“Dad! Did you get a picture of the weather for me?” asked the 7-year old.
I was obliging, but she was confused.
Meteorology is disappointing to the kid.
“That’s the same thing you took last time!” she said, and was clearly frustrated by this. She’s just starting to learn about weather patterns, but unfortunately, she’s also in Louisiana. Our weather is…chaotic at best.
Today’s regiment in writing is focused on two things: the science fiction novel and updating characters in the Sidewinder Stories. The latter is not something I normally do, but after seeing players forget to update certain notes on their sheets (and thus being unable to survive an encounter) I’ve taken to checking on everyone and making sure they’re all up-to-date.
Might have to write up a “So You’ve Leveled Up” essay in the GameMaster Notes. Something to work on.
It’s about time I started taking a look at those essays I’ve said I’d write up. I have to admit that seeing those links on the homepage and knowing they don’t go anywhere has annoyed me, and I apologize for taking so long to getting to them.
But I’m taking small amounts of time and dedicating it to writing out my thoughts. They’re not going to be the perfect writings I’ve wanted, but they’ll be a good start.
For now, I have a brief on my “What Is Canon?” essay, and it’s here for your perusal.
I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: when a player has a good idea, I have to give it my full attention and add it to my campaigns.
I’ve set up a new feature to the Session Schedule: “Player Talks!”, which is when I have a one-on-one talk with my players over new ideas or concepts. Considering the player I’ve scheduled for today, I’m expecting a list of good ideas and adding on to my work pile.
Which is how it should be! This is what I get for having smart people join my campaigns.
Note: after the talk, I’ve added a new prestige class and page to add on to the web site. This furthers my point of having good players. When they have an idea, I have to stop and listen to them.
I’m off to set up a new prestige class. Stay safe out there, readers!
My children have discovered Sherlock Holmes and are keen for stories based in Victorian London. They saw “Enola Holmes” in the queue and just had to see both movies. I approve.
I have to admit that I am immensely pleased by this. As a story setting, that time is very interesting and almost alien to this upcoming generation. There’s a mystique to the setting for them, as we talk about horse-drawn carriages and the yellow fog of the Industrial Revolution.
Also, as a Union member and former steward, any moment I can show these kids what it means to fight for your rights as a workforce is one I cherish. The late 1800’s were a time of social upheavals and the precursor to even more, and greater, moments of the same.
Study your histories, readers. Great things were done for us to think of commonplace concepts like equality in the modern era, voting rights, safe working environments, and the right to a fair day’s wage for a fair day’s work, which did not exist all that long ago, in the grand scheme of things.
Of course, once they go to bed, I’m left with wanting to enjoy more of that setting on my own. While I could rewatch the films or take down one of my books set in that time period, I thought I should indulge myself and play a video game.
I know, shocking. I actually let myself be entertained by a game for once.
I’m going to stay up for a while and wander around “Syndicate”. The designers are masters of crafting the scenery, and there’ll be moments I’ll just sit on a bench somewhere in London and watch the crowds.
That may sound boring, and for some it is, but trust me, it’s interesting!
An interesting challenge was brought to my attention via our newest player, Jeremy.
Readers, meet Jeremy. Jeremy, meet your new fan base.
Basically, I was going to write a Star Wars story in a Highlander-style, mapping out consequences in the modern-day Main Arc from the choices made in this prequel Side Arc.
With the character concept given by my player, and he being a brand-new player, I’ve found myself truly in my element: teaching tabletop gaming. If I can help a player understand what they’re capable of, and get them comfortable with describing what they want to do, I consider that a victory.
The new player has proven himself to be smart in both important aspects for gaming: he asked questions and explained his strategies. He was introduced to “consequential campaigns” rather quickly, having defenestrated someone in broad daylight.
Everyone does it at least once in their first campaign.
I’ll be making my notes and mapping out how his decisions will affect the Main Arc campaign (he’s starting at 5BBY, while the Main Arc is almost at 2ABY), and I can already see several points just from his first session that will have strong influences on the “future”. It’s turning out to be a lot of fun to write.
If there’s one very simple truth about myself and the concept of gaming, it’s this: I don’t actually get to ‘play’ that often. It’s actually very rare. I run the games, set the scenes and challenges, craft the outcomes and rewards.
To my players who are fanatic looters of downed enemies looking for items, yes you do get rewards in the campaign, they’re just intangible or are set aside until the adventure is over.
But how often do I sit down with the intent of actually playing? Rarely, if ever, especially these days. Not just with tabletop RPGs, but also console/computer games. Up until a year ago, those were a prime means for me to decompress, but my Xbox has a fine layer of dust on it (dusting is on the chore list, I swear, I just hadn’t noticed it until recently) and my Steam account hadn’t been used in months and months.
This isn’t a complaint, really. I’m a nightmare to run RPGs for, namely because I’m so used to being at the helm that I don’t know how to function if I’m not always in control of the scenario (which is ironic, considering that ‘being in control’ of an RPG session just doesn’t happen) or proceed as if I know everything. I harp on my players about meta-gaming (acting with knowledge their character wouldn’t possess) because I know exactly how tempting it is to use said knowledge and how difficult it can be to not use it.
The console and computer games, however, mostly just fell by the wayside. I work most of the day, and though I do sit at my desk for a majority of the evening, I prefer seeing and being with my family more than a screen. I give myself enough anxiety over how I barely get time with my wife and children already.
But I’ve found myself with a late evening to myself. My family was already in bed and I was at my desk, but I wasn’t really wanting to write or plot or craft something. I wanted to react to something rather than make the cause of a reaction. So I booted up Steam and sat through the updates needed to go back to Stellaris.
Ah yes, relaxation via superior firepower. Just the thing.
This game has bittersweet emotions to it. I love RTS games; being able to direct giant-scale battles and oversee the chaos of large governments appeals to my feeling of controlling the scenario. There are also the long, quiet moments when I can simply watch a society develop and come up with stories about them. Stellaris is actually the base I’m using for an upcoming novel I’m working on.
But it’s also a world that I was introduced to by my friend Brady. I could expect a deeply involved conversation about the game every day, but as he died last year, I’ve not been able to step into this game without remembering my lost friend.
In a way, it’s also comforting, going back to such a large-scale strategy game, even if I don’t have my friend to bounce socio-political ideas off of. I still get to think of a story, and I can easily suppose his reactions to my ideas.
All in all, I think he’d enjoy what I’ve come up with, and if that story ever gets published it’ll be dedicated to his memory. For now, however, there’s an enemy fleet that needs devastating.
It’s Saturday! Not only that, but it’s a Game Night!
The players had split into three groups to handle the adventure I’ve written up for them. While the old wisdom says to never split up, having them go in three different directions adds a new challenge to them as well as myself. Can they all move independently of each other and have their decisions affect each other simultaneously? Can I keep up with that and keep the story coherent and entertaining for those players not involved with the current point of view?
I’m excited and terrified at the prospect!
Stay safe out there, readers! Wish the players luck!
With the family off to bed and the house quiet, I’ve stepped into my note-prepping time, what I call “DM Writing” on the Session Calendar.
And I’ve become obsessed with getting these maps fully detailed.
I need bigger graph paper.
Granted, I’ve put a lot of expectations upon myself to give the players as much as possible, but the players do exceedingly well when given this much information. If that’s what they need, then that’s what I will provide.
Stay safe out there, readers! Send large graph paper!
Of course, the Side-Arc session of last night was a lot of fun to play!
Up until the video chats dropped five times in a row, and my image froze on my players’ screen.
The bard is annoyed.
Turns out that the tablet was needing four different updates, which is surprising since I thought I set it up to update automatically. But if you don’t let the thing shut down occasionally (such as when you keep trying to finish a story and have to close the tablet for travel), it never gets updated until it flat-out tells you it needs it.
So, the Side-Arc session didn’t get as far as I had wanted, but we stopped at a good rest point and I can wrap up that adventure in under an hour (or over an hour if I get obsessive and add details), so I’m keeping an eye on my Session Schedule for when that player will be free next.
Today, however, is Sunday, and that is a day of rest (chores)! Time I went off to house-spouse and try to get through my “Three chores and 30 minutes of Writing” routine.
*This post will be updated in the evening, after the session*
It’s Friday morning and I’ll be meeting a new player this evening!
What’s more, this player has little experience with tabletop gaming! Huzzah!
If there’s one thing I enjoy more than telling a story through an RPG, it’s teaching people how to play. I may be strict about adhering to the rulebooks (when it isn’t inconvenient and provides the information I need, otherwise I try my best to make a good judgement call), but I also get to see these players reflect on their choices and enjoy their independence with character creation.
I genuinely want players to enjoy my stories, but what’s more important is that they tell their stories within my campaign. If there’s something they’ve always wanted to read about but never find it on the bookshelves, they get their chance via a character sheet and a d20.
Let’s see what he comes up with.
Stay safe out there, readers!
-JB Swift
*Update* We have a new character! I now have new homework!
His character design is intriguing, and it’ll take time in both the real world and the campaign to fully develop, but I’m excited to see how his story comes about. Plus, I get to make a new Character Archetype!
Swift's Corner 