In the previous installment we discussed how Disney World's theme of multiple lands has a parallel in Dungeons & Dragons campaigns on several levels. Disney populates its world with a cast of thousands, and the company's technique is illustrative of the efforts game masters struggle with to convincingly portray non-player characters (NPCs) in a fantasy universe. In this article we take a look at how Disney brings those characters to life.
[h=3]The Play's the Thing[/h]In the first installment we discussed the three frames of play as defined by Gary Alan Fine: the first frame of real-life, the second frame of game rules, and the third frame of role-play. Game masters, as defined by D&D co-creator Gary Gygax in Master of the Game, include the role of "director":
By applying Daft and Lengel’s Media Richness Theory to the fantasy gaming experience, there is much to learn about what constitutes a successful and satisfying game. Media Richness Theory proposes that communication media have a range of capacity to resolve ambiguity and facilitate understanding. The theory has two main assumptions: that people want to overcome uncertainty in communicating with each other and that different media works better for different situations.
Daft and Lengel’s media richness hierarchy is sorted, from high to low degrees of richness, by the medium’s ability to provide instant feedback; the capacity to transmit multiple cues such as body language, expression, and inflection; the use of natural language; and the personal focus of the medium. We can apply the media richness hierarchy to both role-playing games and Disney World visits.
The characters in Disney World provide instant feedback to the people they encounter, multiple cues (including sight and sound), speak the same language, and are capable of focusing on individuals -- even in a crowded audience. As we shall see, this level of personalization ranges from an actor in a suit to digital puppetry.
Role-playing games provide a similar experience through instant feedback, multiple cues (sight and sound), speaking the same language, and the game master's ability to focus on the individual. Of course, players don't have to wait in line for that personal focus, so it's arguable that a game master's ability to focus on each player in smaller groups is what makes the role-playing experience more satisfying than wandering through a park and waiting on line.
[h=3]The First Frame: Dressing Up[/h]The most obvious forms of embodying a character in the first framework, that of real life, is to bring as many of the physical elements representing the game into the real world. This includes everything from costumes to using props to represent in-game objects.
The lack of anonymity in certain types of fantasy gaming, like tabletop and LARPs, alters interpersonal negotiations. The additional layer of sensory knowledge changes the face-to-face interaction. It is entirely possible for an unattractive male gamer to believe he is playing an attractive female gamer effectively even though his media-richness cues conflict with the character he is attempting to present. Although the hairy gamer might believe he is effectively inhabiting his role, other players interacting with him in the game may disagree. When others express their dissatisfaction, it in turn influences how the gamer sees himself.
Disney works hard to avoid this dissonance with its cast (kids can be VERY unforgiving), with strict rules governing covering everything from their height requirements to their age and weight:
In a role-playing game, game masters and players alike are also expected to inhabit their characters to varying degrees. For GMs, it's impractical to do costume changes for every character, but they can leverage props at the table. Similarly, while players can dress up as their characters (and all too often, media portrayals of D&D show players doing just that) it's also not necessarily practical or comfortable to sit in costume at a table.
Other forms of role-playing blur the line between the first and third frames of gaming: Live action role-playing (LARPs) participants fully inhabit their characters; Renaissance Faires encourage their actors to role-play with guests while staying in character; Games like True Dungeon translate the tabletop dungeon crawl experience into live action without requiring the player to become fully-immersed in the role; and there are many crossover events at cons where gamers cosplay their characters but don't actually role-play them.
By virtue of playing at a table, tabletop games tend to be a little more abstract in how players engage with NPCs, which is why the second framework is an important part of role-playing games.
[h=3]The Second Frame: Character Abstraction[/h]In tabletop role-playing games, some players are comfortable interacting with the rules of the game from a purely simulation point of view, focusing exclusively on hit points, character attributes, etc. rather than providing any narrative structure for their character. As Gygax states:
Player character generation is one of the most critical portions of any RPG. At the root of everything, a character is no more and no less than a set of numbers, each of which refers to the value or amount of a certain ability or characteristic that the character possesses. Those numbers are normally generated by rolling dice, and then the dice scores are assigned to the various attributes (physical prowess, intelligence, cunning, charisma, whatever) that describe the makeup of the character. The generated attributes of PCs help quantify just what a character can and cannot do, or how difficult it is for him to perform some task.
A few of Walt Disney World's attractions have their own scoring system which ranks a visitor by their skill at a particular game. There's Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin:
And also Toy Story Midway Mania:
Disney also released its own interactive card game, Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom, an interactive card game that gives visitors a chance to battle animated villains using spell cards throughout the Magic Kingdom:
Players can "level up" by defeating all the villains at the park during the day -- no small task, given it can take up to five hours to complete the entire game. Like Magic: The Gathering, the cards themselves act as both currency and a power level the players get as a reward for playing each day they visit the park.
All three of these interactive games gauge the player's skill level by their performance within the game itself. The gamification of Disney visits has increased as gamificaiton itself has become more popular. Disney World is shifting from focusing on gaming as a separate experience to integrating it into part of the resort's overall experience. This is likely a factor why Disney's premiere arcade game attraction, DisneyQuest, is shutting down in 2016.
Game masters can similarly integrate other games into the overall gaming experience, with Wizards of the Coast's Three-Dragon Ante and Dread's use of Jenga for action resolution being just two examples. Roleplaying Tips has many more "mini-game" ideas game masters can use in their campaigns, including disentanglement puzzles, old pub games, chess, board games, puzzles boxes, and even a buzzer and wire game to test a rogue's real life dexterity.
[h=3]The Third Frame: Embodying the Avatar[/h]Establishing the look of a particular character and a framework to play that character are standard for most immersive experiences, but the third frame -- acting the character out -- is a fluid mix of the first two frames that are leveraged to different degrees depending on the experience. Gygax explains that dramatic acting is a key skill for being a great game master, and one that can be learned:
Similarly, Disney character actors are divided into "face" and "fur" characters, and the two different types require different levels of acting chops:
The "face" characters need to learn how to role-play their parts:
"Fur" characters can communicate as well through pantomime and writing:
Written notes are part of many role-playing games, particularly Call of Cthulhu which is fond of using printed props of documents, diaries, and correspondence.
Physical characters are just the tip of the iceberg. Improvements in puppetry have made it possible for Mickey to speak with guests:
Use of puppets in RPGs is rare but not unheard of. Some games use puppets in RPGs for kids, like Argyle & Crew. Of course, the level of interaction with Mickey requires a team to coordinate voice and facial expressions with the "fur" actor's pantomime. The logical extension of this sort of interaction is to remove physical actors entirely and replace them with a digital puppet:
Digital puppets are used at Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor and Turtle Talk with Crush. In both cases the puppets are managed by a character actor and a support team to allow the character to react in real time to the audience. Expressions, head movements, and body movement are all smoothly integrated into the show.
Concealing the game master is a more feasible in play-by-post games, but the application of a digital avatar to represent a NPC can easily be managed through a range of technology. For the less technically inclined, emails or text messages can be crafted for modern game settings as if they originated from non-player characters. If the players are interacting in real time on a digital platform, it's easy enough to disguise the game master's voice in a voice chat, or shows another avatar in a video chat. This kind of technology is called over-the-top messaging (OTT) which is an overlay of an existing messaging channel, with Pocket Avatars being just one example. There are a dizzying number of options available to game master who want to create an avatar in just about every format imaginable.
Although most of us don't have the resources of a massive amusement park like Walt Disney World, there's a lot of tricks that game masters can steal to from amusement parks to make their own campaigns interactive and fun. In the next installment, we look at how Disney World's environment helps set the stage for an imaginative experience and how GMs can leverage those techniques with miniatures and maps.
For the rest of the articles in this series please see:
[h=3]The Play's the Thing[/h]In the first installment we discussed the three frames of play as defined by Gary Alan Fine: the first frame of real-life, the second frame of game rules, and the third frame of role-play. Game masters, as defined by D&D co-creator Gary Gygax in Master of the Game, include the role of "director":
Playing a RPG is very similar to doing improvisational theater. Although the players most frequently improvise the actions of their established character, they must frequently shift gears and “pretend” they are not that persona at all but an entirely different one...The broad outlines of the play are known to GM and player group. Then, with direction from the Game Master and their player characters‘ interaction within the setting, the group develop their own version of the scenario being played. At the very least the GM gives cues which the “actors” may follow.
By applying Daft and Lengel’s Media Richness Theory to the fantasy gaming experience, there is much to learn about what constitutes a successful and satisfying game. Media Richness Theory proposes that communication media have a range of capacity to resolve ambiguity and facilitate understanding. The theory has two main assumptions: that people want to overcome uncertainty in communicating with each other and that different media works better for different situations.
Daft and Lengel’s media richness hierarchy is sorted, from high to low degrees of richness, by the medium’s ability to provide instant feedback; the capacity to transmit multiple cues such as body language, expression, and inflection; the use of natural language; and the personal focus of the medium. We can apply the media richness hierarchy to both role-playing games and Disney World visits.
The characters in Disney World provide instant feedback to the people they encounter, multiple cues (including sight and sound), speak the same language, and are capable of focusing on individuals -- even in a crowded audience. As we shall see, this level of personalization ranges from an actor in a suit to digital puppetry.
Role-playing games provide a similar experience through instant feedback, multiple cues (sight and sound), speaking the same language, and the game master's ability to focus on the individual. Of course, players don't have to wait in line for that personal focus, so it's arguable that a game master's ability to focus on each player in smaller groups is what makes the role-playing experience more satisfying than wandering through a park and waiting on line.
[h=3]The First Frame: Dressing Up[/h]The most obvious forms of embodying a character in the first framework, that of real life, is to bring as many of the physical elements representing the game into the real world. This includes everything from costumes to using props to represent in-game objects.
The lack of anonymity in certain types of fantasy gaming, like tabletop and LARPs, alters interpersonal negotiations. The additional layer of sensory knowledge changes the face-to-face interaction. It is entirely possible for an unattractive male gamer to believe he is playing an attractive female gamer effectively even though his media-richness cues conflict with the character he is attempting to present. Although the hairy gamer might believe he is effectively inhabiting his role, other players interacting with him in the game may disagree. When others express their dissatisfaction, it in turn influences how the gamer sees himself.
Disney works hard to avoid this dissonance with its cast (kids can be VERY unforgiving), with strict rules governing covering everything from their height requirements to their age and weight:
For most of the princesses there is a height requirement between 5’4 and 5’7 to help preserve character integrity as well as costume fitting...The largest size Disney carries for their princess costumes is size 10. Former Disney princesses have stated in their blogs that they have found these to be true to size...Disney is very specific on the age. You have to be at least 18 years old to audition and you have to be legal to work in the U.S. Most face characters are 18-23 according to a former Disney princess during her AMA (Ask Me Anything) session on Reddit last year. It is rare to find a princess over 27 but it is not uncommon for princesses to be 24-26 if they’ve been there awhile.
In a role-playing game, game masters and players alike are also expected to inhabit their characters to varying degrees. For GMs, it's impractical to do costume changes for every character, but they can leverage props at the table. Similarly, while players can dress up as their characters (and all too often, media portrayals of D&D show players doing just that) it's also not necessarily practical or comfortable to sit in costume at a table.
Other forms of role-playing blur the line between the first and third frames of gaming: Live action role-playing (LARPs) participants fully inhabit their characters; Renaissance Faires encourage their actors to role-play with guests while staying in character; Games like True Dungeon translate the tabletop dungeon crawl experience into live action without requiring the player to become fully-immersed in the role; and there are many crossover events at cons where gamers cosplay their characters but don't actually role-play them.
By virtue of playing at a table, tabletop games tend to be a little more abstract in how players engage with NPCs, which is why the second framework is an important part of role-playing games.
[h=3]The Second Frame: Character Abstraction[/h]In tabletop role-playing games, some players are comfortable interacting with the rules of the game from a purely simulation point of view, focusing exclusively on hit points, character attributes, etc. rather than providing any narrative structure for their character. As Gygax states:
Player character generation is one of the most critical portions of any RPG. At the root of everything, a character is no more and no less than a set of numbers, each of which refers to the value or amount of a certain ability or characteristic that the character possesses. Those numbers are normally generated by rolling dice, and then the dice scores are assigned to the various attributes (physical prowess, intelligence, cunning, charisma, whatever) that describe the makeup of the character. The generated attributes of PCs help quantify just what a character can and cannot do, or how difficult it is for him to perform some task.
A few of Walt Disney World's attractions have their own scoring system which ranks a visitor by their skill at a particular game. There's Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin:
Visitors board an Omnimover space vehicle featuring two laser pistols and a joystick. The pistols are used to shoot laser beams at targets of varying point values. Targets that are hit while lit up will produce much higher scores. A digital readout on the dashboard shows the player's score. The joystick allows full 360-degree rotation of the vehicle to assist in aiming. During the ride, if the ride slows down or completely stops (this is a result of either a handicapped guest or a ride breakdown) during the ride, this allows for "bonus points" as the pistols and targets do not turn off. There are 4 different shaped targets which are worth different amounts of points: round (100 points), square (1,000 points), diamond (5,000 points), and triangle (10,000 points).
And also Toy Story Midway Mania:
The attraction features five mini-games after a practice round, each of which includes at least one "Easter egg" that can trigger additional targets or gameplay changes. These games include: Pie Throw Practice Booth (pie toss target practice game, a no points introduction), Hamm & Eggs (egg throw game now featuring Buttercup from Toy Story 3) Rex and Trixie's Dino Darts (dart throw game; once Bo Peep's Baa-loon Pop), Green Army Men Shoot Camp (baseball throw / plate breaking game), Buzz Lightyear's Flying Tossers (ring toss game), and Woody's Rootin' Tootin' Shootin' Gallery (suction cup shooting game). Each guest's score is recorded by an onboard display screen as points are acquired with individual toy cannons firing simulated projectiles at virtual targets.
Disney also released its own interactive card game, Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom, an interactive card game that gives visitors a chance to battle animated villains using spell cards throughout the Magic Kingdom:
There are a total of 70 different spell cards. This is where the fun really comes into play - trying to collect all 70 cards in order to maximize your spell casting abilities. There are 9 different spell classes and 7 different attack types among the cards. Cards 1-22 are the rare (star) cards, 23-40 are common (crescent moon), and 41-60 are very common (planet). Cards 61-70 are the very rare lightning cards. While spells can be cast with a single card at a time, there are also combination cards that, when played together, can have even greater power against an enemy. In fact, you can play up to 7 cards together during a single attack!
Players can "level up" by defeating all the villains at the park during the day -- no small task, given it can take up to five hours to complete the entire game. Like Magic: The Gathering, the cards themselves act as both currency and a power level the players get as a reward for playing each day they visit the park.
All three of these interactive games gauge the player's skill level by their performance within the game itself. The gamification of Disney visits has increased as gamificaiton itself has become more popular. Disney World is shifting from focusing on gaming as a separate experience to integrating it into part of the resort's overall experience. This is likely a factor why Disney's premiere arcade game attraction, DisneyQuest, is shutting down in 2016.
Game masters can similarly integrate other games into the overall gaming experience, with Wizards of the Coast's Three-Dragon Ante and Dread's use of Jenga for action resolution being just two examples. Roleplaying Tips has many more "mini-game" ideas game masters can use in their campaigns, including disentanglement puzzles, old pub games, chess, board games, puzzles boxes, and even a buzzer and wire game to test a rogue's real life dexterity.
[h=3]The Third Frame: Embodying the Avatar[/h]Establishing the look of a particular character and a framework to play that character are standard for most immersive experiences, but the third frame -- acting the character out -- is a fluid mix of the first two frames that are leveraged to different degrees depending on the experience. Gygax explains that dramatic acting is a key skill for being a great game master, and one that can be learned:
Lack of ability to act dramatically and skillfully curtails the mastery of many GMs. Having to deal with so many demands and roles within the game means it is difficult to get into character and stay there. That will come with practice and desire. What is more difficult is performing with drama and theatrical aplomb at all times. Obviously, some people are born with the talent to perform and others of us are not. Pick up a book on acting and read it. Practice what you are learning on whoever is there—your dog, family, or friends as well as the play group. By making an effort you will certainly increase your skill, although it might never attain any stature above mediocrity.
Similarly, Disney character actors are divided into "face" and "fur" characters, and the two different types require different levels of acting chops:
...there are two types of characters that interact with guests in the Disney parks: “face” characters and “fur” characters. Face characters are those such as the princesses, Alice, Mad Hatter, Mary Poppins, Aladdin, Peter Pan, Wendy, Cinderella’s family, most of the princes, Jack Sparrow, and a few others who look like regular human beings. They may have wigs or some minimal facial prosthetics, but they don’t have anything covering their eyes or mouth. The face characters are able to speak as any normal person would. They’re happy to engage you in conversation during character meals or other meet-and-greet experiences. Fur characters are those which have a large immobile mask serving as their entire head. Typically any animated animal (Mickey, Donald, Baloo, Rafiki, Jiminy Cricket) is a fur character; however there are also some human-esque characters that have these immobile heads as well (Lilo, Buzz Lightyear, Woody, the Incredibles). Fur characters currently do not speak during one-on-one guest interaction.
The "face" characters need to learn how to role-play their parts:
Disney trains their princesses for five days and it is usually an extensive analysis of the film. You will learn your character’s mannerisms and voice inflection, as well as the standard signature every princess has.
"Fur" characters can communicate as well through pantomime and writing:
The characters are trained to use gestures, mine, body language, and occasionally writing, to communicate a wide range of greetings and emotions. And they will respond to your spoken language.
Written notes are part of many role-playing games, particularly Call of Cthulhu which is fond of using printed props of documents, diaries, and correspondence.
Physical characters are just the tip of the iceberg. Improvements in puppetry have made it possible for Mickey to speak with guests:
So the imagineers created an audio-animatronic head for the Mickey Mouse costume. There is still a real person in the costume just like always but now Mickey can talk. When Mickey talks his mouth moves. The speaker system seems to be in his mouth so it sounds like it is really Mickey talking. They did not stop there. Even his eyes move as well. He blinks. He lowers his eyelids just like a real person would.
Use of puppets in RPGs is rare but not unheard of. Some games use puppets in RPGs for kids, like Argyle & Crew. Of course, the level of interaction with Mickey requires a team to coordinate voice and facial expressions with the "fur" actor's pantomime. The logical extension of this sort of interaction is to remove physical actors entirely and replace them with a digital puppet:
Digital Puppets are drawn characters (animated figures) performed live by puppeteers. Unlike traditional animation, digital puppets can interact spontaneously with characters on the stage or screen, and/or a live audience.
Digital puppets are used at Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor and Turtle Talk with Crush. In both cases the puppets are managed by a character actor and a support team to allow the character to react in real time to the audience. Expressions, head movements, and body movement are all smoothly integrated into the show.
Concealing the game master is a more feasible in play-by-post games, but the application of a digital avatar to represent a NPC can easily be managed through a range of technology. For the less technically inclined, emails or text messages can be crafted for modern game settings as if they originated from non-player characters. If the players are interacting in real time on a digital platform, it's easy enough to disguise the game master's voice in a voice chat, or shows another avatar in a video chat. This kind of technology is called over-the-top messaging (OTT) which is an overlay of an existing messaging channel, with Pocket Avatars being just one example. There are a dizzying number of options available to game master who want to create an avatar in just about every format imaginable.
Although most of us don't have the resources of a massive amusement park like Walt Disney World, there's a lot of tricks that game masters can steal to from amusement parks to make their own campaigns interactive and fun. In the next installment, we look at how Disney World's environment helps set the stage for an imaginative experience and how GMs can leverage those techniques with miniatures and maps.
For the rest of the articles in this series please see:
- D&D as Amusement Park Part I: Theme
- D&D as Amusement Park Part II: Acting Out
- D&D as Amusement Park Part III: Ready, SET, Go!
