Category: Gaming

WISH 42: Reusing Characters…

Do you ever reuse characters from game to game? When you reuse characters, what do you bring from game to game: a name and a personality, stats, or more? What kinds of characters do you reuse and why? If you GM, do you like to have players bring in existing characters? Why?

I don’t ever reuse characters… wait, that’s not true. I’ve used Mange (half-orc barbarian) more than once, but that’s because I intentionally use him as a test character for 3e games. Any time I don’t want to burn a “real” character concept on a game before I know if I’ll like it, I’ll trot him out. He served as my NWN character as well.

Hm, and you could say I’ve reused Constantine as well, if you again count computer games. But there’s not much roleplay per se in those. Still, OK: I’ll say I reuse characters for the purpose of coming up with computer game avatars. And now that I think about it, those two games are the only computer games I’ve played for extended periods of time. Maybe there’s a reason for that; I’ll have to experiment.

In pen and paper games, however, I don’t generally reuse characters. I do reuse concepts; I went through half a dozen iterations of the bright young noble before I went on to something else. In some ways, my travelling backwoods feng shui master from Rob’s UA game is very similar to my cleric of Mercury in Carl’s 3e game. I reuse (and remix) concepts, but not characters.

I am slow as molasses in January, but here’s my thoughts on WISH 40: Preferred Style. The question:

What style of game do you prefer to play in? Style here does not mean genre, although certain styles work better under some genres than others. Style is more about the elements that predominate in a game: combat, politics, mysteries/puzzles, romance/interpersonal relations, etc. What three adjectives best describe your favorite game style? Does this style lend itself to particular genres or games?

I like games with lots of mysteries in them. When I’m GMing, I find I always think in terms of mysteries, which is one reason I don’t consider myself a great GM — lots of people want more straightforward stuff, and focusing on the mystery/puzzle can shortchange the roleplay. But I really like figuring things out, particularly within the context of a particular PC’s mindset. You can see this in my Unknown USA character Reese Beulay, who has a pretty odd take on the occult.

I like horror. Is that a genre? From experience, I don’t think so. I’ve probably never run a game without some horror creeping in — squicky stuff, tension, that kind of thing. It’s my favored means of achieving immersion. I find that the horrific tends to focus people marvelously.

I like roleplayed interaction. I’d rather do a scene where I don’t get information out of a well-realized NPC than a scene where I get information out of an NPC who might as well be named “Information Dispenser.” Story is less of a concern for me than roleplay and a fully realized world; I’m of the camp that believes that story arises inevitably from the right setting.

So, three adjectives? Horrific, immersive, and personality-driven.

Warped setting idea for Sorcerer: high school cliques. Remember, in Sorcerer the demons don’t have to be demons per se. So in this setting, the demons are the clique leaders — the cheerleaders, the quarterbacks, the people who control the lunch tables. The sorcerers are the new kids in school. They have a choice: they can suck up to the cool kids (Binding, Containing, and so on) or they can maintain their Humanity (the amount of time they spend with actually interesting people).

Disclaimer: this concept might make Ron Edwards turn green, I dunno. It is not intended to accurately model high school. Plenty of popular kids in high school were also interesting. Etc.

It occurs to me that the ideal system for a Malazan Empire game would be Hero Wars. Which makes more sense the more I think about it; the Malazan Empire is heavily informed by Steven Erikson’s background in anthropology and archeology, after all. Glorantha is right up there with Tekumel in the upper echelons of similarly-influenced worlds. It seems you can’t write this sort of fantasy without an understanding of the way the mythic touches the everyday, and Hero Wars is admirably suited for that sort of thing. It is designed to scale from the mundane to the realms of the gods.

This makes it a great framework for a world in which the gods are often mere mortals ascended to a new existence, n’est pas? I’d have to hack out a magic system. The Hero Wars system is plenty loose enough but none of the four systems detailed in the main rulebook fits the warrens. I’d also have to write up keywords for the world, but that’s easy enough. Malkazans, Wickens, Seven Cities, Barghest, Tiste Andii, Genabackis Free Cities, Rhivi, perhaps even T’lan Imass… not that hard. It’d be more time consuming figuring out the warrens.

Promise to self: one non-war related post per day, minimum. I am not defined by my stance on this war.

Atlas Games just released Ars Magica as a free PDF. Daring move, but it comes from one of the most savvy businessmen in the RPG business. I’m guessing it’ll work out pretty well and serve as a driver for sales of the supplements.

New week, new Game WISH. The question today:

How do you prioritize gaming in your life to make sure it happens on an ongoing basis? Are there circumstances or scheduling issues that make it more or less likely for you to participate in a gaming session or a campaign? How do you work around these issues, or can you?

I don’t really have that many commitments outside gaming — I tend to like to live a relatively unencumbered life. Even taking dating into account, I can swing a couple of biweekly games fairly easily. On the other hand, weekly games are a bit much of a commitment for me, which is the flip side of that attitude.

What works for me is firm scheduling, as far as possible in advance, preferably with reminders a couple of days before the fact. I like solid dates that don’t change. As I’ve hit the dire thirties, I’ve found that it’s easier to find gamers my own age who can make dates when they promise they will.

Not missing a date is important. Once a game misses two or three sessions, it’s really hard to get back into the swing of things. I’ve found another useful trick is to have something else to play — a one-shot, generally — on nights when you don’t otherwise have quorum. I’ve been thinking it might make sense to actually have characters generated for just such a night, too; I may try and convince the campaign I’m currently in to try that. (Hi, guys!)

A generation ago, the City fell. The world fell. It is said that a great disaster marked the date, but that none knew of its significance until it was far too late. It is said that once, men did not believe in demons. If that is so, then disbelief was washed away by a torrent of winged creatures who eat memories and leave only shadows where men once walked.

You are brookers, heirs to the tradition of your fathers, who fought the good fight on the Street of the Walls. You bargain with the merchants of the mainland, to ensure that every resident of the City can eat. You battle the demons that live in the tops of the fallen towers with sword and fire, because that is what your fathers did before they died, and you are better trained than your fathers.

You are curry men, who fearlessly ride the metal steeds of a dead era, with the sacred bags slung over one shoulder. You carry dispatches throughout the City, so that the brookers always know what to buy and what to sell. You are in more danger from the demons than anyone, as you dance around the hulks that litter the streets, but you know no fear.

You are barrers, who know the secrets of words and clauses, and the ways in which a sentence shapes those who read it. You bind the demons of the City, weaving webs of pacts and treaties, to create safe places for the curry men to ride and for the brookers to live. You worry, sometimes, that the demons take your soul even as you take their free will, but you know that the world would end without you, so you stay true to your path.

In the southern section of the City, the aged foreign wizard Soros crouches at the top of the Empeer Spire, watching all below him. He is not of the City, and it is well rumored that he treats with demons. None other safely lives above the ground, and one man can not stand against the hordes, so his corruption seems self-evident.

Far to the west, the Children of Buffet keep the spirit of Ampire pure in the great wheat fields of Witah. But that is very far from the City.