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NOW LIVE! Into the Woods--new character species, eerie monsters, and haunting villains to populate the woodlands of your D&D games.
A request to all EN World gamers
- Thread starter Grodd JoJoJo
- Start date
clockworkjoe
First Post
You should also go to http://www.rpg.net and talk to the people there. A lot of game designers have talked about subjects similar to this at length.
Personally, I would look at the position of the GM and talk about that in the paper. Is he an impartial referee or active storyteller? Is he a friend of the PCs, their enemy, or what?
Personally, I would look at the position of the GM and talk about that in the paper. Is he an impartial referee or active storyteller? Is he a friend of the PCs, their enemy, or what?
jerichothebard
First Post
Varianor Abroad said:
Exactly. As a graduate of a college dramatic arts program, and professional theatre artisan, I have always approached movies from the standpoint of theatrical analysis and collaboration - I look at a movie and see the work that went into it, critique the actor's and designers, and so on.
Lately, though, a couple of circumstances have changed that. One, I am no longer professionally employed in theatre, and in fact have been quite busy elsewhere, and two, I have started DMing my own campaign for the first time ever.
I have noticed that recently I have begun to look at movies - particularly action/adventure movies - as adventure modules.
If you are looking for more information about RPGs, the BBC did an article on DND's 30th anniversary not too long ago. Link's in my sig.
As for my interest in RPGs, I am fascinated by the fact that we, as players - or at least, a lot of us - when faced with moral dilemmas, agonize over the choices! Here we are, in an imaginary situation, with our imaginary friend, playing a game with our friends' imaginary friends, and we get seriously distraught over an imaginary choice with imaginary circumstances and consequences!
It is for that reason that I have begun to DM - to put my friends into these fascinating situations. They will (if we ever manage to get together and game again) very shortly be put into a situation where they - a Sun cleric, a monk/undead hunter and a ranger (fav. enemy undead) - must allow an NPC lover (pregnant with the ranger's child) to be possessed by a ghost for nine months, in order to put the ghost to rest. I am exceedingly curious to see what they choose to do.
(I am also going to try and create a "ghost-born" template for the child, kind of like Blade...)
Player since 1977; been on both sides of the screen since 1980. I'm not sure if this is what you're looking for, but here goes anyway:
I was born a poor black child...no really!
I came into gaming in kind of a roundabout way. I read comics early on, which piqued my interest in sci-fi, which got me into fantasy, which drew me to epic liturature & mythology, and finally into RPGs.
Like many players, my initial PCs were fairly unsophisticated. However, the more I played and the more I read, the deeper my creations became. When I took my first forays behind the screen, it forced me to get even more serious about the creative process.
Eventually, this (along with other factors in my life) led me to try my hand at pure fiction writing- that is, without RPGs in mind (no-I'm not a pro- I haven't produced anything I felt worthy of sale). Even that step, however, drew me back to RPGs.
As things stand right now, not only do I use all kinds of fact and fiction sources to fuel my RPG campaigns and characters, I also use RPG systems to help me define characters within my fiction writing. I don't write a story without the main protagonists fully drawn up in one of my favorite systems. This is just the starting point- the character is fully able to develop from there, based on the "history" and "attributes" he/she/it already has.
And, for the record, one of the defining moments was playing in a group down in Austin that wasn't inextricably linked to just one game system. Up until joining that group, I played D&D, HERO, Traveller, and RIFTS exclusively. By the time I moved away, I had quadrupled the number of systems I played (now over 60 different ones), and felt comfy playing in any genre and any system. Those people really forced me to develop my game on both sides of the screen. Because of them, I don't play a character until I have a clear vision of who the PC is, both as a person and in his "day job" (what kind of "hero"/"adventurer" he/she/it is). The level of gameplay in that group inspired me to run a steampunk superheroic campaign (in HERO system) based on an amalgam of the writings of H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, the Space: 1889 gameworld, and a host of other sources. A couple of the adventures were rewritten James Bond scripts, others were based on the PC backgrounds and even speculation in the players' table talk. Everyone was so into it, the campaign virtually ran itself.
Good luck on your dissertation-it sounds very interesting. Any chance you'll let us here get a look at the finished product?
I was born a poor black child...no really!
I came into gaming in kind of a roundabout way. I read comics early on, which piqued my interest in sci-fi, which got me into fantasy, which drew me to epic liturature & mythology, and finally into RPGs.
Like many players, my initial PCs were fairly unsophisticated. However, the more I played and the more I read, the deeper my creations became. When I took my first forays behind the screen, it forced me to get even more serious about the creative process.
Eventually, this (along with other factors in my life) led me to try my hand at pure fiction writing- that is, without RPGs in mind (no-I'm not a pro- I haven't produced anything I felt worthy of sale). Even that step, however, drew me back to RPGs.
As things stand right now, not only do I use all kinds of fact and fiction sources to fuel my RPG campaigns and characters, I also use RPG systems to help me define characters within my fiction writing. I don't write a story without the main protagonists fully drawn up in one of my favorite systems. This is just the starting point- the character is fully able to develop from there, based on the "history" and "attributes" he/she/it already has.
And, for the record, one of the defining moments was playing in a group down in Austin that wasn't inextricably linked to just one game system. Up until joining that group, I played D&D, HERO, Traveller, and RIFTS exclusively. By the time I moved away, I had quadrupled the number of systems I played (now over 60 different ones), and felt comfy playing in any genre and any system. Those people really forced me to develop my game on both sides of the screen. Because of them, I don't play a character until I have a clear vision of who the PC is, both as a person and in his "day job" (what kind of "hero"/"adventurer" he/she/it is). The level of gameplay in that group inspired me to run a steampunk superheroic campaign (in HERO system) based on an amalgam of the writings of H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, the Space: 1889 gameworld, and a host of other sources. A couple of the adventures were rewritten James Bond scripts, others were based on the PC backgrounds and even speculation in the players' table talk. Everyone was so into it, the campaign virtually ran itself.
Good luck on your dissertation-it sounds very interesting. Any chance you'll let us here get a look at the finished product?
Grodd JoJoJo
First Post
"Good luck on your dissertation-it sounds very interesting. Any chance you'll let us here get a look at the finished product?" - DannyAlcatraz
Sure, why not? I don't want to post a 200-page item though...hmmph.
Ahhh, moral choices - not something we have to worry about in theatre - we just act our scripts, or improv what we think our characters might do. Which brings me to another idea - many directors like their actors to improv the situations and relationships in the plot before their actors even LOOK at the script.
The comment on viewing fiction and film in terms of gaming is intrigueing; I have a good friend who does the same thing. I tend to look at film in terms of the visuals, and I think it influences my DMing - then again, it's equally influenced by Lovecraft - heavily descriptive.
Danny, your post brings up an important idea - cross-casting. How many of you play characters of different sexes and races? I especially think of LotFR and Nyambe when I ask this.
Thanks again, everybody. BTW, you are right about the title of this thread - it really doesn't say what it's about - my mistake.
Sure, why not? I don't want to post a 200-page item though...hmmph.
Ahhh, moral choices - not something we have to worry about in theatre - we just act our scripts, or improv what we think our characters might do. Which brings me to another idea - many directors like their actors to improv the situations and relationships in the plot before their actors even LOOK at the script.
The comment on viewing fiction and film in terms of gaming is intrigueing; I have a good friend who does the same thing. I tend to look at film in terms of the visuals, and I think it influences my DMing - then again, it's equally influenced by Lovecraft - heavily descriptive.
Danny, your post brings up an important idea - cross-casting. How many of you play characters of different sexes and races? I especially think of LotFR and Nyambe when I ask this.
Thanks again, everybody. BTW, you are right about the title of this thread - it really doesn't say what it's about - my mistake.
Firstly it is my contention that EVERYONE in the "civilized" world role-plays to some extent or another. Very few people (none I have seen though I admit it may be possible some exist) maintain the same personality when dealing with different people (ie you treat someone with authority over you (boss, police, government, thug with weapon at your head) differently than others. But I don't think that is pertinent to your topic.
I have been playing/dming for nigh on 20 years now. It is a fantastic form of escapism and venting for me. I love the moral quandries my characters face even more than the combat, although admitedly I do enjoy my monk being able to give evil a good swift boot to the head. I usually cross gender roleplay (I am a happy heterosexual male thank you very much) I find it is easier to set "me" aside that way and switch my mindset to "simone's". I also find that I can use RPG characters to make my "ideal" person, or to emphasize a part of my personality I may be struggling with and work through it in a "virtual" world rather than this one, although the issue ends up resolved in both.
I dunno if any of that relates to your topic I thought it might if it does terrific if not I just upped the noise to signal ratio a little.
I have been playing/dming for nigh on 20 years now. It is a fantastic form of escapism and venting for me. I love the moral quandries my characters face even more than the combat, although admitedly I do enjoy my monk being able to give evil a good swift boot to the head. I usually cross gender roleplay (I am a happy heterosexual male thank you very much) I find it is easier to set "me" aside that way and switch my mindset to "simone's". I also find that I can use RPG characters to make my "ideal" person, or to emphasize a part of my personality I may be struggling with and work through it in a "virtual" world rather than this one, although the issue ends up resolved in both.
I dunno if any of that relates to your topic I thought it might if it does terrific if not I just upped the noise to signal ratio a little.
Personally, "cross-casting" is essentially meaningless.
It is no difference to me whether you're a guy playing a girl or a girl playing a guy because we're all human...
And as humans, we're already "cross-casting" when playing an elf, dwarf, or what have you.
Playing a PC of a different sex is no different than playing one from another race, species or planet.
So among my PCs, you'll find Male & Female.
Some of my gaming buddies, on the other hand, prohibit cross-gendered PCs. No good reasons given, either.
It is no difference to me whether you're a guy playing a girl or a girl playing a guy because we're all human...
And as humans, we're already "cross-casting" when playing an elf, dwarf, or what have you.
Playing a PC of a different sex is no different than playing one from another race, species or planet.
So among my PCs, you'll find Male & Female.
Some of my gaming buddies, on the other hand, prohibit cross-gendered PCs. No good reasons given, either.
SpringPlum
First Post
I believe that "cross-casting" is most interesting when it refers to playing a PC of a different sex rather than race. Our DM (my boyfriend) claims that the female mindset is sooooo hard to understand, that guys and girls think differently, blah, blah, blah, but then every Friday night, he can play his female NPCs so convincingly that we, his players, no longer see the tall, goofy, stubble-covered guy standing in front of us--we see a short, red-haired, slightly naive sorcerer woman.
Three Haligonians brought up that the DM describes every surrounding to the players where in theater and especially film the stage is set for the audience. And in role-playing, the players and DM look nothing like their PCs and NPCs. Even that is left up to the strength of the group's imagination. In theater and film, the actors dress like their characters and make-up can alter their looks, but after a point, the characters look like the actors playing them.
Three Haligonians brought up that the DM describes every surrounding to the players where in theater and especially film the stage is set for the audience. And in role-playing, the players and DM look nothing like their PCs and NPCs. Even that is left up to the strength of the group's imagination. In theater and film, the actors dress like their characters and make-up can alter their looks, but after a point, the characters look like the actors playing them.
Dannyalcatraz said:
The best reason I have been given by the one DM that doesn't allow it is "I am not comfortable Role Playing with you like that"
Granted the first and last time he allowed me to was in a mech warrior type game and I ended up in a bar trying to use my feminine charms to make some fairly angry mech jockeys ummm less angry temporarily and charisma is usually not any of my characters dump stat so I describe what people see when the come across me bathing under a waterfall.
Another valuable lesson I have picked up is "don't try to flirt in game when both people playing the characters are male (even if the characters are of opposed genders)" the people around my gaming table just can't seem to handle it well although my current DM is cool with it.
