I recently mentioned that we're playing Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 3e. There are a few aspects of the system I'm not wild about but I'm still having a lot fun playing my Dwarven Slayer. However, one of the bits I think is really helpful as a guide is the Party Card. The Party Card is a summary of what the group is all about, a collection of group talent resources, and a track for how tension is growing within the party. It's such a cool feature I may try to find ways to bring it into other systems I run in the future.
This thing is a wealth of information and motivation the size of a 4"x 6" note card. First and foremost, I think it helps remind the party they are a team with shared resources. It reminds them tension and bickering within the group is making them weaker and slower. Perhaps most importantly it provides an elevator pitch about the shared vision and purpose of the party.
The Party Card in our game describes us as "Swords for Hire. Technically my Dwarven Troll Slayer is a “Great Axe for Hire” but he has zero ranks in Quibble. That's who we are. We are hard-bitten mercenaries who will walk into horrible danger if the coin is right. Right now we are in the employ of a sickly Wizard who is sending us into Tomb King territory where I'm fairly sure things are gonna get plenty ugly. We do battle for money and therefore the "Swords for Hire" Party Card is the one for us.
But another thing I like about this mechanic is its flexibility. We're "Swords for Hire" because that's what we do. However, if we decided we wanted to take up the cause of the Church of Sigmar we could be Servants of Justice. We might take on a more blunt, criminal bent and go with Gang of Thugs. Honestly, we considered long and hard at the start whether we wanted to simply be Brash Young Fools. That’s probably where we’ll land if we don’t get paid.
All of this loomed large recently when I was in a course about the establishment of "Positive Emotional Habits." You know, the habits that make you happy. It focused a lot on the order of operations involved. It isn't that people are happy and therefore do happy things. People do happy things and those things make them happy people. What we do makes us who we are.
It makes sense to me. I'm a SCUBA diver. I'm not a SCUBA diver because I was born a SCUBA diver or woke up one morning and declared myself to be so. I'm a SCUBA diver because I decided it’s what I wanted to be. I took the classes. I got the certification and I started breathing air under water. THEN I was a SCUBA diver. It’s what I did so it’s what I became.
In our games we sometimes get to write a backstory for our character. In that moment we can decide if we are are already a hero. Personally I almost never write that sort of history for my characters. I lean either toward humble beginnings or possibly a character who was flat-out bad before we began play. I guess I think heroism needs to feel earned through action.
In real life I'm a very happy guy. Background and genetics can predispose us toward or against being happy, and I probably benefit from a bit of that. But mostly I go out every day and do things which make me happy. I earn that happiness. What makes me happiest is helping other people and connecting with friends. Last week when I was really sick I could do almost none of those things. Consequently, I was pretty unhappy. I wasn't able to intrinsically happy my way out of circumstances where I couldn't do happy things.
In many ways I think this is the most important lesson anybody can learn. If you take away nothing from any of my other columns, I hope you take this to heart: You have a lot of control over how happy you are. If you are not leading a happy life, consider doing more happy things.
Regular exercise and sleep produce a lot of happiness and reduce stress.
Keep reminders of fun times and meaningful events all around you. Photos, trophies, old character sheets, etc.
Count your blessings. Write down 5 things each day for which you are grateful.
Track progress toward a goal that is important to you.
Give money or help to somebody who needs it more than you.
Remember, actions are your only gateway to becoming who you want to be.
What are you doing to become what you want to be? How are your characters defining themselves through their actions?
This thing is a wealth of information and motivation the size of a 4"x 6" note card. First and foremost, I think it helps remind the party they are a team with shared resources. It reminds them tension and bickering within the group is making them weaker and slower. Perhaps most importantly it provides an elevator pitch about the shared vision and purpose of the party.
The Party Card in our game describes us as "Swords for Hire. Technically my Dwarven Troll Slayer is a “Great Axe for Hire” but he has zero ranks in Quibble. That's who we are. We are hard-bitten mercenaries who will walk into horrible danger if the coin is right. Right now we are in the employ of a sickly Wizard who is sending us into Tomb King territory where I'm fairly sure things are gonna get plenty ugly. We do battle for money and therefore the "Swords for Hire" Party Card is the one for us.
But another thing I like about this mechanic is its flexibility. We're "Swords for Hire" because that's what we do. However, if we decided we wanted to take up the cause of the Church of Sigmar we could be Servants of Justice. We might take on a more blunt, criminal bent and go with Gang of Thugs. Honestly, we considered long and hard at the start whether we wanted to simply be Brash Young Fools. That’s probably where we’ll land if we don’t get paid.
All of this loomed large recently when I was in a course about the establishment of "Positive Emotional Habits." You know, the habits that make you happy. It focused a lot on the order of operations involved. It isn't that people are happy and therefore do happy things. People do happy things and those things make them happy people. What we do makes us who we are.
It makes sense to me. I'm a SCUBA diver. I'm not a SCUBA diver because I was born a SCUBA diver or woke up one morning and declared myself to be so. I'm a SCUBA diver because I decided it’s what I wanted to be. I took the classes. I got the certification and I started breathing air under water. THEN I was a SCUBA diver. It’s what I did so it’s what I became.
In our games we sometimes get to write a backstory for our character. In that moment we can decide if we are are already a hero. Personally I almost never write that sort of history for my characters. I lean either toward humble beginnings or possibly a character who was flat-out bad before we began play. I guess I think heroism needs to feel earned through action.
In real life I'm a very happy guy. Background and genetics can predispose us toward or against being happy, and I probably benefit from a bit of that. But mostly I go out every day and do things which make me happy. I earn that happiness. What makes me happiest is helping other people and connecting with friends. Last week when I was really sick I could do almost none of those things. Consequently, I was pretty unhappy. I wasn't able to intrinsically happy my way out of circumstances where I couldn't do happy things.
In many ways I think this is the most important lesson anybody can learn. If you take away nothing from any of my other columns, I hope you take this to heart: You have a lot of control over how happy you are. If you are not leading a happy life, consider doing more happy things.
Regular exercise and sleep produce a lot of happiness and reduce stress.
Keep reminders of fun times and meaningful events all around you. Photos, trophies, old character sheets, etc.
Count your blessings. Write down 5 things each day for which you are grateful.
Track progress toward a goal that is important to you.
Give money or help to somebody who needs it more than you.
Remember, actions are your only gateway to becoming who you want to be.
What are you doing to become what you want to be? How are your characters defining themselves through their actions?
