I can't sleep just yet.
How is roleplaying different from acting? Is it motive? respect? performance for an audience? goal?
Do we, as humans, simply instinctively know that someone is roleplaying or acting?
Or is there a difference? I found this quote attributed to Robert de Niro:
One of the things about acting is it allows you to live other people's lives without having to pay the price.
For the record, I do not yet have an opinion on the forthcoming 4th edition of D&D. It's largely not relevant to me, since I'm not roleplaying enough and I'm not a big fan of straight Tolkien fantasy, but I'm curious as to what has changed over the years.
I know one of the design goals aims to incorporate more online experience, and I've heard that some of the rules aim to include more indie/narrativist/story-oriented/player-driven play that's at the bleeding edge of the definition of roleplaying game. Do I think D&D is going to be a hippy-love-fest game? I doubt it seriously. Do I want to have the option for more play, less single-player driven play, and severely reduced prep time for the GM? Hell, yes.
I don't think D&D can become the kind of game I want to play, and I'm okay with that.
UPDATE: Purple Pawn reports that the books have been leaked onto the net a week before release.
Gorsh has kindly reminded me that this year's Game Chef kicks off tomorrow.
The event has slipped my mind, even though Andy K shouted out an email last week or so. This year looks to have some interesting things for artists, so I'll be sure to let a few folks know.
I haven't roleplayed more than a handful of times since I've been home. I don't know where my muse is wrt game design. Probably having lunch with Maslow. Work blocks the Game Chef and Story-Games forums, and I'm not the most active member of the community. Last year, the quantity of participants turned the event into much more of a group event, with different people in different feedback groups to foster interaction; it worked swimmingly.
Right now, I'm going to take my last year's GC entry, brush off the dust, and read it. I welcome you to play it.
I'm tapping in for this year.
What do I do on the first day of accursed Daylight Saving Time?
I play actual first edition (sorta) D&D via Skype with my old game group in Austin. Tomb of Horrors.
No lie. Word to Gary.
Gary Gygax died today. I grew out of D&D by the time I went to college, but I'm still into role playing games. I don't play as much as I'd like these days.
Say what you like about the man or his games, but you can't deny his influence on the gaming industry. Really, who hasn't played D&D or known someone who has?
I don't like this trend of death lately.
If you roleplay and need a better names reference than a baby name book, check out the Story-Games Name Project, now up on Lulu.
The contents are all Creative Commons, so you can do what you like. With a little digging, you can even get the source PDFs for free, without the nice layout and snazzy art. And hey, eleven bucks ain't that bad for an awesome source book. If you're still waffling for some reason, here's a preview.
The results are in!
I didn't make the Top Eight, but my game ranked in the top third against some pretty stiff competition.
But never fear! This is only incentive to make my game(s) better.
Hooray! I have my first draft of my entry done, with just under 24 hours left until the final deadline. Plenty of time for revisions, layout, and feedback.
The ingredients are live. Are you game?
Please forgive my irregular posting in the next two weeks; with any luck, I'll be glued to my laptop and over-caffeinated, writing like mad. Please keep your fingers crossed for me and my muse!
Less than forty-eight short hours until this year's Game Chef!
If you're not familiar, the Game Chef competition is an intense challenge to create an entire roleplaying game from scratch in two weeks (this year, so much time!) based around a common set of limitations. This is obviously influenced more than a bit by the Iron Chef, where chefs create dishes that must incorporate certain ingredients, but the community owes a lot to NaNoWriMo or the twenty-four hour comic event.
It's about pushing yourself. I won in 2005, and was less than inspired in 2006. I work better under deadlines or external pressure, and I'm really looking forward for the opportunity to write, create, and compete again.
Scott and Jen hosted yesternight's RPG session, and they surprised me with a chocolate birthday cake!
"Hieronymous" ran a one-shot of Hystoire de Fou, an RPG by French author Denis Gerfaud- the same fellow who created Rêve. The premise is something out of Terry Gilliam's idle nightmares, where characters are suddenly in an alternate world of surreal madness.
At one point, we all rolled on a chart to see what sort of strange clothing we were wearing in the mad world. Someone quipped: "An RPG with a fashion accessory table? That's how you know it's French." One of us had on ice skates, another had yellow high-heeled shoes that fit perfectly, and I had some weird kind of sock with traction rubber on the sole. (Yes, evidently there's a word for such a thing in French.)
The session itself was a little off-kilter, since it had been a while since we'd last roleplayed. The game has a few interesting things going for it: Character creation is done on-the-fly, so it feels sort of like the Matrix when Trinity needs to pilot a helicopter. "Of course I can climb! Even though I'm a distinguished surgeon, I have a rock-climbing hobby." "Naturally, I can fight! Even though I'm a dirty hippy slacker, I once took Tai Chi." It was fun to make up in-character justifications for why you suddenly have the skill to do things that you might not normally.
Another interesting aspect of the game is that you can disbelieve nearly anything, and if you roll successfully while your insanity word (mine was "ISOLINEAR"), you can reveal a new shape to whatever it is. So instead of being beaten with baseball bats, we could've been beaten with cotton candy instead. The whole session felt a bit like a fever dream.
At any rate, I had delicious cake in reality.
Jackie is running a playtest session of 1984 Prime tonight. The printed version, not the new fiddly mechanics that I'm liking the direction.
Taking a cue from S. John, here's the current incarnation of my playtest feedback form.
The 20' By 20' Room has a post on the racial metaphors in roleplaying games, particularly Shadowrun with its transformed metahumans in a dark cyberpunk future.
Please do read those comments.
If you've ever played an RPG ever or are remotely aware of the Lord of the Rings in any medium whatsoever, you should go read these comics.
Support the Non-Waterlogged Blog. Buy stuff from Amazon.
Are you still using Microsoft's Internet Explorer? Why, for all that's good in the world, why? Get with the program and get Firefox.
DriveSavers have saved my bacon (and data) at least twice. If you need data recovery, I highly recommend them.
You can always buy me stuff from my ThinkGeek wishlist or my Funagain wishlist.
Like games? Shop at Funagain. I get a kickback in store credit, you get a deal.
