RPG lessons learned, # 4

I lost a friend today. That's what it feels like.

Whenever a player unsubscribes from KTDA, it's a real loss.

I know it's not personal, or some kinda judgment or like that. Some people don't have time or 100 other reasons.

Doesn't make it easier.

-Chyna

Photo source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"

Guest Blog: Weather or not?

Rain...

Water from the sky...

A beacon of home or a fore-shadowing of doom?

Refreshing or bone chilling?

Pereceptions.

It's fall and the rains come with numbingly cold winds that sap strength. Overcast gray skies create a gloom that reaches everywhere, stealing heat, dousing spirits. Thick mud slows feet trodding through the showers.

Yet it is rain. In spring and summer it's a joy. Warm rain, fun puddles, making the earth green. Lightening storms are amazing works of thunder and great flashes of light etching across the sky. There is power...or just fun.

Rain has many faces, all which create different settings...placements. It sets the tone of a scene, an atmosphere of despair or hope...sometimes both. In movies rain is used to put emphasis on a scene, with lighting indicating mood.

In KTDARPG, we have used rain and weather in all forms for setting the tone of the game. Battles were fought in rain, with lightening flashing at the climax. A hurricane set the tone for the oppressive harshness of winter. Sunlight and moonlight seem like minor touches yet they add a life to a scene--a connection otherwise lost to us.

Weather isn't something we can escape, even in windowless buildings. Spring fever and the increase of energy permeates. As winter's cold winds penetrate our bones so does weather affect our players' moods and actions. Summer a time of action...Winter a time of rest....in the game its Spring, and the rain didn't bother the people at Market Day. It was refreshing, a reminder of the newness of spring and of life. And all the players whether in one thread or another reacted to the rain, uniting the characters.

It's all in the perception. Each player or character would see the rain from their different viewpoints. To the homeless it's an unwelcomed bath, to a bartender increased business, to a farmer a lifesaver. For Fort River is a city of different people and places, and even the weather is affected by the perceptions.

- Hawk

Photo source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"

RPG lessons learned, # 28

It's amazing what you can learn if you open yourself up for it.

KTDARPG was my first role-playing game & is still my favorite. Every now & then, when I stand back & just watch--the players, the characters, the action--well, you can learn if you let yourself.

Here's Lesson #28: "You can't see the forest for the trees."

Ok, that was vague. Here's what I mean.

You the player have a character you know EXACTLY what you want to do with. You've made your plans & you're determined to stick to them no matter what. You won't be distracted. You won't be moved. You're on a course to your Goal, and by hell you're gonna get there.

It's an easy trap to fall into. What it means, basically, is you're playing with yourself. You've shut yourself off to input from other characters, from the game setting, from all other actions happening around your character. Not a good place to be.

See that's the beauty of role-playing. Characters act & react to each other. Just like with real-world people, that's how characters grow & develop & get stronger.

But to do that, you have to stay open. Your character has to listen to what others say, be aware of what's happening all around you. Which also means it helps if you actually read posts that may have nothing directly to do with your character--because all the posts have to do with the game world itself. And the game world affects your character intimately.

So maybe a word to the wise rp'er: keep yourself open. Be aware of all the game around you--and then take advantage of it like crazy!

-Chyna

Photo source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"

Tribe holidays?

I never really thought about it before, but the concept of holidays was pretty much lost in "The Tribe."

Throughout 5 years (and I could be wrong, but this is what I remember), there was no Christmas, no New Year's Day, no Valentine's Day, no Halloween, no Thanksgiving, no Independence Day ... or take it a step further. There was no "Virus Day" or commemoration of any kind for when their world changed so dramatically.

I'm not saying there weren't celebrations because there were. Offhand I can think of the dance party for all the tribes, the Tribal Meeting on the beach, the wedding celebrations for Ryan/Salene and Lex/Taisan, and the party after the defeat of the Guardian. These were all very localized and not anything that would be repeated.

Our Tribe-characters lived very much day to day or week to week. The only time they looked toward a more distant future was to wonder what it would be like ... and if they'd be alive for it.

I guess any of our modern-day holidays really would be out of place in a world that had no clocks ... no calendars ... no traditions that hadn't been totally blown away.

-Chyna

Photo source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"