Two ideas have been rattling around in my head this week. First of all, there's the big story about the US Government collecting mountains of data on phone and internet usage. Secondly, for some reason this week I started paying closer attention to google glass, augmented reality, etc.
And then, like always, I wind up thinking about gaming.
Forget Politics
I don't care how you feel about the idea that the government is gathering data on us. I mean, I have opinions, but they don't matter here.
What's more interesting is the sort of layer of information that someone armed with those databases might have as they wandered around the physical world. Nevermind top secret databases; what if when you walked up to someone and shook their hand your glasses would give you a quick analysis of their Facebook and Linkedin connections -- who are their closest friends, what keywords turn up most often in their posts and comments, what products do they "like." If you had access to that, in real time right when you needed it, and the other person didn't, you would have HUGE advantages in a conversation you had with them.
Remember Shadowrun?
Not like Shadowrun is gone or anything -- they're going strong, although it's not a game system I've picked up since the first edition. I loved a lot of things about Shadowrun -- and one of the things that really struck me at the time was the mix of magic and science in the game world.
For our purposes here, there was a really interesting parallel. A Decker could access the net and hack into a locations intranet, discover a lot of "meta" information about the site -- how the building was used, whose officers were where, and so on. At the same time, a Mage had the ability to shift his vision to the ethereal plane and see how spirits interacted in the building, gathering a sort of magical version of meta information about the site.
But Hey - This Isn't All That New
So, in the 30s, train-hopping hobos developed a system of signs and signals for each other. Here's just one website that provides more information and sample signs. Wikipedia has some good stuff on hobos and a parallel article about "wobbly lingo" that is also interesting -- especially in light of the "idioms" ideas I wrote about in last week's column).
So, a typical hobo might see a chalk mark on a fencepost on the approach to a farm, and know that the woman there is religious. Armed with that special meta information about how she sees the world, the hobo would have a real advantage in trying to finagle a meal out of her.
There are, of course, other examples. And the hobo code stuff has a clear connection to the D&D tradition of 'thieve's cant" that has been with us from the earliest incarnations, although it's very rarely used for much.
And there are fictional examples of similar meta-information layered on top of a scene. The way the members of the Black Company use sign language to have secret conversations, or the way the dragon Elegon uses telepathy to facilitate secret conversations in The Sword and The Chain series are just a couple. In the Song of Ice and Fire series, we know that Varys has tons of information at his disposal, but we never know what it is or how far it goes. Its too bad he's never been a viewpoint character.
View attachment 57785
(image lifted from RoadToVR.com)
And For Our Games?
In Shadowrun, there are two paths to different types of information -- the net and the spirit world. They have different types of information, but in both cases that's something that the PCs might be able to access, if they have the right skills and take the time.
But other games might be able to take advantage of a character's background or special abilities to provide meta-information about a location or situation.
Passing Metadata to Players
The last concern on this topic is how you pass meta-data to your players. This is an incredibly important part of the process, and unfortunately there isn't really a good answer. It was one of the biggest problems with Shadownrun's early editions -- I hope they've found a way to deal with it in the newest incarnations (I might have to go buy the book and find out!)
So, help me add to these lists -- what are some other ideas for giving characters metadata about the world around them? What betted ideas have you found for sharing this sort of information with your players?
And then, like always, I wind up thinking about gaming.
Forget Politics
I don't care how you feel about the idea that the government is gathering data on us. I mean, I have opinions, but they don't matter here.
What's more interesting is the sort of layer of information that someone armed with those databases might have as they wandered around the physical world. Nevermind top secret databases; what if when you walked up to someone and shook their hand your glasses would give you a quick analysis of their Facebook and Linkedin connections -- who are their closest friends, what keywords turn up most often in their posts and comments, what products do they "like." If you had access to that, in real time right when you needed it, and the other person didn't, you would have HUGE advantages in a conversation you had with them.
Remember Shadowrun?
Not like Shadowrun is gone or anything -- they're going strong, although it's not a game system I've picked up since the first edition. I loved a lot of things about Shadowrun -- and one of the things that really struck me at the time was the mix of magic and science in the game world.
For our purposes here, there was a really interesting parallel. A Decker could access the net and hack into a locations intranet, discover a lot of "meta" information about the site -- how the building was used, whose officers were where, and so on. At the same time, a Mage had the ability to shift his vision to the ethereal plane and see how spirits interacted in the building, gathering a sort of magical version of meta information about the site.
But Hey - This Isn't All That New
So, in the 30s, train-hopping hobos developed a system of signs and signals for each other. Here's just one website that provides more information and sample signs. Wikipedia has some good stuff on hobos and a parallel article about "wobbly lingo" that is also interesting -- especially in light of the "idioms" ideas I wrote about in last week's column).
So, a typical hobo might see a chalk mark on a fencepost on the approach to a farm, and know that the woman there is religious. Armed with that special meta information about how she sees the world, the hobo would have a real advantage in trying to finagle a meal out of her.
There are, of course, other examples. And the hobo code stuff has a clear connection to the D&D tradition of 'thieve's cant" that has been with us from the earliest incarnations, although it's very rarely used for much.
And there are fictional examples of similar meta-information layered on top of a scene. The way the members of the Black Company use sign language to have secret conversations, or the way the dragon Elegon uses telepathy to facilitate secret conversations in The Sword and The Chain series are just a couple. In the Song of Ice and Fire series, we know that Varys has tons of information at his disposal, but we never know what it is or how far it goes. Its too bad he's never been a viewpoint character.
View attachment 57785
(image lifted from RoadToVR.com)
And For Our Games?
In Shadowrun, there are two paths to different types of information -- the net and the spirit world. They have different types of information, but in both cases that's something that the PCs might be able to access, if they have the right skills and take the time.
But other games might be able to take advantage of a character's background or special abilities to provide meta-information about a location or situation.
- Thieves Cant - It's very easy to forget to make use of this, but there's a wealth of information that could be passed along through secret signs (like hobo signs) or coded conversation and hand signs.
- Seeing/Sensing Magic - much the way mages and shamen can in Shadowrun, what can your magically-capable characters see or sense about the world around them? Luke and Darth can feel each other, in most fantasy stories wizards can sense the presence of other magically active creatures, and so on.
- The Voice of Experience - How many books have scenes where the party woodsman notices that the birds are quiet and suddenly he expects an ambush? Too many, but that can work just as well for your games. But the same thing is true for all kinds of situations, where a player's experience in a type of setting should be able to allow them to see extra "meta" information that others don't notice. What does a seaman see when he looks at someone else's ship? Expertise of any kind reveals a multitude of secrets. The Serious Skills series of articles (for 4e, but good theory for any system) on the At-Will blog makes an excellent study of how that might work.
- A Little Bird Told Me - Socially adept characters may know gossip or other details of the private lives of contacts that will be useful -- and even if they don't know, they may well be able to pick up cues from body language, etc.
Passing Metadata to Players
The last concern on this topic is how you pass meta-data to your players. This is an incredibly important part of the process, and unfortunately there isn't really a good answer. It was one of the biggest problems with Shadownrun's early editions -- I hope they've found a way to deal with it in the newest incarnations (I might have to go buy the book and find out!)
- Pull Them Aside - Sometimes this is necessary -- when there's a lot to convey (more than a sentence or two). But its sort of the worst case scenario for game play -- the players who are not engaged
- Write Them A Note -- passing a note on an index card or bit of scratch paper is a tried and true method, but writing a note (legibly) can take painfully long seconds -- time when you're not really paying attention to players. You're trading time spent walking from one room to another (if you were to pull them aside) for time spent writing what you could have said much faster.
- Prepared Notes -- When possible, you can really streamline the process by preparing a stack of the notes you'll reveal to your players ahead of time. Too often, though, this sort of preparation is just not possible.
- Just Say It Out Loud -- This is an expedient that you can use a little or a lot -- if it's information that the PC is just going to share immediately with the party, sometimes it's all right just to say it to everyone. The problem is that the player doesn't get to report the information to the group themselves, in their own words -- and that robs the players of an opportunity for inter-party interaction.
- Text Messages/SMS - Here's the thing. If you're like me, you're a MUCH faster typing than you are with a pen. I've seen some folks who are scary fast with their thumbs on a smartphone, but for me it's all about the keyboard. I tend to have my iPad at the table for reference, and a computer which is serving my game maps. A good SMS client that will allow you to connect with all of your players can be a speedy way to handle that sort of information transfer. The new Messages app on the iPad is a great solution for this if your players have iPads/iPhones. Or you might look at Facebook's Chat functions, Twitter DMs, Skype Chat, or any number of other solutions. The best part of this idea is that you don't have to play with the idea of passing fake notes to players to cover your tracks -- every time they get a text message from a spouse or friend outside the game, they'll be creating the misdirection that allows your side conversation with them go unnoticed. The key is to have a solution that will let you talk to everyone at the table AND with which you can write your messages as quickly as possible. Just think -- someday your text message will show up in your player's google glass!
So, help me add to these lists -- what are some other ideas for giving characters metadata about the world around them? What betted ideas have you found for sharing this sort of information with your players?
