: "I attempt to pick the lock of this one" points at map

GM: "After several attempts, you are unable to properly pick the lock"

Players: "Clearly there is something cool behind these other doors, but apparently he," points at the GM, "wants us to go here."

I suppose for some people, this type of game is appealing. I don't think I have ever met these people. But my guess is that they do exist somewhere in the known universe.

There will be times when the GM does have to rope the players back into the "reality" of the story so that they don't go off of the deep end. However, the way that your players react to a situation can give you insight into the kind of story they want to play in. In fact, this is how I tend to use published material. Use it as a starting point and see how the characters react. What story elements do they gravitate towards? What NPCs seems most interesting to them? What story are they telling amongst themselves about who they are and where they want to go? From there, I can use these ideas to plot further down the line.

I try not to plan too far out. A couple of chapters fully scene-ed with notes for where I think it is going or what elements I would like to bring to the table. Players are fickle. And the last thing I want to do is spend all my free time between games crafting story elements that will never see play. Or writing the whole story based solely on how they react/play during the first couple of "chapters."

This is again where I vary from some folks I have played with. I have been in the game where the GM has spent a great deal of time crafting what they feel is an amazing story. And when you first start playing, you groove with the style. As your character grows and develops, the story has less and less to do with where you are going in life. But you are trapped in it. I have even suggested downtime things that my player would be interested in and been ignored as it is not part of the story they want to tell. I probably should have left the game at that point. But I liked the people so I tolerated it.

What all of this comes down to is really just some advice. If you are a GM, do not buy into the idea that you are god. You may have spent quite a bit of you time refining your story. But remember, that the characters are driven by intelligent people. They will grow and develop just like real people and what was fun for them at the start may not be where they are now. Don't force your story on your players. Let it grow and develop with them. It will be more enjoyable for both of you in the end.

How Gaming Is Helping Me

Lately, I have been thinking of resurrecting my ideas of a Mage: the Ascension game. The urge to craft a story and run it for some folks has been building up since MisCon. Unfortunately, I do not currently have a game group. My former group of players split up a year or so ago. However, my lack of players has not qwelled my interest in putting together a game.

There will be opportunities to run it, I suppose. Right now, I am crafting a one-shot game to kick the story off. I suppose I could run it at one of the game days here in Missoula or take it with me to the Great Falls Gaming Rendezvous. This seems like an easy solution to my current desire. However, it will require me to get over my unfortunate stage fright.

I mentioned in a previous post that I have developed a certain level of anxiety when it comes to gaming. I am rather amazed that I haven’t given up on the hobby because of it. But I suppose I am a glutton for punishment. However, at the heart of this is an absolute fear of playing with people I don’t know. I don’t know how they are going to act or react to me and I feel them judging everything that I do. Often, it drives out the very soul of my character and replaces it with a rudimentary artificial intelligence that is only capable of rolling dice.

Thankfully, this year at MisCon, I finally pushed myself outside of my comfort zone and played in a game ran by a dear friend. Prior to the convention, I had played a test version of one of the games he ran over the weekend. This was helpful as I had a couple of people from my old gaming group along with two people that I know, but have never played with. It was like playing with a safety blanket. At the convention, I played with four people I have never met before. The only one I knew in the room was the GM.

I will admit now that the entire time we gamed my palms were sweaty and my heart was fluttering with nervousness. But I pushed that aside and had fun. Of course, it was easy in that game. I was Peter Pan. And I had one mission. Find Tinkerbell and rescue her. There was a bit of in-character wimpering for my fairy and calling out her name. I rushed into danger headlong. I flew about using my fairy dust. And ultimately, by the end of it, I didn’t feel judged. I felt that we all had a rather fun time.

Those few hours as Peter started something inside me. If I could push aside my anxiety as a player, could I do the same as a GM? Could I put together a story that would entertain the players and allow them to focus on the game and not on the person running it? I think I can. And to that end, I am going to be focusing on putting together a game and testing it out. Maybe one will lead to another and another. Who knew gaming could help a person deal with social anxiety?

Love Bites

I haven't written anything the last couple of days. I have been spending some time watching True Blood. I watched the first season after it came out on DVD. After that, I tried to rent the second season through Netflix, but they kept sending the discs in the wrong order. I finally gave up trying. However, now that I subscribe to HBO, I have access to their streaming service and can catch up on the episodes I have missed.

Watching it reminded me just how much I love a good vampire story. I have to get this off of my chest. I love vampires. I have for as long as I can remember. Something about them is just so damn seductive. They just pull me in and I want more and more.

I suppose it was this draw to vampires in general that got me addicted to one of my favorite game systems of all time. The World of Darkness system and setting from White Wolf. I have posted before that I had quite a library of these books before I left Helena. And thankfully, I have gained them back and more over the last year or so. In addition, a good friend purchased me the 20th anniversary Collector's Edition of the Vampire: the Masquerade book that came out last October.

Now, I will admit that I have come to love many of the vampire shows that are marketed towards teenage girls. Some may say that this is because I am, deep down inside, a teenage girl. Hell, I have even said this a time or two. And my love for these shows has often earned me inglorious snickers from my friends.

However, here is a list of my vampire pleasures:

Vampire: the Masquerade - First time I played in a World of Darkness game and several games since.  

Once Bitten - I love Jim Carey in this

True Blood - So many pieces of eye candy in this show.

Kindred the Embraced - I wish this show would have lasted longer.

The Vampire Diaries - I shouldn't like this, but I do and can not wait for the newest season to be up on Netflix streaming.  

Dracula - 1992 film adaptation. Gary Oldman is amazing in everything he acts in.

Forever Knight - I remember staying up late on school nights to watch this show.  

Being Human - I do prefer the BBC version. However the American version is tolerable

Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Joss Whedon is a god and this show proves it.

Angel - See above

Blade trilogy - Ok, yes he is a hunter. But damn it, he is a daywalker. So he is PART vampire.

Moonlight - Caught a couple episodes while it was on the air. Picked up the others after it was over.

Nosferatu - 1922 classic

The Vampire Chronicles - Anne Rice is the Queen of vampires.

Interview with the Vampire - While I detest Tom Cruise in this movie, I do love Brad Pitt and Antonio Banderas.

Queen of the Damned - Not nearly as good as the books, but I still love it and has some amazing music.

Lost Boys - First time I watched this was during YMCA day camp one summer.

Twilight - I cannot stand the books. However, the movies are entertaining if you get past the sparkles.

The Fine Line

One of the hardest parts of crafting a great tale is not showing your hand too soon. It doesn’t matter whether you are writing a great game, novel, movie, comic, etc. You must seamlessly detail people, places, things or events that will be of importance later with the things that are utterly trivial. You need to bring appropriate attention to it without grabbing a big yellow highlighter and circling it and writing “For Use Later” above it.

That was one of my problems with the most recent member of the Alien franchise. Prometheus fell into this pit early on. The use of the “dark liquid” at the beginning foreshadowed that it would appear again, later in the movie. Almost everything to do with Ms. Vicker’s life raft was contrived. From the fact that it was essentially another ship capable of providing everything that she may need to the convenient medical pod that was contained within it. Every one of these things was presented with dialog that might have well been a big yellow highlighter.

However, I suppose this is really no different than other ham-handed approaches in storytelling. It sort of makes me think of Star Trek. We all knew if they wore a red shirt and had no first name (or even referenced as anything other than their rank) that they were doomed to die. They should have worn florescent yellow shirts and had text floating about them that said “I’m a goner.”

I suppose that was one of the reasons I started to like the Game of Thrones series. I say series as I haven’t read the books yet. They seemed a bit voluminous for me. However, other than to cast fairly handsome people in roles that are important, you don’t necessarily see all of the twists and turns. You get attached to a strong character. Due to our understanding of good writing, we feel that “the good guys” or protagonists or main character are immune to death. It is through them that we experience the story.

Unfortunately, Mr. Martin does not subscribe to conventional storytelling tropes. While this is perfect for seamlessly blending the important plot points with simple facts that expand the world, it does make it difficult to truly become immersed in the story. Sure, you get to find out the story based on the point of view of this character or that. But do not get too close. The character will meet an end of some sort that will force you to pick a new favorite.

I mentioned that I started to like the series. I finished the second season and will likely watch whatever else is produced. However, it lost my full attention. At this point, the only characters I can stand are Arya Stark and Tyrion Lannister. However, I fear not actually like them too much. If I do, they will die as did the other characters that I enjoyed.

While his method of storytelling does seem more realistic, there is a reason that we enjoy tales of good versus evil. We like to know, that even in face of the worst pains and obstacles, they will overcome. We want there to be a silver lining in the cloud. We want to know that things will get better. And that we, through the character, can triumph. It gives us hope and reminds us that no matter how shitty today is, there is always tomorrow and the promise that it can be a better day. I guess I am a fool for wanting there to be a big yellow highlighter that circles the good guys and write about it “They Will Live.”

Things Return in Spades

I am sure I am not alone when I say I have been forced to get rid of some of my gaming habits over the years. Sometimes it has been to make room for other gaming habits. Other times it has been to get money to live. Parting with things has always been hard for me. Books and cards are like old friends that I want to keep around but just can’t.

Prior to leaving Helena, I had to get rid of cards for a game I played back in High School. It was an old TCG based on Highlander. You may notice as I continue to post that I have a thing for Highlander. I own all of the seasons of the TV show in one format or another. And I have a Director’s Cut of the original film. Anyways, when the card game came out, I spent much of my free money (which was a bit at the time) on cards. I had a huge collection including hard-to-get promo cards. The company that produced it went out of business some time ago, so there hasn’t been anything new released in a while. After a while, the group that I played with ultimately stopped playing and changed back to Magic. A dear friend said that he was willing to take the collection as he was trying to keep the game alive with a few of his friends. I let them go as they were just taking up space in my little apartment.

When I got to Missoula, I again had to make peace with getting rid of some books. For the angst-y part of my teenage years, I became quite fond of World of Darkness (old school not the new stuff). Primarily I played Vampire: the Masquerade but also had most of the Werewolf: the Apolcalypse and Mage: the Ascension books. Thankfully, Andy at Gallant games understood what it meant to be in dire need of cash. I moved here with enough money to pay for gas in the vehicles it took to haul my stuff from Helena. What I could make from my books had to go to feeding me until I got a job and became a bit more stable. He bought them all.

So a year or so ago, a friend on the MisCon Committee said that he needed to get rid of some old World of Darkness books. He was no longer using them and they were just taking up space. At the time, I had gotten a jones-ing to play the games of my youth again and was trying to put together a workable library. While I could easily have reacquired the entire library in digital form via various torrent sites, I would rather have the hard copies while I work on game bits. So he brought them to a meeting and the moment I laid eyes on them I beamed. I was looking at my old friends. Not all of them. But many of the books he had brought were the ones I had parted with several years before. He confirmed my suspicion that he had acquired them as used books from Gallant Games. A couple of months later, a friend from Helena said that he had lost his storage space and asked if I knew anyone who was interested in a bunch of World of Darkness books. I said that I would be glad to take them off of his hands. I know have all of the books that I had before moving here plus several more.

Just a few minutes ago, I returned from reacquiring my old Highlander cards. It turns out that the friend that I had turned them over to had given them to a mutual friend. I had posted a couple times on Facebook how much I missed playing the game and the new owner said that he had them. After talking to him for a bit he agreed to part ways with them. In addition to the cards I had, I have acquired hundreds more. I now have enough to make several good decks to play with friends and reminisce about times long past.

I suppose this is like geek karma. Put good things out into the geek world and the geek world will return three fold. My suggestions for all geeks, keep putting out good karma and it will return.

And Now, A Musical Interlude

One of the many panels I wish I could have made it to at MisCon this year was on music during games. I would have loved to hear what other people think. I for one am a big fan of music in general. Might be why I was in choir from the time I was 8 until I graduated from High School. Or it could be that I wrote my first piece of music when I was 4 years old. Who knows?

Music has the ability to evoke so many subtle emotions. I have had to be careful of the tunes I put on in the car. Happy joyful music I can sing along to – no problem. Music that makes me rage and I am speeding and passing people left and right.

Before I go too far, I should explain that my games of choice at the moment are Shadowrun, D&D 3.5 (I still haven’t played Pathfinder), and anything from the old World of Darkness line. I am also in a Call of Cthulhu game as a player (a rare treat). These games have been my mainstays for quite a while. I would love to branch out more so that I can experience more systems and be a bit better-rounded as a gamer.

I love how music can help shape a game session. In my opinion, music can have a stronger impact on the game then maps, minis, or pictures. Especially if you can time it well. Of course, the problem I have seen is that certain tracks are selected and they simply play on random/repeat. After a while it reminds me of the music they pipe into WalMart, where you know there are other songs but your mind only grabs on to one or two. It becomes monotonous and ultimately gets boring and has little impact on the overall game.

I have had the chance to GM a game where I had a little more control on the tunes while we played. This can be difficult to do, depending on your set up. They way that I set it up, was having some general music to just represent street noise and the “white noise” within the game. We were playing Shadowrun, so this consisted of mundane techno beats that weren’t too hard or too mellow. Then I had a playlist that was specifically Hard/Fast to tune to when action picked up. I could then change back when they got back to mundane actions.  The players seemed to appreciate it and I loved watching their body language change when the music did.

Of course, finding the right music is important to the whole process too. I can only handle so much Midnight Syndicate while I play D&D (or any other game for that matter). During my last Werewolf Chronicle, I had a DJ friend throw together a set that was grimy and really had the feel of the overall story I was going for. Each of my players got a copy as part of playing in the game. However, I don’t know that having a professional DJ whip up all of your music is necessarily the best way for everyone. And I am not sure that I could resort to that every time.
The following are bands/songs/or musical works that are my go-to when it comes to background music:

Loreena McKennitt – Her music has found its way into high fantasy games as well as urban fairy tales. She is easy to have the volume low and just feel the spirit of it. Also use it when I am working on story content for games.

E Nomine – I can only blame my friend Josh for this one. I love the gritty sound that the German gives the music. I think there is some power to the fact that most of it is just spoken over electronic music. This one definitely gets into Vampire/Werewolf or a Dark Fae game as well as gritty Shadowrun. It doesn’t flow as well with high fantasy, although it could have its place. This is another go to when writing.

Carmina Burena – This can and has found its way into many games. The first time I heard O, Fortuna was while watching Excalibur and I can never really get that out of my head.

Night on Bald Mountain – Need I say more? I love the dark feel of it. The sequence of Fantasia still freaks me out a little.

Midnight Syndicate – Yes, I stated earlier that sometimes they can be overused. However, they are still a good fallback for “mood music”

Vision – The Music of Hildegard Von Bingen. Actually listening to this as I write this blog. Along with most Gregorian style chant, I love the power this type of music has. Perhaps a throwback to when I was looking to join a monastery.  I have used these in fantasy games as well as Mage:  the Ascension stories.

Enya – Similar to Loreena, I can seem to find a place for her music in almost any sort of game.

Enigma – See above. I know this is cliché, but I love the music.

DJ HAuLi – Have to give a shout out to my DJ buddy that was willing to throw together a set for me.

Nature Tracks – Various CDs of natural noises. I used a few wolf howl CDs for my Werewolf game. These can also be used in a high fantasy game for forest noises.

What are your go-to tracks/bands/etc for gaming? Do you even use music in your game? Tell us about it in the comments below.

Rebellion and Family Bonding

My mother was convinced that Dungeons and Dragons was a form of devil worship. She didn’t want me to have anything to do with it. I couldn’t really grasp why she was so against this game. She didn’t know anyone personally that played, so she didn’t have any experience in how playing a Dwarven warrior would conjure demons that would devour my soul. So what did I do? The only thing a teenager can do. Rebel against my mother.

I was first introduced to D&D when I was in the 6^th grade. A kid in one of my classes, who was also the son of one of the Deacon’s at church, introduced me. How demonic could it be if he was allowed to play it? He would tell me about the wonderful worlds that he and his friends created in their own imaginations. He told me about sinister overlords and the mighty heroes that could defeat them. And one day, during a study break, he busted out his books and helped me make my first character. I was such an idiot back then. I thought a Halfling was actually a half – Ling. I honestly believed that there was some magical race called Lings and a Halfling had one parent that was a Ling and one that was a human. I didn’t fully understand the rules. But I remember being mesmerized by the magical 20-sided die that determined success or failure.

I tried to remember as much of what I learned in that one sitting and replicate it with some neighborhood kids. I couldn’t remember all of the races, but I knew there were Dwarves, Elves, Half-Lings and humans. I remember I wanted to tell a story so bad that when a friend asked if they could be a quarter-Ling, I was completely ok with it. It didn’t matter what races they played, I wanted to re-enact the story that I had watched unfold in front of me. The gaming bug had bitten. And I knew that it would forever be part of who I was.

I vaguely remember my parents talking about Dungeons and Dragons and how it corrupted the immortal soul of the poor children that played it. I wanted to say something, but I was afraid maybe I had already been corrupted by it. Thankfully, a friend had an alternative. It was Lord of the Rings Adventure Gaming by Iron Crown Enterprises. They still used the magical polyhedron that I had fallen in love with, even if it went to 10 twice. We would play a couple times a week, when I stayed at his house after school. I didn’t know anything about J. R. R. Tolkien at that time, or even what the Lord of the Rings was. But I enjoyed playing make-believe with my friends.

My father found out about our weekly gaming and he seemed to glow. He was a big Tolkien fan and felt that this might be one of those bonding moments that he needed. For Christmas that year, he bought me (or rather Santa delivered) the box set for the Lord of the Rings game. I remember taking it to school after Christmas break and joining with my buddy CJ and Logan and talking about how cool the game was. They were both fairly unimpressed. They both had experience playing D&D and were convinced that it was a far superior game.

During my middle school years, I had a bit of a problem in school. I wasn’t much for studying and eventually my father started taking me to the library after school to ensure that all of my home work was done. It was during these trips that I started poking around at the public library and found that they had the Player’s Handbook and Dungeon Master’s Guide for AD&D 2^nd Edition. I remember the first time I checked them out. I hid the books from my father, stuffing them in my book bag as quickly as I could. My heart was slamming against the inside of my chest as adrenaline fired through my veins. I think I had those two books checked out for almost a year straight.

Having the books earned me some credit with my “cool” friends that knew the game better than I. We would make up excuses of studying for tests so that I could go to CJ’s place after school to play the game I had grown to love. And still I had to hide it.

I think coming out of the gaming closet and telling my mom that I played D&D was what gave me the strength to later come out about being gay. I still think it was pretty epic. It was my freshman year in high school. I had become close friends with a guy named Jim who was a senior. By the way, any time a freshman has a friend that is a senior it is pretty awesome. Anyways, Jim said he wanted to show my mom that it wasn’t evil. So given the strength of my friends, I told my mother that I had some friends that were going to come over on a Friday night and we were going to play D&D. At first she was furious. But then I told her that I didn’t mind if she wanted to watch. If a demon was summoned we might need her help putting it back where it belonged. She didn’t like this answer, but eventually she relented. I may have given her my sad puppy dog eyes that always won her over.

So the arranged date arrived and Jim came to my house with his fiancée. CJ came as well for moral support. My mother, bless her, decided to make homemade doughnuts while we played. That way she was in the kitchen the entire time and could see/hear exactly what happened. I am still convinced that somewhere in the kitchen was a Bible and her rosary.
We buckled in and Jim began to weave his tale. There was a good deal of in-character dialog, many tongue-in-cheek comments, groans of defeat and cheers of victory. At one point, CJ got Brandy (Jim’s fiancée) laughing so hard  we needed to take a break so she could puff on her inhaler. No demons were summoned at all during the session. After it was all done, my mother came to Jim and I and asked if that was all there was to D&D. We both explained that it was. My mother’s eyes lit up and she asked if could join us next time. We were delighted.

I helped my mother make her elven sorceress and watched with pride as she played along with us the next week. I still remember the glee in her eyes when she critically struck one of the bad guys and Jim described how her dagger cleanly removed the cultist’s man-bits. She may have even squealed a little.

She never played with us again after that. But the moments we shared at the table made her realize that just because she had heard something didn’t necessarily make it true. It helped me realize just how cool my mom is. And she never again questioned my interest in the hobby that has become my passion.