From heather at burningvoid.com Tue Jan 21 08:32:03 2003 From: heather at burningvoid.com (Heather Grove) Date: Wed Aug 18 00:40:46 2004 Subject: [Twilight Time] Prophecies Amuck! Message-ID: <3E2D41EB.90706@burningvoid.com> January 20, 2003 - Prophecies Amuck! Volume 4, Issue 1 This is the Twilight Time zine, the free zine of the Burning Void: http://www.burningvoid.com/ Copyright 2003 by Burning Void Publishing and Heather Grove, except where noted otherwise. You may forward it via email to other people, but only in its entirety - do not alter the contents. This copyright notice must go with it. Do not repost or reprint by any other means without direct permission. To subscribe or unsubscribe, change your options, or view the archives: http://two.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/twilighttime You can also subscribe by sending an email with a subject of "subscribe" (without the quotes) to Twilighttime-request@burningvoid.com Good morning! It's way too cold here. We actually have a weather advisory for wind chill in effect this morning. So it's a good morning to stay inside and send out the zine! I'm sorry it's a day late, but we had a holiday here yesterday. Happy new year, and welcome back for 2003. Since several people were asking whether there was any way to support the site and the zine other than the few affiliate links here and there on the site, we put in a PayPal donation button (on the main page, the writers' and roleplayers' resources pages, and the zine info page). Anything that anyone cares to donate will help to defray web hosting and similar expenses. Obviously this is voluntary--you'll keep getting the zine whether or not you feel like donating! We greatly appreciate the interest in helping out. We hope the new year finds you healthy and happy, and we hope you have a fantastic 2003! Have a great afternoon, Heather PS--I apologize if I've been a little slow with replying to anyone's email. It's been a hectic month! +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Prophecies Amuck! There's more to the prophecy plot than high-epic "the Player Characters (PCs) must save the planet" deals. Those are fun of course, but sometimes something a little more unusual is called for. In that vein, here are some thoughts on possible prophecy plot variations. Turn them around even further, or just adapt them to your game, and give your players a surprise! #1. The prophesied messiah goes bad. According to prophecy, only one person can stop the villains. So what happens when that person goes over to the wrong side? What happens when she decides she doesn't want to save or help anyone? That she'd much rather kill people, rob people, make a fast buck, or just plain go on vacation? It's up to the PCs to answer this question, and they'd better answer it fast. The prophecy was told for a reason and there's work to be done. Maybe they need to convince the prophesied messiah to change sides again. Maybe they need to hold someone she loves hostage until she does what is necessary. Or maybe they need to find a way to get things done without her. Perhaps it's time for them to find another prophecy... #2. The prophecies are true, but useless or inconsequential. Everyone expects a prophecy to be the key to something amazing. Prophets are frequently pictured as madmen (or they're at least touched with lunacy)--it isn't easy to see the future, particularly in the modern world where few people believe in such things. The word "prophecy" holds connotations of power and world-changing events, but with that much insanity running around, who's to say that every prophecy hits the mark? The prophecy of course is couched in verse and analogy. The PCs must try to figure out what it means and presumably do something about it. But what if it's just a cryptic menu for the next holiday feast, or a recipe for cinnamon rolls? What if it's a note that on April the sixteenth, an oil truck will run over someone's pet? If the prophecy has lines in it that could be misinterpreted, the PCs could end up in quite the comedy of errors. They might find themselves getting involved in random events that have no relation to the prophecy, or which are completely unimportant. WARNING: Only try this if your players don't mind a bit of misdirection and pointless silliness! It's the sort of plot that works for some groups and games, and definitely not for others. Another alternative is to turn the seemingly pointless prophecy around again. So it's a recipe for cinnamon rolls--what if it's a recipe that someone desperately wants? Or it's a prediction about the death of someone's pet--what if saving the pet will put a very powerful person into the party's debt? #3. Someone prophesies doom and destruction for the PCs. Most prophecy-plots require the PCs to fulfill the prophecies. They must find the item, destroy the villain, or work the pivotal magic. The PCs will not, however, want to fulfill this particular sort of prophecy! The PCs hear a prophecy that spells their doom. They have reason to believe the source of the prophecy--they know from past experience or by reputation that it's reliable, or the prophecy involves small signs that they can verify. The point of the plot is for them to find some way to avoid the prophecy. Sometimes this means averting a number of the smaller parts of the prophecy, with the assumption that once those have been averted, the party has changed the entire future of the prophecy. Sometimes the prophecy must be dealt with head-on. Sometimes the PCs must go through several iterations of believing they've dealt with their dark fate before they find the true key. WARNING: When this variation on the prophecy-plot appears in literature and on TV, it usually centers around the idea of free will: do the PCs have free will? Can they change the future, or are they doomed to repeat it? Because of this, it's important that you allow them to have their free will--otherwise you defeat the whole theme of the plot. Don't decide ahead of time exactly how the plot will come out and then push the party into that end-point. Figure out what's likely, what's possible, and how, and then set your party loose. (If you need more information on the free will issue, there's a whole series of articles on our RPG resources page.) #4. Non-player characters (NPCs) are the focus of the prophecies. We've all heard of "the PC glow," I'm sure (or some variant on it). It's that invisible aura that results in the PCs being the focus of every plot out there. It's the reason why everyone pulls them into their schemes. (Okay, so a lot of game masters (GMs) have found good, logical reasons why the plots center around the PCs. But not everyone has.) What if, for once, the PCs didn't have that glow? What if the prophecies centered around someone else for a change? Perhaps the PCs need to protect an important person who is prophesied to die. Perhaps they must stop a villain prophesied to take over the world. (For once it isn't the good guys who are prophesied to win!) Maybe a prophecy states that a young man will lead his people to freedom, and the PCs must help him learn what he needs to know to be a good leader. Or perhaps they must help him overcome his enemies. WARNING: Make sure you've left room for the PCs to have an effect on this plot! Just because the plot *centers* on someone else doesn't mean that the PCs can't determine how the plot comes out. You don't want the party to turn into observers; they should still drive the events of the story. #5. NPCs invent a prophecy to hoodwink the PCs. A group of NPCs produces a prophecy and makes a big deal out of it. They use it as "proof" that the PCs are destined to help them out of their miserable situation. But the prophecy is false! The NPCs made it up to convince the PCs to help them. Is the cause a good one, one that the PCs might be glad they've helped out with even once they find out they've been tricked? Or do the PCs realize they've been working for the wrong side? Does everything work out, or do the PCs need to find a way to right the wrongs they've perpetrated in the name of fate? What about NPCs who use a bit of psychology? They arrange for the PCs to hear a prophecy of their own doom and destruction (we're combining #3 and #5 here). This prophecy is false, however. The NPCs hope that the prophecy will send the PCs off on a wild goose chase, send them into hiding, or make them so nervous that they hesitate or screw up. The NPCs might even arrange for a few "signs" to convince the PCs of the validity of the prophecy. If the NPCs are feeling particularly motivated, they might even try to bring about the circumstances of the prophecy, hoping to use the PCs' fear to destroy them. CAVEAT: There must always be a way for the PCs to figure out that they're being fooled, otherwise the players are likely to feel used and frustrated! #6. The PCs could use prophecy for fun and prophet--err, profit. Who says the PCs themselves can't have a little prophecy fun? Perhaps an NPC friend suggests that he could dress himself up as a mad prophet. This man arrives in a town a couple of days before the rest of the party and, with a little shrewd timing (or perhaps a little magical help of one kind or another) establishes a reputation as a true prophet with a knack for helping people. Just before the PCs arrive, he produces a prophecy about great heroes who are destined to help the town against an unknown enemy. Then the "prophet" can give himself a makeover and rejoin the party, or stick around in his disguise. The PCs could probably live off of the town's generosity for at least a week before anyone became too suspicious. If they were particularly clever and arranged for an "unknown enemy" for them to fight (or found one), they might be able to fool the town for even longer. If they had an enemy already in the area, they could use this gambit to get the town to support them in their fight. But what's in it for the friend? He must have had some reason for setting all this up. Perhaps he has his own reasons for wanting to establish a reputation as a skilled prophet. Or perhaps he isn't such a good friend after all, and he thinks he can fleece the townspeople while he's there, leaving the party to take the blame. Or perhaps there's someone in the town he wants to hurt, and he's going to set that person up as the "unknown enemy" once his reputation has been established. #7. Prophecies have highly interpretable signs. The verse or analogy in which many prophecies are written just screams for misinterpretation. What if a prophecy means one thing, but could be read as meaning something entirely different? The GM could write up some "prophecies" ahead of time. He tries to write them so that the PCs will misinterpret them in a certain way; this is difficult, but possible. Better yet, the GM can listen to the players as they try to interpret the verse themselves. If they come up with interesting ideas, he can turn some of them into false leads. WARNING: Don't push the players too far in the wrong direction. Use contextual clues to cause them to steer *themselves* in the wrong direction. As always, make sure there's a way for them to figure out what's really going on. And, of course, this has the usual "not every group of players will be happy with this kind of plot" caveat. Know your players and their preferences before trying out a plot that involves misleading them. #8. Different versions of a prophecy exist. The PCs get their hands on an old prophecy about a coming catastrophe. It details the signs that will lead up to the disaster, how it will come about, and how it may be stopped. The PCs set off to do their duty. On the way they get their hands on another prophecy about the same event. This one also details the preceding signs, the catastrophe, and how to stop it. Too bad the verses are wildly different! Most likely, a little bit of each verse is correct. Each prophet had some idea of what was to come, but he didn't want to say that he just didn't know the rest so he made it up. Or perhaps one prophet heard that another had prophesied this horrible thing, and he figured his reputation would be ruined if he didn't also produce a prophecy. Maybe someone spread false versions to distract people from the correct one. At any rate, the PCs must figure out what's really happening, and deal with it, before it's too late. As always, make sure the PCs have a way to figure out the truth of the matter! Many of these ideas can be mixed and matched to good end. The multiple prophecies in #8 could all be highly interpretable as in #7. Just remember that prophecy-plots don't have to be straightforward and normal. They can be as twisted and confusing as any other plot! What's Your Opinion?: Comments on this issue's topic? Suggestions? Tips? Special topic requests? Drop me a line at (heather@burningvoid.com). If I pass any of your suggestions on (either through the newsletter or the RPG resources page), I'll attribute them to you. Be sure to tell me if you don't want me to use your name and/or comments! The next issue is coming in just a few weeks--early February. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SITE UPDATE: Burning Void Roleplaying Resources: http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/roleplaying/resources.html http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/writing/ms/essay/style1.html Heather's Roleplaying Game Writer's Style Guide - Part I. General stuff, attitudes, style and voice, structure, the basics, and abstract elements. http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/writing/ms/essay/style2.html Part II: Adventure-Writing! Burning Void Writers' Resources: http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/writing/resources.html +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ RATINGS: You can give the Twilight Time Zine a rating on the RPG Gateway to let us know how we're doing: http://www.rpggateway.com/cgi-bin/wyrm/rate.cgi?ID=5288 The same goes for the Burning Void RPG resources page: http://www.rpggateway.com/cgi-bin/wyrm/rate.cgi?ID=1392 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Advertiser Instructions: If you wish to have an advertisement appear in this newsletter, please email to come to an arrangement. We're also willing to print several small one-paragraph RPG-related news announcements for free each issue. (We reserve the right to refuse any ad or announcement.) Privacy Policy: We do not sell or give out your information. We will never ever hand out your email addresses (or any other information that we somehow end up with), barring a legal requirement to do so. Unsubscribe: The Burning Void Roleplaying Resources Newsletter is entirely voluntary and opt-in ONLY. If you are receiving this directly from us and you did not sign up for this newsletter then something is wrong. Please use the unsubscribe instructions below. If that does not work, let us know right away at . In order to unsubscribe, visit http://two.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/twilighttime sign in (if you've forgotten your password, the system can email it to you), and follow the instructions. Or, send an email with a subject of "unsubscribe" (without the quotes) to twilighttime-request@burningvoid.com From heather at burningvoid.com Mon Feb 10 08:50:20 2003 From: heather at burningvoid.com (Heather Grove) Date: Wed Aug 18 00:40:46 2004 Subject: [Twilight Time] On Being a Bard, Part 1 of 2 Message-ID: <3E47A45A.1050903@burningvoid.com> February 10, 2003 - On Being a Bard, Part 1 of 2 Volume 4, Issue 2 This is the Twilight Time zine, the free zine of the Burning Void: http://www.burningvoid.com/ Copyright 2003 by Burning Void Publishing and Heather Grove, except where noted otherwise--such as this week's article. You may forward it via email to other people, but only in its entirety - do not alter the contents. This copyright notice must go with it. Do not repost or reprint by any other means without direct permission. To subscribe or unsubscribe, change your options, or view the archives: http://two.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/twilighttime You can also subscribe by sending an email with a subject of "subscribe" (without the quotes) to Twilighttime-request@burningvoid.com Good morning! We're doing something different this issue. The makers of the upcoming "Promised Sands" RPG asked if we'd be interested in running an excerpt of the game, and after reading the GMing chapter excerpt they sent, I agreed. There's some neat stuff in there, but it's a bit long, so I'm breaking it up over this issue and the next. I hope you enjoy the new perspective! In two issues' time we'll be back to our regularly scheduled programming. In the meantime, as usual you'll find links at the end of the zine to new web site articles. By the way, I got so many readers' tips regarding prophecies that I'm going to run them all as their own issue after I'm done with the excerpts. Otherwise this issue would be prohibitively long! So if you were thinking of emailing me with a related suggestion, get it in soon and I might include it (heather@burningvoid.com). Have a great afternoon, Heather +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ CHAPTER X: On Being A Bard -- Part 1 [This is an excerpt from the soon to be released game, "Promised Sands". This section is written by Butch Miller. For more information, please visit us online at: http://www.bbrack.com/ and be sure to ask your local retailer about "Promised Sands"--the release date is May 2003.] "The greatest status of all the people in this world is given the Bard. He is the bringer of hope, the keeper of memories, the interpreter of dreams. When a Bard comes into a settlement, people gather around eager to hear news of far away places, strange creatures and exotic heroes. It is a time of celebration for a village. In return, they offer their stories to the Bard hoping that he will bring news of them with him on his journeys. Of all the things I could have chosen to be, the choice of being a Bard is the most blessed I have ever made". -Culrain, Traveling Historian The Art of Barding Some would say that the job of the Bard is to tell the tale, pure and simple. In his capacity as the storyteller, the master of the tale, the game master, in this instance, some would say that his job is to craft the story and the setting, the world and the happenings around the characters as they react to their world. Indeed, this is the traditional role for the game master. You will weave a tale of drama and action around a central theme and watch as the players dance to your music. To a large degree, this is your job. Your players expect you to entertain them. As the Bard, you are the final arbiter in questions on rules, descriptions, what can be done, what can't be done. You are the narrator of the tale. You are the deciding factor in the world. Some would say that this position of control makes you, at the very least, a representative of the Creator. Will you be kind? Will you be just? Will your players let you Bard again? They all interrelate. If you arbitrarily abuse your players, don't expect them to welcome you at the table again. But, if you are too kind to them, you will create spoiled brats who will run the game into a farce. The best-run games are those that take place with the Bard creating a framework around which both the Bard and the players create the tale. Let your players define their surroundings and they will help you create a better tale than you could ever manage on your own. You will find that the creative energy in a group of players exceeds anything you can capture alone. They will offer ideas and descriptive flavor that will enhance and illuminate your world. Often, accidentally! Allow your players the freedom to describe the world around their characters through their actions and their statements of character responses. Use their imaginations and creativity to color the world and create a more beautiful picture. Example: You have designed a scene that takes place in a barn-like structure to house grain and straw for animals. The players are in this building when they are set upon by a group of ruffians. One player decides to climb to the next level up. As the ruffians converge upon the rest of the group, the player on the 2nd floor states, "I want to swing down from the dangling ropes hanging from the rafters." You are now set with a dilemma. You can tell her that there are no ropes hanging from the rafters--and squelch her creativity. Or you can revise your perspective of the barn, accept that there are now a) rafters that can be swung down from and b) ropes that are on those rafters and say, "Make a roll against your Swinging skill." By allowing your players creativity in developing the scene, you give them a sense of ownership of the scene and the events. Not only do you offload a lot of the descriptive work from yourself, but you expand the story from something that you are telling them, to a story they involve themselves within. You will need to let common sense guide the situation, of course. Having a player state that there is something that would not fit, unbalance the game, not fit into the world, etc. would be nixed by you. So long as the player chooses to do something that makes sense for the scene, you can run with it. Your players will have more fun and you will gain a sense of the unexpected, which will make things more fun for you, as well. Of all the players in a game of Promised Sands, the Bard has the biggest job. The Bard is everyone in the world who is not a player character. The Bard is the storyteller, the motivator, the archvillain and oldest friend. The Bard is responsible for setting the tone, the pacing, and the feel of the entire session. Whether serving in a single night's play (a session) or an ongoing storyline told over the course of weeks or even years (a campaign), the role of Bard brings with it a special responsibility to ensure that the time spent playing is three things: fun, memorable, and focused. "The Bards carry with them intricate knowledge of their surroundings. We should learn from them, if we ever hope to settle here." -Culrain, Traveling Historian Fun, Memorable, and Focused Fun is the main reason we humans game in the first place. Gaming, and role-playing gaming in particular, is a social interaction with an unwritten contract between all the players. This contract states, more than anything else, 'We are all here to have a good time.' The Bard is the host of this good time, and, unfortunately, is sometimes the sergeant-at-arms as well. Everything should contribute to all of the players having the best time possible. This doesn't mean that setbacks within the game can't occur just because someone doesn't like it. T'nah is a harsh mistress, and death is often the abrupt end of a career. But it does mean that the Bard should deliver such setbacks in a manner that the player--not the character, but the real person--knows that it's all part of the game, and not a petty vengeance for some real-life incident between the Bard's player and the PC's player, or just bloodlust on the Bard's behalf. Bards should keep the 'golden rule,' in one of its incarnations, in mind. If you were the player and you would feel wronged by a decision, then reconsider that decision. Sometimes life just isn't fair and the Bard has to deliver the news, but sometimes the Bard can change the news without sacrificing the story or events of the world at large, and in doing so, provide a better environment for gaming. Always keep in mind that your storytelling is only successful if all of the people playing enjoy the story. The players are real people, and even though their characters are not, the players nonetheless relate to those characters closely. In one sense they are similar to actors who may be attached to the character they play; imagine how Bela Lugosi would have responded to a script wherein Dracula is an ineffective and unfrightening buffoon, a nitwit incapable of any success whatsoever. I think it's safe to say there would be stout objection. Can a player be expected to object any less, when a fate they disagree with, and find completely outside the realm of the likely, comes to their character? Yet in another sense, they can even be much more closely tied to the character than that. Actors have a script; they portray the emotions of surprise, shock, pain, and so on, and yet the actor knows what befalls the character in the end. Players don't have this mercy, and often portray their charges with all the vigor and will with which humans cling to life, in no small part because they helped to create this character. The player character is, in a larger sense than any actor's role, a part of the player, and thus the potential for an emotional bond is greater than a role in a play or film. So bards need to keep in mind that some players will be more sensitive to the events of the game than others, and therefore a fun atmosphere is not just healthy and worthwhile; it is, to some, imperative. Because when the character dies, if they didn't have fun 'living it out,' then it was all a painful, futile waste. A heroic death is often a fitting end, but a meaningless death is bitter, even in fiction. But the opposite of fun is not usually upsetting; at least in role-playing games, it's more likely to be boring. Boredom is the bard's great enemy. When players are stacking dice into little towers, or standing to stretch and wander around the table every ten minutes, or constantly distracted by talk of work or mundane things over which that they'd normally prefer to discuss gaming, it's clear the fun has ebbed and the bard has a boredom situation. Don't take it personally when your players get bored. Everyone has a different tolerance for things; Jane may thrive on political intrigue while John may snooze through it all, waking up only when he gets to leap into battle. Try and balance it for all of your players. Try and 'read' them, to know when they're interested, to know what specific sorts of titillation work on each of them, and then try to provide adequately for everyone to stay involved. Campaigns have to consist of more than combat, because combat is the culmination of conflict. It's true that a fight or death can become a grudge, which means more conflict and more combat. Yet the more reasons there are for a fight, the more interesting, and fun, and memorable the fight will be. So try to avoid random combat; the more pointed the fight, the better. Granted, creatures will defend their water, even if the players don't see the creature or the creature's water. But as Bard, try to ensure that every fight is going somewhere, that there is possibly more to be found behind the scenes. This is where it is important to be focused, and to manage a focused game. Not every path on the road of probability leads toward a given desired end, but in the story of our lives, every path we take does lead us toward our end. The game should reflect this, and should circulate around the characters, however insignificant they are in the 'big picture.' The events of any session should be focused toward resolving the situations in which the characters are involved. While detours or side routes can be memorable fun, they should certainly be the exception and not the rule. For example, if every episode of a sci-fi television series based on investigating the unknown were to be based on old black and white horror films, or if every episode of a horror series were to model a Broadway musical, then the very nature of the shows would be something different. This makes focus important, and it also makes rare deviations from that focus both viable and potentially powerful. That is also one of the biggest things leading to the true memorability of a session or campaign. Some sort of twist, something unexpected. There must be enough normalcy to establish a norm--but beyond that, the wilder, the better. Promised Sands has room for almost any sort of fantastic, miraculous, inexplicable event, and an event like that can launch, or reinvigorate, an unforgettable campaign. "As the fire dimmed, the Bard strummed his harp and began speaking in a low, strong voice. He told of Arywan the Bard bringing songs and hope to settlements before finally passing from the world in a song of steel. Villagers hung on his every word, feeling every touch on the harp stirring emotions within them. They were there as Arywan rescued a caravan from Ch'ak warriors. They fled with him through the starlit night. They stood with him on the green grass, as the warriors closed in and the song ended." -Culrain, Traveling Historian Descriptive Immersion Good Bards will have enough of the world described to give the players a strong feel for the world. This does not mean that you need to go into excruciating detail and describe every minute facet of the world around your players' characters-but you should at least tickle their senses. A very good approach is to describe each scene and touch all of their senses at least once in the description. Remember, too, that some characters may have other senses beyond human norm, so think about how the world will look and feel to those senses as well. World flavor can include the sights and sounds of the world around them. It can be the smell of the kamel dung on the ground at their feet. It can include the jostling of the crowd as they approach the busiest section of the souq. The hot, dry breeze carrying the scent of sweating bodies and rank food mixed with the musk of animal dung and tang of vomit will tell you more about the place you are in than a flavorless description. If the characters have to shield their eyes from the glare of the sun across the pool of open water at the center of the souq, while a gentle passing nudge feels their most obvious pocket for a pouch, and is then vanished into the crowd, then you have told them a hundred things in just one sentence. You have created a web of description. By tickling one or two senses with some description, they have created the scene around them. They can probably even see the multicolored hues of the crowd, the strange and unusual people leading even stranger animals through the morass of sweat and grit. These are the kinds of descriptions that will immerse your players into the world. They will see it, feel it, taste it, smell it and hear it. And in so doing, you will let your players experience a world that does not exist. The more immersed in the world they become, the more in-character they will be able to play. Your player's roleplaying ability is, in large part, due to your ability to describe the world to them and immerse their senses in it. Coming next issue, in early March: Part 2! What's Your Opinion?: Comments on this issue's topic? Suggestions? Tips? Special topic requests? Drop me a line at (heather@burningvoid.com). If I pass any of your suggestions on (either through the newsletter or the RPG resources page), I'll attribute them to you. Be sure to tell me if you don't want me to use your name and/or comments! +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SITE UPDATE: Burning Void Roleplaying Resources: http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/roleplaying/resources.html http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/writing/ms/essay/style3.html Part 3 of the RPG writer's style guide concentrates on rules and mechanics. http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/writing/ms/essay/style4.html Part 4 of the style guide covers gaming fiction! Burning Void Writers' Resources: http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/writing/resources.html +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ANNOUNCEMENTS: (copyright stays with the company; announcements may be edited for length) Hogshead Returns under New Management 3 February 2003 (London, UK): Hogshead Publishing Ltd. announced today that it is under new management and that the company will continue to publish role-playing games. Mark Ricketts, the new owner, bought the successful RPG company from James Wallis, who started Hogshead in 1994. The transition to new management for Hogshead will be a smooth one. Not only will Hogshead Publishing Ltd. remain at the same address in London, the company also retains its full-time production editor, Carol Johnson, who has been working at Hogshead since 2000. Hogshead will have new games out by GenCon US in August 2003. Mark and Carol are working out the new production schedule, and new titles are likely to be added as negotiations for various popular franchises are explored. Hogshead intends for all its new games to be cross compatible with the D20 'open game' license, but useful as a resource any game system. All game lines will be fully supported with a dynamic schedule of supplements and online material. Hogshead Publishing will be posting regular updates on our website (http://www.hogshead.demon.co.uk/ ) as well as selling surplus stock. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ RATINGS: You can give the Twilight Time Zine a rating on the RPG Gateway to let us know how we're doing: http://www.rpggateway.com/cgi-bin/wyrm/rate.cgi?ID=5288 The same goes for the Burning Void RPG resources page: http://www.rpggateway.com/cgi-bin/wyrm/rate.cgi?ID=1392 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Advertiser Instructions: If you wish to have an advertisement appear in this newsletter, please email to come to an arrangement. We're also willing to print several small one-paragraph RPG-related news announcements for free each issue. (We reserve the right to refuse any ad or announcement.) Privacy Policy: We do not sell or give out your information. We will never hand out your email addresses (or any other information that we somehow end up with), barring a legal requirement to do so. Unsubscribe: The Burning Void Roleplaying Resources Newsletter is entirely voluntary and opt-in ONLY. If you are receiving this directly from us and you did not sign up for this newsletter then something is wrong. Please use the unsubscribe instructions below. If that does not work, let us know right away at . In order to unsubscribe, visit http://two.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/twilighttime sign in (if you've forgotten your password, the system can email it to you), and follow the instructions. Or, send an email with a subject of "unsubscribe" (without the quotes) to twilighttime-request@burningvoid.com From heather at burningvoid.com Mon Mar 3 09:24:20 2003 From: heather at burningvoid.com (Heather Grove) Date: Wed Aug 18 00:40:46 2004 Subject: [Twilight Time] On Being a Bard, Part 2 of 2 Message-ID: <3E635A67.4010003@burningvoid.com> March 3, 2003 - On Being a Bard, Part 2 of 2 Volume 4, Issue 3 This is the Twilight Time zine, the free zine of the Burning Void: http://www.burningvoid.com/ Copyright 2003 by Burning Void Publishing and Heather Grove, except where noted otherwise--such as this week's article. You may forward it via email to other people, but only in its entirety - do not alter the contents. This copyright notice must go with it. Do not repost or reprint by any other means without direct permission. To subscribe or unsubscribe, change your options, or view the archives: http://two.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/twilighttime You can also subscribe by sending an email with a subject of "subscribe" (without the quotes) to Twilighttime-request@burningvoid.com Good morning! This time we bring you part 2 of that excerpt from "Promised Sands." Next issue we have a bunch of reader comments on prophecies (we also have a related article on the web site this week; check the links after the article), and after that--well, after that we have a surprise. :) I'll tell you more in the next issue! Have a great day, Heather +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ CHAPTER X: On Being A Bard --Part 2 [This is an excerpt from the soon to be released game, "Promised Sands". This section is written by Butch Miller. For more information, please visit us online at: http://www.bbrack.com/ and be sure to ask your local retailer about "Promised Sands"--the release date is May 2003.] "Travelling as a Bard I have learned much from people I have encountered. In return, I have given them a gift of story and hope. There is nothing greater in all the worlds."-Culrain, Traveling Historian Non-Player Characters and Contacts Another method of injecting personality and flavor into the world is through the Non Player Characters, or NPCs, that the characters encounter. Each one should be as unique as you can manage. You can use stereotypes and commonalities to bring them alive to the players, but be sure to give each one a uniqueness. You can pick up ideas on how to portray your NPCs nearly anywhere and everywhere you go. Simply watch the people around you and make note of how they act, their behavior, their way of speaking, mannerisms and even nervous tics. Adding even a single element that's different from the way that you--the person they know--acts or talks is enough to convey to them that they are not dealing with the Bard when you are talking or acting or snorting or chuckling or whatever in that particular way. As you develop people for them to talk to, it is wise to jot down the information you think of to animate their personality in a notebook. It's possible that the players will seek this character out again. If the character is strong, it may become as familiar to the players as their own characters. In some cases, a player character death can also result in you turning over the play of an NPC to that player so they can continue to enjoy the world without having to take the time to draw up a whole new character. When it comes to the contacts of the characters, you really need to keep track of their interaction. If a player is frivolous or nasty to his contacts, then the contacts should begin to react to them negatively. Being someone's acquaintance and friend is not easy to maintain. There is a certain amount of social interaction that needs to occur to keep up friendships and associations. Keep this in mind as you play their contacts. It is also fun to encourage your players to draw up a character that represents their contacts. Not only does this flesh out the contact in much greater detail, but it can be provided to someone to play in a pinch or after a character death. The bottom line when portraying a person in the world you are creating around your players is to make it each one unique in some way. Every uniqueness will bring alive the character you are portraying and aid in the suspension of disbelief. It all goes into the flavor the world that you are giving to your players. Present them the world like a delicious stew that makes them want to come back for another bowl. Playing NPCs It can be a delicate balancing act between focus and memorability, but it's the role of the Bard to achieve it. You have many tools at your disposal to accomplish this task. The most obvious means to counter boredom and make the sessions fun is for you to really play up your part while performing as an NPC. Variations in tone of voice, body language (a surprisingly overlooked aspect of running a roleplaying game) and in the 'personality' of NPC's, always helps. Voice and body language are the most immediate and visceral tools the Bard has to transport the players from sitting around the kitchen table and into the souqs and deserts of T'nah. Accents and vocal mannerisms are easy to learn and invent, and due care should be given to keeping NPC's consistent with themselves. You ought not to have a character speak with a roughly American accent one session and a roughly Australian the next. If you opt to signify game race with a given real-life accent, this should be maintained with complete consistency. Stutters; gutteral, nasal, or chirpy vocal timbres; simulating the character to be hard of hearing or forgetful; all of these are simple ways of making a character more individualized and realistic. Body language can be subtle or overt. Talking with your hands is fine and normal. Hands which shout instead of speak is less common; picture an almost uncontrollable flailing of the arms and fingers whilst speaking. Mute hands are also rare; the picture of the extreme introvert, hands firmly at the side, little or no motion of the head, perhaps with eyes or face downcast. One would expect such a person to speak quietly and be very shy, a poor source of information. Surprises don't hurt characterization, though; the extrovert with shouting hands may have nothing to say while using many words to say it, and the introvert with mute hands could be an exceptionally devoted rebel, providing the characters with huge amounts of insight into the workings of various organizations. Keep the players on their toes, and even though you should give hints in body language, make sure you don't give it all away, either. But even if these extremes aren't used, be sure to use your body language to convey the NPC as well as words. Interested listeners lean into the speaker, or subconsciously open themselves by keeping their arms free or putting an arm or leg closer. Disinterested listeners or speakers look about and keep a distinct 'bubble' around themselves by holding their arms folded. Sometimes subtle clues in body language can even counteract the words the NPC is saying, leaving the players wondering if perhaps there isn't more to the exchange than was said. Caution should be used, of course, but the Bard can easily change the mood of the game when appropriate by props and unexpected actions. When playing a rowdy bar scene, for example, set some bottles on the table, dim the lights, turn some music up a little so you need to speak more loudly than normal. Roleplay a raucous drinker; slap the table, knock an empty bottle over, laugh far too loudly, be too touchy, too moody, or too standoffish. Or when the characters are brought before rulers, an important figure may demand obeisance with heads bowed and the avoidance of eye contact; impose upon the players that they may not look up while the leader is speaking. If they do actually look at you when you speak, role-play as if they broke the rules and the leader becomes offended. (Or secretly pleased--regardless, some result should occur.) Take these examples and run with them. Cliches can kill interest in a campaign as surely as they can kill interest in a book or movie. Even when people willingly suspend their disbelief, they have their limits--while we can accept the basic premise of a fantastic setting without batting an eye, a cartoonish or cardboard cut-out style character in that setting sets our radars beeping. It's poor craftsmanship and poor storytelling, and it says to those witnessing that the creator didn't bother to invest any time in the character being portrayed. Even if it's just on a subconscious level, we begin to lose faith in such a construct, and that begins to gnaw at our interest. For example, all barkeeps shouldn't be chubby, surly people with clubs. Perhaps the players would be surprised to find that the innkeeper of one of the largest such establishments in Sephas is of the introverted, mute hands types, and he is rarely heard without repeating himself; when things get broken in his establishment, he sighs and sends a boy to fetch a replacement, rather than leaping defensively into the fray. Use old archetypes and cliches for NPC's, but never rely on them; this makes the Bard, and the campaign, too predictable, and thus easily subject to boredom. Sentient beings have histories and lives; they suffer from insanity, disease, grief, lust, greed, envy, hatred, love, addiction; they may be rational or irrational at times, as their mood fits, and they are not any more or less consistent than the players and Bard are. What does it matter that you made the person up? It's still a person. Use all of these things and more to add depth to the NPCs your characters interact with, and the world of T'nah will be a richer place in your game. World Conventions There are a few specifics about life in T'nah that you should keep in mind while playing and, for the Bard, preparing for play. Inns--These are rare. They are few and far-between in every part of T'nah; unlike other fantasy role-playing games, it is not a given that at the end of a day's travel the party can find a roadside inn. They will not. Rooms for rent, boarding houses, inns; these things often--not always, but often--exist within city limits, or near enough to a city that the benefits of the location extend to encompass the establishment. They are almost nonexistent elsewhere, and should one be encountered, there is almost certainly a story to be told regarding how it came to be there. Souqs--Souqs are common where people have gathered to survive. They are usually chaotic masses of T'nahran life. There is no 'set list' of equipment, goods, or wares to be found from place to place. Certainly some things are much more likely to be available; most souqs have vendors dealing in weaponry and survival gear, and any food and water available in the area will be for sale, though the quality and expense can be ridiculously varied from place to place. However, as Bard, you should be clear that the players should never expect to find any given thing at a souq, and even if an item is in stock one time, it may not be there the next. The climate of the souq draws literally all sorts of people, from the dregs of society to the greatest of leaders (albeit this often by proxy). Extreme Conditions-Everywhere, at all times, the environment, the climate, the ecosystem of T'nah is hostile to life. The cold of the Glacial Wastes is deeper and more deadly than the cold of our own Arctic Circle. The heat of the desert is greater and drier than that of the deserts we know. The Winds of Thulh are more powerful than any hurricane we know of in our world. The fados of the desert-even small ones--are more destructive than our tornadoes. Survival gear, and a constant mind for checking that gear and thinking of the weather, is not optional. Bards need not be afraid of relentlessly imposing these conditions; to truly capture T'nah, you must ruthlessly impose these conditions. The climate kills more often and more quickly than the deadliest warriors of the world, and this should be made clear immediately and often. Modern Concepts-Most modern concepts are irrelevant in T'nah. The concepts of freedom and personal rights are entirely different, at the same time much greater and far more limited. Hygiene is viewed quite differently, food and water preparation are secondary to obtaining them in the first place, and legalities often either totally dominate a place or have no meaning whatsoever. Most T'nahrans are not well-read, and even were there something for them to read, most are illiterate; consider for a moment how differently your own thought processes may be were you unable to read, never having learned the things you have from books and letters. Now consider a world full of this, where any sort of scholarly learning is not only unavailable to you directly, but is also unavailable indirectly. Players should be prepared to think in as different of a manner as they are able; Bards must attempt to place their perspective in this different place. Motivations are different as a result of the lack of modern thought, and even attempting to think in this manner while preparing adventures will greatly enhance the Bard's ability to generate stories with depth and the ring of veracity. What's Your Opinion?: Comments on this issue's topic? Suggestions? Tips? Special topic requests? Drop me a line at (heather@burningvoid.com). If I pass any of your suggestions on (either through the newsletter or the RPG resources page), I'll attribute them to you. Be sure to tell me if you don't want me to use your name and/or comments! The next issue is coming in just a few weeks--late March. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SITE UPDATE: Burning Void Roleplaying Resources: http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/roleplaying/resources.html http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/roleplaying/Essays/prophecyconf.html Prophecy Confusions--Ever thought that confusing, ambiguous prophecies seemed a little arbitrary and senseless? Here's our guide to making them ambiguous and weird for a *reason.* http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/writing/ms/essay/style5.html It's part 5 of the style guide: plagiarism! Burning Void Writers' Resources: http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/writing/resources.html +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ RATINGS: You can give the Twilight Time Zine a rating on the RPG Gateway to let us know how we're doing: http://www.rpggateway.com/cgi-bin/wyrm/rate.cgi?ID=5288 The same goes for the Burning Void RPG resources page: http://www.rpggateway.com/cgi-bin/wyrm/rate.cgi?ID=1392 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Advertiser Instructions: If you wish to have an advertisement appear in this newsletter, please email to come to an arrangement. We're also willing to print several small one-paragraph RPG-related news announcements for free each issue. (We reserve the right to refuse any ad or announcement.) Privacy Policy: We do not sell or give out your information. We will never ever hand out your email addresses (or any other information that we somehow end up with), barring a legal requirement to do so. Unsubscribe: The Burning Void Roleplaying Resources Newsletter is entirely voluntary and opt-in ONLY. If you are receiving this directly from us and you did not sign up for this newsletter then something is wrong. Please use the unsubscribe instructions below. If that does not work, let us know right away at . In order to unsubscribe, visit http://two.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/twilighttime sign in (if you've forgotten your password, the system can email it to you), and follow the instructions. Or, send an email with a subject of "unsubscribe" (without the quotes) to twilighttime-request@burningvoid.com From heather at burningvoid.com Mon Mar 24 08:48:01 2003 From: heather at burningvoid.com (Heather Grove) Date: Wed Aug 18 00:40:46 2004 Subject: [Twilight Time] Prophecies: readers' tips Message-ID: <3E7F03F6.7050601@burningvoid.com> March 24, 2003 - Prophecies: readers' tips Volume 4, Issue 4 This is the Twilight Time zine, the free zine of the Burning Void: http://www.burningvoid.com/ Copyright 2003 by Burning Void Publishing and Heather Grove, except where noted otherwise--such as this week's article. You may forward it via email to other people, but only in its entirety - do not alter the contents. This copyright notice must go with it. Do not repost or reprint by any other means without direct permission. To subscribe or unsubscribe, change your options, or view the archives: http://two.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/twilighttime You can also subscribe by sending an email with a subject of "subscribe" (without the quotes) to Twilighttime-request@burningvoid.com Good morning! I'm sorry there's been so little activity on the site. The only article since the last zine issue is a review of the "Lord of the Rings" RPG core book; we haven't updated the links; and I know there are some emails I haven't replied to. I've been sick for a while, so I've been getting a lot of rest. Soon things will be back on track. The link to the review can be found after the zine article as usual. You'll note that this one is posted on the Epinions.com website. When I write RPG reviews for Epinions, I tend to aim them at a less RPG-literate crowd, because plenty of the people who read reviews there don't even know what an RPG is, much less how it works. If you have any interest in posting reviews on Epinions, the best suggestion I have for you is to *read* some reviews for a little while before you post any. It's important to have a good idea of what's expected from a site before you dive in. For the April issue (next month) we have something special: an article by Richard Dansky, former "Wraith: the Oblivion" developer and long-time freelancer. I hope you enjoy it. In the meantime, here are the reader responses on prophecies that I promised! Have a great day, Heather +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Prophecies--Readers' Tips We got enough readers' tips on prophecies that I decided to run them all as their own issue. These range from general tips and hints to variations on the theme to specific implementations. Thanks for the great ideas, guys! Additional resources on prophecies: Our original "Prophecies Amuck!" zine article: http://two.pairlist.net/pipermail/twilighttime/2003/000016.html Our "Prophecy Confusions" article: http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/roleplaying/Essays/prophecyconf.html Roleplaying Tips Weekly Issue #165: Prophetic Double-Whammy: Special Two Article Issue About Using Prophesies In Your Games http://www.roleplayingtips.com/issue165.asp From James O'Rance: Hooray, another issue! :) It's also quite well timed; one of my players just created a PC with the "Prophetic" Merit last week! Looks like I'll have plenty of ways to use that. I guess that prophecies as a plot device an be used in almost any way that the game master wants. However, that's not how they've been used in my games in the past. Some game systems (such as Wraith) give PCs the ability to draw upon prophetic powers when the player wants them, not when the game master chooses to use them. One of my players had a character who couldn't perform such traditional PC activities such as combat and theft, but she could see the future in half a dozen different ways. Naturally I was called upon to give her prophecies and visions quite a bit. I had some idea of where the campaign was going, but hadn't really decided on all the details, and I wanted to be flexible enough to change if the PCs went somewhere weird or introduced unexpected complications. So I had to create prophecies, foretellings and visions that were worth the player's effort to have. Visions are often supposed to be symbolic, but people who claim to have had visions in real life also get an emotional experience that's hard to convey as a game master. Symbolism can work well, but it can also be a huge pain. No-one wants to go to the effort of having a vision if all they get is a bunch of symbols that could be interpreted to mean anything. So whenever possible I steer away from dream or occult symbology and use more straightforward, effective stuff. If the Smiling Lord is going to be responsible for a terrible war, let's show him shrouded in nuclear winter, with blood running from his hands. That's symbolic (and it doesn't reveal specifics of plot), but it's also very clear. The kind of stuff that you get in the German Expressionist plays seem to work, if you can bring yourself to watch one... Another approach that is sometimes easier is to make the prophecy quite plain and easy to understand. There's no interpretation required - the prophecy states in no uncertain terms that such-and-such is going to happen. Of course, if you do this then you need to make sure that such-and-such -does- indeed happen, and in such a way that you aren't stepping on PC free will. Perhaps surprisingly, this is easy to do. The trick is to describe events that the PCs would not have been able to change anyway. Don't show the confrontation that the PCs will be involved in, but one of the events leading up to it instead. The PCs should be able to figure out what's coming next, and prepare for it. For example, the PCs might find a Medieval manuscript that prophecies that the Evil Occultist will be visited by an evil from out of spacetime, and bind it to his service. There's no way for the PCs to prevent this - it might have already happened! - but knowing this gives them an advantage. Or a psychic PC might receive a vision of a villain loading a firearm while wearing a heavy green coat. Indeed, the villain plans to assassinate a presidential candidate. If the PC later sees him at a political rally wearing that green coat, she has a chance to act. Visions can also involve things that are happening -right now-. This kind of premonition has been reported in the real world. Unless the PCs have some kind of funky teleporting or time travel powers there's no way that they can prevent the event seen in the vision. However, they can still act on this knowledge. Looking forward to next month's issue! [Thoughts from the editor: the idea of having visions of things that have already happened (or which are already happening) is a great way to sidestep the "but what if it doesn't turn out that way in game?" problem associated with prophecy. In fact, there are a whole lot of great suggestions here for any game. Thanks James!] From Stephen (Marshdrifter): > #6. The PCs could use prophecy for fun and > prophet--err, profit. Here's a variation for this one. Have the NPC tell the PCs he's going to arrange a prophecy they can benefit from with little work, but have the prophecy actually turn out to be true (mysterious bad guy *does* actually exist). At the least, the PCs will be wondering how the NPC arranged all the appropriate signs. At the most, the PCs will realize the NPC was actually right. > #8. Different versions of a prophecy exist. > > The PCs get their hands on an old prophecy about a > coming catastrophe. Or, how about the PCs stumble across a prophecy that has already been fulfilled but, because it's so ambiguous, might still apply to those who didn't know. For example, they could find a prophecy predicting the downfall of the previous regime, but the party interprets it as being for the current one. As for the PC glow thing. I usually have some larger world event happening around them. They could easily take part in these events, but even if they don't, they'll start to feel the effects at least eventually. The amount of involvement is up to them. I usually let the players pick the campaign plot through their actions, although this can make it hard to the PCs to stick together on any one plan. From Chuck: > But what if it's just a cryptic menu for the next holiday feast, or a > recipe for cinnamon rolls? No fair! I'm hungry! Seriously, I love this idea. Picture this. Unlike many cinnamon roll recipes, maybe this one is ultra-precise (637 sand grains of pure Kandian summer cane sugar, etc.) and contains a couple of minor enhancements (1 finger's width of dragon's bane, badly wilted but not desiccated). Alchemists and sages (or their agents, i.e. the players) are scouring the countryside for this recipe, because only this precise combination of sugar, spice, and dough will properly transform the subject into a true dragon-mage. Any small miscalculation will result in hideous and painful deformation. A large mishap would be suicide. After braving the Pit of Sardoom, the players recover the formula. They scour the kingdom for ingredients. Their enemies gather at the sage's tower. Their only hope of survival is to complete the formula. As the guards buy time, they sit down with their patron to make the transformative rolls and then they all realize to their horror - the width of whose finger? Sand from where: fine beach sand or coarse desert sand? I can hear the screams! Too bad I'm running a Star Trek campaign... I'll have to think of some way to make this work... Anyway, I thought I'd share my amusement. From John Smith: Greetings, I am a GM and love you newsletter. This one was very good and gave me may Idea (Feel sorry for my PCs =) ) One thing you did not have I think was ... The Greatly powered Being or something that seams to know what will happen. I had a Large Crystal it's name was Seer , It could answer questions , only a few could talk with it , but I seamed to guide others well it seamed to never be wrong sorry getting a bit off point... in number 6# you had a few motivations for the NPC helper , you did not include they could be working for some greater power... < the Crystal Seer and it's Agents > Thank you for your time What's Your Opinion?: Comments on this issue's topic? Suggestions? Tips? Special topic requests? Drop me a line at (heather@burningvoid.com). If I pass any of your suggestions on (either through the newsletter or the RPG resources page), I'll attribute them to you. Be sure to tell me if you don't want me to use your name and/or comments! The next issue is coming in just a few weeks--mid April. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SITE UPDATE: Burning Void Roleplaying Resources: http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/roleplaying/resources.html This month's sole link is a review of the "Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game Core Book," posted on Epinions: http://www.epinions.com/content_92011859588 For those of you who haven't read the note on the reviews page, the reviews that I post on Epinions tend to be aimed at a somewhat less RPG-literate crowd, so there's a bit more explaining than usual. Burning Void Writers' Resources: http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/writing/resources.html +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ RATINGS: You can give the Twilight Time Zine a rating on the RPG Gateway to let us know how we're doing: http://www.rpggateway.com/cgi-bin/wyrm/rate.cgi?ID=5288 The same goes for the Burning Void RPG resources page: http://www.rpggateway.com/cgi-bin/wyrm/rate.cgi?ID=1392 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Advertiser Instructions: If you wish to have an advertisement appear in this newsletter, please email to come to an arrangement. We're also willing to print several small one-paragraph RPG-related news announcements for free each issue. (We reserve the right to refuse any ad or announcement.) Privacy Policy: We do not sell or give out your information. We will never ever hand out your email addresses (or any other information that we somehow end up with), barring a legal requirement to do so. Unsubscribe: The Burning Void Roleplaying Resources Newsletter is entirely voluntary and opt-in ONLY. If you are receiving this directly from us and you did not sign up for this newsletter then something is wrong. Please use the unsubscribe instructions below. If that does not work, let us know right away at . In order to unsubscribe, visit http://two.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/twilighttime sign in (if you've forgotten your password, the system can email it to you), and follow the instructions. Or, send an email with a subject of "unsubscribe" (without the quotes) to twilighttime-request@burningvoid.com From heather at burningvoid.com Tue Apr 15 08:58:12 2003 From: heather at burningvoid.com (Heather Grove) Date: Wed Aug 18 00:40:46 2004 Subject: [Twilight Time] "I Never Metaplot I Didn't Like" Message-ID: <3E9BFA18.5000808@burningvoid.com> April 15, 2003 - "I Never Metaplot I Didn't Like" Volume 4, Issue 5 This is the Twilight Time zine, the free zine of the Burning Void: http://www.burningvoid.com/ Copyright 2003 by Burning Void Publishing and Heather Grove, except where noted otherwise--such as this week's article. You may forward it via email to other people, but only in its entirety - do not alter the contents. This copyright notice must go with it. Do not repost or reprint by any other means without direct permission. To subscribe or unsubscribe, change your options, or view the archives: http://two.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/twilighttime You can also subscribe by sending an email with a subject of "subscribe" (without the quotes) to Twilighttime-request@burningvoid.com Good morning! I'm sorry this article is a day late; we had some connection problems yesterday. I think it'll be worth the wait, though, as today's article is a special guest issue from former "Wraith: the Oblivion" developer Richard Dansky! Without further ado, I'll let Richard's work speak for itself. Have a great day, Heather This week's article is Copyright 2003 Richard E. Dansky Richard Dansky has written, designed or otherwise meddled with a long list of roleplaying game products, mostly for White Wolf. He's written four novels, including the Trilogy of the Second Age, and a random assortment of fiction, non-fiction, reviews, and vaguely humorous essays. Currently gainfully employed as the Manager of Design for Red Storm Games, Richard also works as the Central Clancy Writer for UbiSoft. He resides in Durham, North Carolina with the charming and talented Melinda Thielbar, as well as their charming and slightly less talented cats. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ I Never Metaplot I Didn?t Like or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love The Shadowlands by Richard E. Dansky When I was confronted with the challenge of developing "Wraith" (in those dim and distant days we called "The Nineties" ? yes this stuff is old. Bear with me), the biggest problem I was faced with (besides a logo that bore an uncanny resemblance to Daffy Duck?s beak immediately after one of those classic ?Duck Season!? ?Wabbit Season!? exchanges) was that nobody knew What Was Going On. Mind you, the "Wraith" background was a stunning playground: three levels of reality, psychological landscapes to romp in, moaning coins, ancient souls who would make Chris DeBurgh scratch his chin and go ?hmmm? and all sorts of fun stuff that made me itch to run a campaign in the Shadowlands. What I didn?t know, and what I assumed no one else knew either, was what was going on behind the scenes. Which Deathlords were doing the others dirty? Were the Guilds still kicking around? If so, why, and what were they up to? What were the Renegades up to, and was there in fact some sort of master plan for the overthrow of Stygia? What was going on in the other Dark Kingdoms? The answers to these and many other thrilling questions were?nowhere to be found. [Note: None of this is a negative comment on the work of Jennifer Hartshorn, my predecessor on "Wraith". She created an amazing canvas, and I?m just the sort of guy who worries about doodling in the corners.] Now, I?m a big believer in creating as big a sandbox as possible for Storytellers (or, heaven forfend, GMs) as possible. I don?t want to know where Caine or the Antediluvians are, if Souleaters are real, or where Rasputin is going pop his ugly head up next. I prefer to make up my own answer to that sort of specific question, and as a developer I preferred to let individual Storytellers do most of the work. That way they come up with what works best for them, and don?t get shackled to what my sleep-deprived brain conjured in the 3 AM fogs. But, there has to be a story going on somewhere. Something has to be moving in the background, otherwise the game world as a whole just sort of sits there, static. Look at it this way: If there isn?t a story going on in the background, then everything that?s going on in the game world can be found in the ?Background? section of the game?s main rulebook, which, it can be assumed, everyone playing has read. This means that the players, no matter how hard they try not to metagame, *know what?s going on*, and it?s damned difficult not to impart at least some of that knowledge to your characters. After that, it?s too easy for roleplaying to slip into problem solving and picking up the pieces. Without surprises, the whole exercise gets a lot less fun. Now, players do surprise Storytellers every session (usually starting at character creation with ?You want to play a *what?!*? and spiraling downward from there), but the equation has to go the other way as well. Storytellers have to keep on surprising players, which means that they have to have surprises to spring. They have to know things the players don?t, and that means that they have to know What?s Really Going On. And that means (cue the ominous music) a metaplot. Now, figuring out your metaplot usually starts with figuring out what the goal of your campaign world is. Is it To Liberate Humanity From the Oppressive Vampire Yoke? Is it To Bring Down the Evil Hierarchical Structure That?s Oppressing Everyone? Mind you, these are all big ideas. Big stories, and not terribly well defined ones. That?s all right ? your metaplot is the reason behind your individual plots ? if your metaplot concerns a rogue Progenitor Mage who?s decided that he wants to go on a Dr. Moreau kick and breed the perfect human, your individual plots can deal with things like beating up beast-critters, running afoul of people trying to stop the mad splicer, stumbling across failed experiments and the like. All of those are plots, but they?re derived from your metaplot, the grand story of what?s going on behind the scenes. The next step, once you?ve decided where the world is going, is to decide who wants to get there, who?s going the other way, and most importantly, why. Arranging your Storyteller character cast along the lines of how they?re reacting to the metaplot?s goal allows you to also set up which characters are potential allies or enemies of one another, which ones are likely to be regarded as villains by the characters, and so on. However, it?s not enough simply to lay down good guys and bad guys. Your NPCs need to have reasons for supporting or opposing the progress of your game world. This gives those characters a chance to develop with the story. Perhaps some of them could change sides down the road, or characters who are ?villains? by dint of affiliation, not personality could turn out to be sympathetic and make the player characters reconsider their positions. (Plus, if there?s a reason for your NPCs to do that voodoo that they do so well, it saves you embarrassment when a PC asks dramatically, ?Why are you doing this?? Let?s face it, it?s always humiliating to have your major villain reply, ?Why? Because the plot demands it! I never wanted to do this in the first place.? A nemesis who'd prefer to be a lumberjack is bound to disappoint.) Hopefully, at this point you know where the world is going, who?s pushing and who?s pulling. That?s a good start, but you?re still static. You need a dramatic event to kickstart things, to get the metaplot in motion. This doesn?t even have to be something the player characters see, as it should instead serve to motivate your NPCs into acting. Remember, the PCs aren?t going to be in on the metaplot from the beginning, but when they uncover the pieces later on, they?re going to want to see the genesis of the crisis. Don?t ever underestimate the _nachas_ they?ll get from learning all of your secrets (or so they think). Finally, you need to figure out where the characters fit with the metaplot. It?s not a good idea to decide which side they should be on. If you?ve done a good job of motivating your characters (and haven?t stacked the deck with a hideous metaplot), you?ll be able to follow the metaplot and run a good story no matter where the players come down. Trust them to make an interesting decision ? once you get them interested. You will need a way to suck them in to the workings of the metaplot. Let?s face it, secret societies and mystic brotherhoods could be meeting in the apartment down the hall from where you?re reading this, but you?re not involved because you have no idea of what?s going on. If, on the other hand, a mysterious idol was accidentally delivered to your doorstep in front of your neighbor?s, and hundreds of graduates of Innsmouth High suddenly started trying to repossess it, you?d acquire a sudden interest on what was going on, wouldn?t you? (Okay, if you had any brains you?d give the damned statue back, pack up, move to New Guinea, and try to forget it ever happened, but PCs generally aren?t that well attuned to that whole self-preservation kick us real people have in our genes. The one time I ever played in a game where the characters acted sensibly, we ended up ignoring earth-shattering events and instead role-playing contract negotiations, office coffee orders, and making french toast. A thrill-packed ride through the pulsing heart of action, it was not.) In other words, you need a teaser, something that convinces the players that it?s in their characters? best interest to figure out what?s going on. Assassinations or seemingly unmotivated attacks work well, but the actual plot device is unimportant. All that matters is that something active happens that has a connection to the player characters. Obviously, you?re not going to want this initial event to be too big ? it?s a teaser, that?s all. Having the UberVillain show up and announce his evil plan short circuits the layers of revelation that make metaplotting so much fun. A final idea involves seeding future plots with foreshadows. You don?t even have to know what you?re foreshadowing, mind you. Just stick the shadowy figure in the corner and worry about who he?s really working for later. Even if he doesn?t make sense now, he will down the road. So that?s how you do it, or at least how I did it. Winding back to the putative topic of the article, let?s run through the step-by-step process of how I concocted the "Wraith" metaplot without the assistance of any chemicals stronger than caffeine. The basic question came first: What is on everyone?s mind? The best answer I could come up with was the mysterious disappearance of Charon, formerly big kahuna of the dead. Not much seemed to have happened since Charon did his scrubbing bubble impression and went down the drain in 1945, and I knew that the centuries-old schemers in Stygia weren?t going to sit around and wait for Charon for 50 years. Still, everything revolved around (or reacted to) Charon. So what about Charon? Well, it would seem that people who?d gained since his departure (i.e. the Deathlords and the Renegade groups) wouldn?t want to bring him back. The question being, who would? Who would stand to gain? The answer was the Guilds. The fact that they?d had a little falling out with Charon 500 years ago was simply an added twist. This decision did a few things. It let me place the Guilds in the context of the Shadowlands, when otherwise they?d been rather vestigial. It gave them a purpose and a reason to continue. Without that, they were deadweight, and the series of Guildbooks would have been rather pointless. It also established another political dynamic in the Shadowlands. Since Guild membership crossed faction lines, all of a sudden the whole Hierarchy-Renegades-Heretics triangle rumble had gotten a whole lot more interesting. Why? Because I was wondering why certain wraiths would do certain things. I was establishing motivations, and from those motivations plotlines started flowing. Was I working with specifics yet? Nope. They were unimportant at this stage. I did start creating a few specific characters ? Lord Ember, Miklos the supercilious Chanteur, a mysterious Pardoner, a hysterical Oracle ? and figuring out what they wanted. Their reactions (and they had to be natural reactions, drawn from established character behavior trends) in the upcoming books would go a long way towards directing the metaplot towards its ultimate end. So the parts had been cast, the motivations established, and the stage set. All that remained was to kick it off. As "Wraith" isn?t a game where body counts are important, I didn?t think something violent would be the way to go. Instead, I went with revelation. The meeting in the basement of Ember?s palace and the announcement that Charon had been set up ? this would startle the NPCs into motion. Other NPCs would react. Rumblings at the top would turn into earthquakes at the bottom ? where the players would be. Suddenly, something would be happening in the Shadowlands, and everyone would be a part of it, somehow. Mind you, the "Wraith" metaplot took years to develop, and even then I didn't get to pull all the rabbits out of my hat before the final curtain came down. Instead of players, I had readers who are players and Storytellers, and many of my reveals need to be tailored specifically for this dual audience. But the basic paradigm remains the same, and the blueprint I outlined above is the one I?m following. Why? Because it works. After all, once upon a time it was my world. Just remember, each and everyone one of you has yours. What's Your Opinion?: Comments on this issue's topic? Suggestions? Tips? Special topic requests? Drop me a line at (heather@burningvoid.com). If I pass any of your suggestions on (either through the newsletter or the RPG resources page), I'll attribute them to you. Be sure to tell me if you don't want me to use your name and/or comments! The next issue is coming in just a few weeks--early to mid May. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SITE UPDATE: Burning Void Roleplaying Resources: http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/roleplaying/resources.html http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/roleplaying/Essays/condition1.html Expectations, Conditioning and Your Game, Part I: Examples We sometimes don't realize that we're "training" our players to do the exact opposite of what we'd like them to do. Here's the start of a short series on taking conscious charge of the unconscious "lessons" you impart through your game. Burning Void Writers' Resources: http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/writing/resources.html +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ANNOUNCEMENTS: Reviewing RPGs for Epinions? I'm currently working on trying to convince more people to review RPGs at Epinions.com. The original announcement I made at RPGNet is much too long to reproduce here, but you can, at least at the moment, view it here: http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=43812 Eden Studios, Bizarro Games Announce Odyssey Prime RPG: Eden Studios and Bizzaro Games are proud to announce their collaboration on Bizzaro Games' Odyssey Prime d20 RPG setting. Odyssey Prime is a roleplaying game of interdimensional adventures using the upcoming d20 Modern game system by Wizards of the Coast (it will also contain conversion rules for Unisystem). The premise can perhaps be best summed up as "Stargate meets Armageddon," combining the classic sci-fi staple of alien-world explorations with a touch of modern thriller. Player characters are recruited, sometimes involuntarily, by Project Odyssey to enter the portal and scout the unknown on the other side. Look for Odyssey Prime in Summer 2003. Check out the Odyssey Prime website for more information: http://edenstudios.net/odysseyprime/ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ RATINGS: You can give the Twilight Time Zine a rating on the RPG Gateway to let us know how we're doing: http://www.rpggateway.com/cgi-bin/wyrm/rate.cgi?ID=5288 The same goes for the Burning Void RPG resources page: http://www.rpggateway.com/cgi-bin/wyrm/rate.cgi?ID=1392 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Advertiser Instructions: If you wish to have an advertisement appear in this newsletter, please email to come to an arrangement. We're also willing to print several small one-paragraph RPG-related news announcements for free each issue. (We reserve the right to refuse any ad or announcement.) Privacy Policy: We do not sell or give out your information. We will never ever hand out your email addresses (or any other information that we somehow end up with), barring a legal requirement to do so. Unsubscribe: The Burning Void Roleplaying Resources Newsletter is entirely voluntary and opt-in ONLY. If you are receiving this directly from us and you did not sign up for this newsletter then something is wrong. Please use the unsubscribe instructions below. If that does not work, let us know right away at . In order to unsubscribe, visit http://two.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/twilighttime sign in (if you've forgotten your password, the system can email it to you), and follow the instructions. Or, send an email with a subject of "unsubscribe" (without the quotes) to twilighttime-request@burningvoid.com From heather at burningvoid.com Thu May 15 09:57:06 2003 From: heather at burningvoid.com (Heather Grove) Date: Wed Aug 18 00:40:46 2004 Subject: [Twilight Time] Burning Void & Twilight Time on Vacation Message-ID: <3EC394FA.5010208@burningvoid.com> Hello! I'm sorry there's been no zine recently, and that the web site has been so quiet. I'm taking a bit of a vacation, so there probably won't be any activity until June sometime, and I may be slow about answering any emails. Never fear, though, we'll be back! In the meantime, there have been a couple of new articles on the site since the last zine issue: http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/roleplaying/Essays/condition2.html Expectations, Conditioning and Your Game, Part II: Rules of Thumb We continue our brief series on the expectations you give your players, so you can better shape the game you run. http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/writing/ms/essay/writingbooks.html Should you read books about writing? A little discussion on the value of writing books--and how NOT to use them. Have a great month of May, and I'll talk to you all later! Heather -- Heather Grove heather@burningvoid.com http://www.burningvoid.com/ http://www.epinions.com/user-owling From heather at burningvoid.com Thu Jun 19 10:21:12 2003 From: heather at burningvoid.com (Heather Grove) Date: Wed Aug 18 00:40:46 2004 Subject: [Twilight Time] Cliffhangers--Good, Bad, or Indifferent? Message-ID: <3EF1C097.2060802@burningvoid.com> June 19, 2003 - Cliffhangers--Good, Bad, or Indifferent? Volume 4, Issue 6 This is the Twilight Time zine, the free zine of the Burning Void: http://www.burningvoid.com/ Copyright 2003 by Burning Void Publishing and Heather Grove, except where noted otherwise. You may forward this via email to other people, but only in its entirety - do not alter the contents. This copyright notice must go with it. Do not repost or reprint by any other means without direct permission. To subscribe or unsubscribe, change your options, or view the archives: http://two.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/twilighttime You can also subscribe by sending an email with a subject of "subscribe" (without the quotes) to Twilighttime-request@burningvoid.com Good morning! The schedule for the zine is going to change a bit. Rather than aiming for one issue every three weeks and an article a week for the web site, I'm going for something less scheduled and a bit more free-form. The web site and zine were taking up too much of my time and I wasn't getting any other writing done. Don't worry--I'm not abandoning the zine or site--I'm just setting fewer deadlines and writing fewer articles. I also finally got around to verifying the links on our links pages, and soon I'll be adding new ones for the first time in a while. :) I think it'll end up being an improvement--I was burning out a bit before, and I'm regaining my enthusiasm now, which of course affects the quality of my writing. It helps that life is less stressful these days, and the cats are healthier, and, in general, everything is much better! So I look forward to talking to you in issues-to-come. Have a great day, Heather +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Cliffhangers--Good, Bad, or Indifferent? If you ask a group of 10 roleplayers whether cliffhangers are a good or bad way to end a roleplaying session, you'll probably get a pretty split answer. Some people will tell you they're terrible; others will tell you they're perfect. Why the split? What are the pros and cons? And what are some alternatives to cliffhangers that will have the same effect that you'd like to achieve? What's a Cliffhanger? First we need to define our terms. Some people define a cliffhanger as any ending that leaves some element of the story hanging--whether that's a choice the player characters (PCs) have to make, the outcome of an event, and so on. The dictionary basically defines a cliffhanger as an episode of a serial that ends in suspense. To me, suspense means that you're waiting to find out what happens next, which means you're waiting on the game master (GM) to tell you what happens next. Because of this, I'm going to define "cliffhanger" a little narrowly--it's a way of ending a roleplaying session in which you break off in the middle of something the PCs have a stake in (usually in the middle of a scene), leaving the players in suspense wondering what will happen next. For example, the bad guy, whose identity has been secret up until now, walks into the room--and you end the roleplaying session right there, before you reveal his identity. Or the PCs do the magic ritual and hold their breath waiting to find out if they've averted the disaster--and you end the session there, leaving the players wondering whether they've succeeded or not. Or the climactic combat begins--but the players have to wait until the next session to find out how it turns out. What's Good? Why do some people swear by this method? Because it gets their players excited about the next roleplaying session. TV shows use it to get people to tune in to the next episode to find out what happens next, and GMs use it to get their players to show up for the next session. They use it to put their players in a state of heightened emotion regarding the game. Some GMs also find that dropping people into their next session in the middle of a scene brings them very quickly into character. What's Bad? Some people get really annoyed by cliffhangers. Some people find those three words "to be continued" make them *less* interested in tuning in next time rather than more interested. Some people are just easily frustrated or annoyed, or have a low stress (frustration) tolerance and threshold. You can also run into some logistical problems with cliffhangers. Usually cliffhangers require you to break off in the middle of a scene rather than at the end of one. If a player is sick or otherwise fails to show up at the next session, this can be much more difficult to fudge than if you break off between scenes or at a less critical juncture. Some GMs find that dropping people into their next session in the middle of a scene makes it *harder* for them to get quickly into character. They might not remember the first part of the scene very well. There's no chance to ramp up and bring them up to speed--you're just dumping them into the deep end and telling them to swim. This works for some people, but not for others. (Sometimes a recap of events leading up to the cliffhanger can take care of this problem, however.) How Do You Decide? The first thing you need to do is ask your players how they feel about cliffhangers. If you have even one player who hates them, then strongly consider not using them. If everyone is okay with them, then you might decide to go ahead despite the logistical problems. If someone isn't sure then try it once and see what happens. Also take into account how long it's likely to be until your next session. If your next session is in 12 hours, then even the most die-hard cliffhanger-hater might be willing to wait to find out what happens next. If it's a month away, then even someone who loves cliffhangers might have trouble waiting, or getting back into the swing of the scene fast enough. The less time there is between sessions, the easier it is to get away with using cliffhangers. What Can You Do Instead? All right, so you have one or more players who hate cliffhangers, or you don't want to deal with the logistical problems. But you *do* want a way to keep your players excited about starting the next session. How can you do this without a cliffhanger? Luckily there are plenty of ways to leave your players hanging a little without cutting them off in the middle of a scene or right before a major revelation. For instance, introduce something new just before the end of the night. Introduce a new plot hook, a new plot, or a new NPC. Just give them a teaser, enough to whet their appetite, and then end the session. Hopefully they'll be excited to come back and explore the new element. If you need an analogy, this is a bit like getting to the end of a book and finding that there's an excerpt of the first chapter of the author's next book included. Another method is to cut off at the beginning of a time of discussion, strategizing, or decision. That way you can allow your players to chat about the issue between games, which tends to keep them interested and excited. You could even create a mailing list on which they could hold these discussions, so that you can "listen in." (Unless you want a game that's part email-game, you should probably institute a rule that the moment one PC wants to take action beyond talking, the discussion ends and everything has to wait for the next game session.) Even if you don't allow discussion between sessions, this kind of ending will often still keep your players thinking about the game. A third method is to actually finish that exciting scene--the revelation, the combat, the ritual. Allow the PCs to have their major, exciting conclusion, and then break off while they're still feeling the warm glow of success or the trauma of failure. That high emotion will often carry over and leave them even more excited to come back and play again. Just leave the little aftermath bits until next time--most of your players will leave remembering just how exciting and fun your game is, and it'll make them want to come back again and again. If you have a group of players who enjoy cliffhangers, then you might as well play around with them from time to time. But if you have one or more players who really don't like them, then try one of these other methods. I think you'll find it's entirely possible to leave your players excited and looking forward to the next game without the use of cliffhangers. What's Your Opinion?: Comments on this issue's topic? Suggestions? Tips? Special topic requests? Drop me a line at (heather@burningvoid.com). If I pass any of your suggestions on (either through the newsletter or the RPG resources page), I'll attribute them to you. Be sure to tell me if you don't want me to use your name and/or comments! +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SITE UPDATE: Burning Void Roleplaying Resources: http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/roleplaying/resources.html Burning Void Writers' Resources: http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/writing/resources.html The Writer as Protagonist: http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/writing/ms/essay/protagonist.html +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ RATINGS: You can give the Twilight Time Zine a rating on the RPG Gateway to let us know how we're doing: http://www.rpggateway.com/cgi-bin/wyrm/rate.cgi?ID=5288 The same goes for the Burning Void RPG resources page: http://www.rpggateway.com/cgi-bin/wyrm/rate.cgi?ID=1392 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ANNOUNCEMENTS: (Some press releases may be edited for length; no guarantee is given as to the legitimacy of any offers presented here) WAREHOUSE 23 TO SELL DORK STORM PRESS PRODUCTS http://www.warehouse23.com/ Austin, TX, May 20, 2003 -- Warehouse 23, the online store and mail order fulfillment arm of Steve Jackson Games, announced an agreement with Dork Storm Press that makes Warehouse 23 their official online sales headquarters. "I'm thrilled to have all the great Dork Storm comics in Warehouse 23," manager Michelle Barrett said. The current Dork Storm lineup includes Nodwick and PS 238 by Aaron Williams, Snapdragons by John Kovalic and Liz Rathke, and the Origins award-winning Dork Tower by Kovalic. Warehouse 23 will also carry the trade paperback compilations of the comics, and whatever else Dork Storm comes up with in the future. HEROQUEST VOICES A Game Aid For HeroQuest The rich cultural backdrop of the world of Glorantha has always been one of its greatest strengths, keeping gamers fascinated for over twenty-five years. One of the many ways in which this was explored in the former RuneQuest game was through short narratives detailing "What My Father Told Me" and "What the Priest Says" for major cultures and races. Pithy, often witty, and always insightful, these narratives were a popular feature of the game and were a quick and easy way to introduce new players to peoples and beliefs of this game world. Now Glorantha is being brought to a new generation of players with the impending release of HeroQuest. To accompany the launch, Issaries, Inc., is bringing out a range of game aids. The most substantial of these is HeroQuest Voices, a free PDF book containing introductory narratives for all ten homelands described in the rules, as well as for seven other peoples and races. This 64-page book will be laid out using the same format and double-page spreads as HeroQuest and other recent releases from Issaries, Inc. For more information, see http://www.HeroQuest-rpg.com/products/3001.html HeroQuest Voices will be a free book in PDF format, available for download from the Issaries website , Warehouse 23 , and other on-line sources, to coincide with the release of HeroQuest, the new game of mythic roleplaying in Glorantha. HeroQuest Voices ISS 3001 Price: Free! Available: July 2003 THE COMFORT & POWER OF STORY: CALL FOR INSPIRING TRUE STORIES A Cup of Comfort is an acclaimed book series published by Adams Media Corporation. Each volume of A Cup of Comfort is filled with uplifting true stories about the relationships and experiences that comfort, inspire, and enrich our lives. These evocative and engaging stories are written by people from all walks of life and are carefully selected for inclusion in A Cup of Comfort based on originality, creativity, and substance. A grand prize of $500 is awarded for each contest/anthology. All contributors receive a monetary stipend and free copy of the book. We are actively seeking submissions for the following anthologies: A CUP OF COMFORT FOR COURAGE ** Urgent Need ** A CUP OF COMFORT FOR TEACHERS ** Urgent Need ** A CUP OF COMFORT FOR SISTERS A CUP OF COMFORT FOR THE SPIRIT (SPIRITUALITY) A CUP OF COMFORT FOR MOTHERS AND SONS Story Length: 1000-2000 words Stories must be original, positive, true, written in third or first person and in English. Creative nonfiction stories, narrative essays, and narrative prose only. Please, no poetry, journalistic articles, commentaries, profiles, eulogies, letters, journal entries, diatribes, composition papers, book chapters, or fiction. Aspiring and published writers welcome. Entrants pay NO entry or reading fees. For guidelines : E-mail the editor (Colleen Sell) at wordsinger@aol.com, or mail an SASE to A Cup of Comfort Editor, P.O. Box 863, Eugene, Oregon 97440, USA; or visit the publisher's website at http://www.cupofcomfort.com . [Further information, such as deadlines, can be found on the website.] +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Advertiser Instructions: If you wish to have an advertisement appear in this newsletter, please email to come to an arrangement. We're also willing to print several small one-paragraph RPG-related news announcements for free each issue. (We reserve the right to refuse any ad or announcement.) Privacy Policy: We do not sell or give out your information. We will never ever hand out your email addresses (or any other information that we somehow end up with), barring a legal requirement to do so. Unsubscribe: The Burning Void Roleplaying Resources Newsletter is entirely voluntary and opt-in ONLY. If you are receiving this directly from us and you did not sign up for this newsletter then something is wrong. Please use the unsubscribe instructions below. If that does not work, let us know right away at . In order to unsubscribe, visit http://two.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/twilighttime sign in (if you've forgotten your password, the system can email it to you), and follow the instructions. Or, send an email with a subject of "unsubscribe" (without the quotes) to twilighttime-request@burningvoid.com From heather at burningvoid.com Fri Jul 25 11:22:14 2003 From: heather at burningvoid.com (Heather Grove) Date: Wed Aug 18 00:40:46 2004 Subject: [Twilight Time] Bulletins for Players Message-ID: <3F2146C8.50107@burningvoid.com> July 25, 2003 - Bulletins for Players Volume 4, Issue 7 This is the Twilight Time zine, the free zine of the Burning Void: http://www.burningvoid.com/ Copyright 2003 by Burning Void Publishing and Heather Grove, except where noted otherwise. You may forward via email to other people, but only in its entirety - do not alter the contents. This copyright notice must go with it. Do not repost or reprint by any other means without direct permission. To subscribe or unsubscribe, change your options, or view the archives: http://two.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/twilighttime You can also subscribe by sending an email with a subject of "subscribe" (without the quotes) to Twilighttime-request@burningvoid.com Good morning! It's horridly humid here, but at least the nigh-constant rain has been great for the garden. The squash plants are monsters! Now if it would just stop raining enough that I could weed them... At any rate, I'm finally sending out the zine issue, believe it or not. Also, my husband and I are getting rid of a whole bunch of books and stuff, so take a look at the announcements section after the article to see if you're interested in any of it. Have a great day! Heather +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Players' Bulletins We've all been there before. A player creates her character, the game starts, and she finds that her character doesn't fit the game or the party at all. Or she's trying to work on a plot, but she has no idea where around town she can go or who she can talk to. One solution to this is a Players' Bulletin. In brief, a game master (GM) looks at the material on the location the game takes place in (or starts out in) and writes up a set of "crib notes" for players. These notes might include information on a few noteworthy locations everyone knows about, or a couple of groups or people everyone's heard of. This can be useful in the character creation process; it allows players to integrate their characters into the game-world. A player might make the proprietress of the Blue Snake Bar one of her character's friends, or a part of her network of contacts. If a player fashions his character as a member of a street-gang, then the bulletin might give a brief summary of the three gangs active in the area, allowing him the chance to choose one that suits him best. As a caveat to this, if non-player characters (NPCs) appear in the bulletin but are not available for use as network contacts or as friends, this should be specified. If nothing else, the bulletin can give players a feel for the atmosphere of the region they're playing in. This is a more tenuous thing, but it can be invaluable. That way you don't have one player creating a character appropriate to a high-society murder mystery, while someone else designs something more appropriate for a gritty police drama. A bulletin might well start off with a brief paragraph that explains what kind of game this is expected to be. Is it going to be dangerous, with high character turnover? Is it going to be high-epic, with the characters hob-nobbing with all sorts of important people? Is it going to be a dark, urban street-oriented game? Some of this is specified simply by the choice of game to be played, but that can still leave a wide range of possibilities up in the air. If you have a chance to meet with your players before character creation then you might not have to work this information into a bulletin--you can talk to them directly about it. It might not hurt to have the set of notes anyway, though, just as a reminder. Learning Styles Keep in mind that different people learn in different ways. For instance, some people learn better by hearing things, while others learn better by seeing things. It's a matter of how our brains are wired. Handing out a bulletin to someone who learns primarily by hearing things, or explaining everything verbally to someone who learns visually, isn't going to work all that well. Try to figure out the learning styles of your players and give them what they need rather than force-fitting them into your preferred style. If possible, provide the information in multiple ways--such as through verbal explanations, written material, and in-game experience--so that players with different learning styles all get what they need. Keep in mind that while reading reams of material may be fun for you, it won't necessarily be fun for your players. Some people simply have trouble with it, and disorders such as ADD (attention deficit disorder) or learning disorders can physically interfere with someone's ability to sit and absorb large amounts of written information. So again, talk to your players and figure out what will work best for them. At the end of this article you'll also find some additional suggestions for working with players who don't want to read a lot of background. What to Specify? If your players go into a game with a clear idea of what it's going to be like, they're less likely to be dissatisfied with it. After all, when people who expect a movie to be a drama discover it's really a comedy, they tend to be disappointed even when it's a *good* comedy. Some of the things you could specify ahead of time are: Epic level: should the players expect to save the world, Seattle, or the grocery store where they worked every summer during high school? This helps to shape players' expectations of how powerful their characters should be, which can strongly affect their character concepts. Dangerousness level (expected death rate): will you do everything you can to keep the characters alive; should players have a couple of back-up characters ready; or do you expect to walk a line between these extremes? This helps your players to know how attached to their characters they should get, and how thoroughly they should detail their characters' backgrounds. Ratio of personal plot to party plot: should the players come in with personal back-plots for you to play with, or are party plots the focus of the game? Again, this helps your players to know how much detail to put into their characters, and of what type. Level of society the party may expect to deal with: can they expect homeless people and street gangs, university students and professors, spies and criminals, high society parties, or some mix of the above? This has a strong effect on character concept and skill choice. Mood: is this a dark and angstful game, a game of wonder and redemption, or a comedy? If you don't want to give away your themes, you can simply specify "serious" or "light-hearted" or some similar vague adjective. This helps to prevent those situations where some characters are acting as though they're in a comedy while others are trying to engage in serious character development--this is often a recipe for dissatisfaction on both sides. Geographic area: it makes a big difference whether the game is taking place in the Florida Everglades, the snows of Alaska, or Indonesia. It affects character background, concept, and skills. Culture: What country does the game take place in? What's the dominant religion, if any? What odd cultural quirks are prevalent? Obviously if you're playing close to home you can probably just say so and leave it at that. If the city you're playing in is close to reality, you might tell your players which one it is simply so they can pick up a tour guide or a map and get familiarized with the area. If you have a preference, you can also specify whether the characters should be natives of the area or visitors. [TIP: if you know your players hate doing background reading and research, have them create characters who are visitors to the game region. This way you can use the game itself to teach them about the region.] Bulletins During Game Bulletins can also be useful during game. People and locations are resources in games, and if the characters don't know they exist then they may get stymied. Simply having a list of interesting establishments with a sentence or two about their purpose and the people associated with them can convince your players to get out there and get involved. Not every location in town need go into the bulletin, of course. You'll probably want to keep a few secrets for characters to discover as the game progresses. Bulletins are even useful as sources of rumor, hearsay, and misinformation. It's perfectly reasonable that a starting character would only know that the Blue Snake Bar is rumored to be a drug house; he doesn't have to know that this is a lie spread by the competition. You may choose to hand out updates as characters become familiar with new segments of society, or as time passes and things change. If you keep things up-to-date enough, then you might hide clues to plots within the bulletin. All in all, players' bulletins are a useful way to help players, characters, and the world mesh well with each other. They take time to put together, but make up for that time in the frustration they save later on. Players Who Don't Want to Read The one problem with this, of course, is that some players don't like to read large packets of information. You should try to get some idea of their tolerances (ask them directly), and tailor the length of the packet accordingly. For the people who really don't like to read large amounts of information, you might do a simple sheet explaining what the run will be like, and a quick, no-frills list of interesting people and locations. The material on the game in general can be done in a paragraph or two. If you're sold on putting in the reference material but you know your players don't want to do a lot of pre-game reading, then do it reference-style. Give a good table of contents or index and some well-organized and well-differentiated material. That way people can look things up as they become relevant, and read only a paragraph or two at a time. Of course, there's that earlier tip about starting your players out with characters that are visitors to the game location. Some people simply learn things better by experiencing them than by reading them. And then there's also that earlier tip about giving information verbally or experientially (through their game experiences) to people who don't learn well visually. It's important to realize that not everyone learns information in the same way, and that an unwillingness to read your background material doesn't mean your players are lazy. There are plenty of ways to adapt your material to your players' learning styles. Hand out bulletins to the people who like to read, and work information in verbally or experientially for others. Even if none of your players like to get information by reading, the bulletin can still be helpful in reminding you of the information you need to get across. What's Your Opinion?: Comments on this issue's topic? Suggestions? Tips? Special topic requests? Drop me a line at (heather@burningvoid.com). If I pass any of your suggestions on (either through the newsletter or the RPG resources page), I'll attribute them to you. Be sure to tell me if you don't want me to use your name and/or comments! +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SITE UPDATE: Burning Void Roleplaying Resources: http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/roleplaying/resources.html We're updating some old zine articles and adding them to the resources page. First is the article on spiritual journeys: http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/roleplaying/Essays/spiritjourney.html Burning Void Writers' Resources: http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/writing/resources.html +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ RATINGS: You can give the Twilight Time Zine a rating on the RPG Gateway to let us know how we're doing: http://www.rpggateway.com/cgi-bin/wyrm/rate.cgi?ID=5288 The same goes for the Burning Void RPG resources page: http://www.rpggateway.com/cgi-bin/wyrm/rate.cgi?ID=1392 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ANNOUNCEMENTS: (Some press releases may be edited for length; no guarantee is given as to the legitimacy of any offers presented here) Hi! This is your editor here. My husband and I are doing a bit of summer cleaning and selling off a lot of stuff, roleplaying material included (woohoo! We're reclaiming space!). If you live in the US (or in the case of the half.com material, Canada or the US) and are looking for some of the following material, please take a look. Obviously the auctions are time-limited, and some of them are closing in just a few days: Amazon auctions: http://s1.amazon.com/exec/varzea/ts/customer-open-auctions/A2XPGNJ8YUPHM0/102-5271287-2915330 We're selling items from the FASA Dr. Who game, HackMaster, Kalamar, Cyberpunk, Fairy Meat, Principia Malefex, and the Whispering Vault. Amazon marketplace: http://s1.amazon.com/exec/varzea/ts/customer-open-marketplace-items/A2XPGNJ8YUPHM0/102-5271287-2915330 We're getting rid of items from Trinity, Hunter, Dark Ages, Star Trek TNG, Multiverser, Mage, Shadowrun, Troll Lord Games, Vampire, Exalted, Gatecrasher, Kalamar, Werewolf, Pendragon, World of Darkness. Ebay: http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewSellersOtherItems&userid=owling1&include=0&since=-1&sort=3&rows=50 VHS videotape collections: Babylon 5 season 1, two-thirds of Babylon 5 season 2, the Vision of Escaflowne (subtitled), Neon Genesis Evangelion (subtitled). Also a bunch of Sega Dreamcast games, which have been selling fast (I listed them yesterday and I'm sending out 3 already). Half.com: http://half.ebay.com/shops/shops.jsp?member_name=owling1 We're listing more than 300 books and videotapes, including a large number of White Wolf books from almost every game line including Mage, Vampire, Dark Ages, MET, Hunter, Exalted, Werewolf, Kindred of the East, Werewolf Wild West, Mage: Sorcerer's Crusade, Trinity, and World of Darkness. Also some d20 modules, another FASA Dr. Who module, some odd things like "Cadillacs & Dinosaurs," a "Whispering Vault" sourcebook (The Book of Hunts), Tenchi Muyo!, as well as a whole lot of fiction, technical books, and a bit of everything else as well. Thank you for helping me to reclaim my office from the piles of books that have taken it over! :) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Advertiser Instructions: If you wish to have an advertisement appear in this newsletter, please email to come to an arrangement. We're also willing to print several small one-paragraph RPG-related news announcements for free each issue. (We reserve the right to refuse any ad or announcement.) Privacy Policy: We do not sell or give out your information. We will never hand out your email addresses (or any other information that we somehow end up with), barring a legal requirement to do so. Unsubscribe: The Burning Void Roleplaying Resources Newsletter is entirely voluntary and opt-in ONLY. If you are receiving this directly from us and you did not sign up for this newsletter then something is wrong. Please use the unsubscribe instructions below. If that does not work, let us know right away at . In order to unsubscribe, visit http://two.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/twilighttime sign in (if you've forgotten your password, the system can email it to you), and follow the instructions. Or, send an email with a subject of "unsubscribe" (without the quotes) to twilighttime-request@burningvoid.com From heather at burningvoid.com Thu Oct 16 14:18:37 2003 From: heather at burningvoid.com (Heather Grove) Date: Wed Aug 18 00:40:46 2004 Subject: [Twilight Time] Revenge! Message-ID: <73A2F9D3-0004-11D8-ABBC-000A958E5B9C@burningvoid.com> October 2003 -- Revenge! Volume 4, Issue 8 This is the Twilight Time zine, produced by the Burning Void: http://www.burningvoid.com/ Copyright 2003 by Burning Void Publishing and Heather Grove, except where noted otherwise. You may forward via email to other people, but only in its entirety - do not alter the contents. This copyright notice must go with it. Do not repost or reprint by any other means without direct permission. To subscribe or unsubscribe, change your options, or view the archives: http://two.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/twilighttime You can also subscribe by sending an email with a subject of "subscribe" (without the quotes) to Twilighttime-request@burningvoid.com Good morning! I know, I know, it's been three or four months since the last zine issue came out, and the website hasn't seen much change in that time either. Chalk it up to our repainting several rooms in the house, switching computers (woohoo!), moving my home office from one room to another, reorganizing and cleaning a lot of the house, and dealing with various other things. It's been a hectic time, but a good one, and I'm slowly getting back to writing. On the one hand, I'm putting a greater priority on some non-RPG writing now--some personal projects. This means that I won't put out articles and issues at the insane rate that I used to. But it also means that I'm happier with my writing, and putting less pressure on myself, so I'm more likely to be able to keep doing this in the long run! And the articles will probably be better quality, too. ;) If anything comes out weird with this zine, chalk it up to MS Word. This is the first time I've used it for word processing in a long time, and figuring out how to turn off all the little smart quotes and related features so everyone's email programs will happily process the text is... exciting. Have a great day! Heather +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Revenge! I was working on a story the other day, and I thought: revenge is such a great plot. It's a classic. There's a reason why it shows up in so many forms and contexts. Revenge can be as great as wars between nations, or as small as one kid beating another up on the playground. Revenge can be simple or elaborate, involving a push down the stairs or an intricate plot in which one misstep would spell doom for all involved. Revenge can last for moments or centuries. Almost no one is immune to the desire for payback, whether it's a matter of something small and petty or a great lightning bolt from the sky. Revenge causes people to behave irrationally, casting aside their better sense for just one taste of retribution. And that word itself, "retribution," conjures up the other word often used with it: "divine." The implication is that the gods themselves are not immune to the desire for vengeance. Revenge has acted as the genesis for great myths and legends, divine punishment meted out and lasting for millennia. Eternal torment gone wrong later unleashes the tormented as a terrible evil upon the world. People can want revenge for almost anything, from some small (even imagined) slight to a great hurt or evil that was done to them or a loved one. It could be something understandable, such that everyone wants to help them, or something they've blown so totally out of proportion that, in wanting revenge, they become the bad guys. Revenge can be hot, rage-filled, or cold and calculating. It can be a matter of emotion, or a matter of politics--no one wants to be seen as weak and able to be taken advantage of, particularly in the dangerous worlds of most roleplaying games (RPGs). Like anything else, the revenge plot can easily become trite when overused. However, I daresay that there's an element of revenge somewhere in most novels, whether large or small. Sometimes it's a major plot element; sometimes it's a little thing that simply acts to move the larger plot forward or complicate it. As with most plots, it isn't so much the plot itself that is trite as how it's used. If you dress it up with original details and dialogue and don't resort to overused movie villain lines you can get a lot of mileage out of revenge in your game. Here are just some of the ways that you can make use of vengeance in your RPG: 1. Revenge as Plot Hook Having trouble figuring out how to get your party of characters involved in an adventure? Use revenge as a plot hook. For example, you want the party to defeat the evil baron of a neighboring kingdom. Have that baron do something that causes the party to want revenge. His men burn their village, terrorize or kill one of their families (or a friend), waylay the party and steal their gold, humiliate the party, get to an item the party wants or needs before they do, or something similar. He could also visit this harm on someone who has authority over the party and can order them to go after the bad guy. As always, don't overdue this--particularly that bit about killing off player characters' (PCs') friends and family. That's a quick way to discourage players from fleshing out their characters with such allies and contacts (particularly when you have the kind of player who sees NPC family members as resources and little more). Once in a while, however, particularly when you have players who create involved, three-dimensional characters, a PC revenge-plot can be truly fantastic to sit back and watch. Just keep in mind that such plots sometimes take on a life of their own, and can end up eclipsing the plots they were meant to hook into... 2. Revenge as Motivator Revenge makes a great motivator for bad guys. Why is the villain doing such awful things? A drunk driver killed his wife and didn't go to jail for it; now the villain wants revenge against the "corrupt" justice system. Or a "good guy" accidentally shot one of the villain's children, who were innocent bystanders during a firefight; now he works to destroy all such people. This can be used as background on someone who seems to be acting irrationally, or to make a villain a little sympathetic. Revenge as a motivator can give a little depth to someone, so that when the PCs someday ask the bad guy, "why did you kill all these people?" he doesn't answer, "uh, just because." This time the warning is that revenge as a motivator has become overused to the point where, without some additional details, it really isn't enough to add depth to villains in most genres. You'll still need to think a little further about why the character took things so personally and took his actions so far in response. 3. Revenge as Connector Sometimes you know you want to involve one or more of your long-time non-player characters (NPCs) in a plot, but you aren't sure how or where. This particularly tends to come up when you improvise a lot, and you aren't always sure where that improvisation is going. So, you toss one of your favorite NPCs into a scene because you sense that it would shake things up a bit and make things interesting. But later that night you try to figure out why the character is getting involved, and you can't see an obvious hook. Why not try revenge? Maybe someone involved in the plot ticked him off in the past. Or maybe by influencing this plot he can achieve vengeance against someone else entirely. Perhaps someone else involved him as a means to *their* vengeance --either against him, or using him against another NPC or one of the PCs. 4. Revenge as Back-Story Vengeance can make a great back-story for various characters, both NPCs and PCs. It's a great all-purpose plot hook for the game master (GM), as mentioned earlier. If a PC has written into his background that he's trying to seek vengeance on his parents' killers, then the GM can involve those killers (or hint at their involvement) when he wants to drag the PC into something (as always, don't overuse...). If the PC's background states that his father was an evil monster who made many enemies, then the GM has plenty of interesting adventure fodder to throw at the party. Who wants to hurt the father by hurting the child? Who wants to use or recruit the child in some scheme against the father? Even if the GM doesn't use the back-story as plot fodder, it can still make for great character material. A character who has gone on a quest for vengeance, successful or unsuccessful, to his satisfaction or not, has been changed by the experience. This can lend valuable depth should the player choose to take advantage of it. I know it's easy for revenge plots to end up being trite, given how often they get used. But then, that's why our next article will be "Giving Depth and Dimension to Overused Plots." Next time, in the Twilight Time! What's Your Opinion?: Suggestions? Special topic requests? Drop me a line at (heather@burningvoid.com). If I pass any of your suggestions on (either through the newsletter or the RPG resources page), I'll attribute them to you. Be sure to tell me if you don't want me to use your name and/or comments! +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SITE UPDATE: Not much new this time, I'm afraid! Burning Void Roleplaying Resources: http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/roleplaying/resources.html Burning Void Writers' Resources: http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/writing/resources.html +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ RATINGS: You can give the Twilight Time Zine a rating on the RPG Gateway to let us know how we're doing: http://www.rpggateway.com/cgi-bin/wyrm/rate.cgi?ID=5288 The same goes for the Burning Void RPG resources page: http://www.rpggateway.com/cgi-bin/wyrm/rate.cgi?ID=1392 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Advertiser Instructions: If you wish to have an advertisement appear in this newsletter, please email to come to an arrangement. We're also willing to print several small one-paragraph RPG-related news announcements for free each issue. (We reserve the right to refuse any ad or announcement.) Privacy Policy: We do not sell or give out your information. We will never hand out your email addresses (or any other information that we somehow end up with), barring a legal requirement to do so. Unsubscribe: The Burning Void Roleplaying Resources Newsletter is entirely voluntary and opt-in ONLY. If you are receiving this directly from us and you did not sign up for this newsletter then something is wrong. Please use the unsubscribe instructions below. If that does not work, let us know right away at . In order to unsubscribe, visit http://two.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/twilighttime Sign in (if you've forgotten or lost your password, the system can email it to you), and follow the instructions. Or, send an email with a subject of "unsubscribe" (without the quotes) to twilighttime-request@burningvoid.com