Unplugged! - "Amber Award #2"

AWARDS UNPLUGGED: Where we take the Summer 2008 awards & break 'em down to "Tribe" references so you can see what each award refers to, then the defining moment that resulted in a character receiving this award.

"More Guts than Amber" Award

Don't get me wrong here. Amber had lots of guts & showed that constantly throughout the run of "The Tribe's" 5 seasons. But mostly she grew into that resolve & courage. In the early parts of Season-1 especially, she was still confused & finding her way, same as everybody else. She had to grow ... and she hadn't grown so much when Sasha came on the scene. I still have NO CLUE what the attraction was there - especially compared to Bray! - but obviously they had feelings for each other. They spent nights together & we were left to imagine what that meant. When all was said 'n done, when Sasha was leaving the city to see the world & find truths the city didn't offer, he asked Amber to come with him. She said "no." The obvious answer was she felt she "had a job to do" and couldn't abandon her tribe. Another answer might've been that she found it hard to leave the security & friends she had found, even if that was for love.

So from our game, we decided KRYSTAL, who was willing to take such a chance, truly did have more guts than Amber in the same situation. Well, almost the same. We're not sure love was involved, when Sid asked her to adventure with him & leave the city. But Krystal took a shot and left her tribe and city behind for a new place with Sid. That definitely took guts.

-Chyna

Photo source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"

Unplugged! - "Bray & Amber Award"

AWARDS UNPLUGGED: Where we take the Summer 2008 awards & break 'em down to "Tribe" references so you can see what each award refers to, then the defining moment that resulted in a character receiving this award.

Bray & Amber "Happy Families" Award

"Happy Families" is a card game whose idea is to collect whole families. There was also a short-lived UK tv-series by the same name. It was a familiar bit, hearing Ebony sneer at Bray or Amber & ask if they were just gonna sit around playing "happy families." But in a way that's what they were doing - trying to take the odds 'n ends of a shattered world & build a family from it. In the early days they were pretty good at the "mom" and "dad" roles. But as it turned out, the early days were the easier ones. By the time Bray & Amber were playing the role for real, with the impending birth of baby Bray, everything else had pretty much fallen apart.

For this award, we had a 3-way tie.

TRISTAN & CECILY are the unlikeliest of all but they're also the only quasi-traditionally married couple we have, building a life in the city with a home & a respectable business. It's just...behind closed doors..."happy families" isn't exactly what they're playing here.

VALENTINE & VINCENT are Fort River's "it" couple. Wildly successful in New World terms, they recently declared their love for each other & decided to partner in all of Val's city businesses (which are considerable). They've settled into a nest in the Mirage, and life is good.

PRINCE & EVE have been our surprise couple this season. Old high-school friends who lost touch after the Virus, they spent the spring re-discovering each other. They live together & seem content with the life they're building.

What's truly surprising is the relationship-building going on throughout our game. The focus has definitely shifted from survival/fighting/competition to survival/building/finding someone to build a life with.

-Chyna

Photo source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe

Unplugged! - "Amber Award"

Wow, feedback. It's a wonderful thing. I've had lots of questions about our game's "Tribe Awards" - what the awards are, how they're determined, and exactly why characters won the awards they did? So ... guess we need to get more specific. Not a problem, guys.

Welcome to AWARDS UNPLUGGED.

I'm gonna take the Summer 2008 awards list & break 'em down. I'll give you "Tribe" references so you can see what each award title refers to. Then I'll describe the defining moment or scene that resulted in a character receiving his/her award. This is gonna take a bit of time, one per day, so stick with us. Maybe this'll give you some more insight into our game too ... maybe encourage you to check us out. ((Yep, always with the ulterior motive.))

So let's start at the top.

The Amber Award

Amber always seemed to be the "reluctant leader," first of the Mall Rats then the Ecos and then a recognized leader of the city itself. But she was known to ditch all that & split to follow her conscience. This is a direct reference to Season-3, after she & Bray were reunited in the city. Still she left to go & try to pull together tribes outside the city to fight the Guardian. Seemed the city's needs came before her own.

HAWK is perfect for this award, a reluctant leader to the River Rats though they elected her & enthusiastically followed her. She did the best she could & moved them into the heart of Fort River so they could be part of something more. But then she turned her back on that, stepped down as leader, disappeared into the city. Hawk has bad vibes about the things happening all around them - and this girl pays attention to her vibes. This is a parallel "needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." Hawk figures what's good for the city will ultimately be good for her tribe ... but there's still that pesky reluctance. We know she wasn't comfortable as leader. Anyway, Hawk & Amber definitely would've been friends. They have a lot in common when it comes to leadership style & doing what's right.

-Chyna

Photo source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe

Tribe Style

"The Tribe" had a very unique style. Actually that was one of the best bits, seeing what the characters would come up with when it came to shoes, outfits, hairstyles & colors, and makeup.

That's where television made life interesting. Do you know how hard it is to create, describe and visualize the kind of detail "The Tribe" could do instantly with one photo-clip?

But our players do the best they can, and we try to reinforce each other's descriptive creativity where we can.

Details that come instantly to mind...

• Silver-blonde hair - as worn by Villa & Eris.
• Chocolate brown eyes - how Tristan sees Cecily.
• A green crescent moon tattoo - Jade's slave mark.
• Full ninja dress - Zero's trademark.
• An angel tattoo across his shoulders - more than one girl has noticed that about our resident rock star Vincent.
• A missing eye - even if Hawk has recently started using a replacement.

These are just a few of the many details our players work on when it comes to character attributes. They also include manner of dress and choice of weapons. Things change up occasionally and that's fun too!

If we can't take pictures, we can certainly paint them with words.

-Chyna

Photo source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"

Pain

Pain. It makes an impression.

Pain is a universal concept. If it's alive, it's felt pain to various degrees.

Doesn't matter if your world is normal or, like our game-world, a bit apocalypic. The bitch of it is, we tend to do it to each other. If there are no adults around ... seems the kids are quite capable of dealing out the pain all by themselves.

Physical.

Mental.

Emotional.

Pain comes in all colors & sizes. It's in our game-world too because, hey, universal remember? If you create a fictitious world and it's gonna have any semblance to reality at all, there will be pain.

Examples are easily come by.

Heartbreak? Arianna has lost 3 lovers in less than a year - 2 to war and 1 who walked out because he couldn't deal with her brand of New World justice.

Physical pain? Tristan has made that an art form, subjecting Cecily to methods of torture that she wouldn't have imagined possible ... or imagined that she could survive.

Mental pain? Valentine was kidnapped by a madman, immobilized and stashed in a dumpster where she lingered for days and still has nightmares from.

These are the tip of the ice berg. The characters in our game are truly survivors. Fortunately pain can be offset with pleasures, some as simple as a good meal or a hug or as vital as love.

In "The Tribe," Lex almost died from a simple toothache in Season-4.

Pain. It's universal.

-Chyna

Photo source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"

Fade

Does it fade?

Pain. Terror. Horror. Uncertainty.
Fear. Sadness. Loneliness. Desperation.

That hollow ache inside when the absolute worst happens

& there's absolutely nothing you can do about it.

Does it fade?

Is that what happens?
Is that how we survive?

Or do we just become so numb that even

one more thing can't affect us...can't touch us

inside because inside is just cold and empty.

The characters in our game have

suffered and lost, time after time.

Some of them disappear.
Some of them die.

Some of them find a well of hope

that maybe things can get better.

Tomorrow...if we can just

make it until tomorrow.

I think I know how that feels.

-Chyna

Photo source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"

One more Award...

Special Note from the Council of Tribes:

There was one KTDA character we had a difficult time qualifying so we didn't include in the Summer '08 round of awards published yesterday. However upon further consideration, we have created a new award category that recognizes when a character has the guts to take a chance, even if that effort doesn't end in success. Trying counts.

So, the "More Guts Than Amber" Award is presented to KRYSTAL.

Amber didn't take a chance and take a new adventure when Sasha offered it. When Sid offered Krystal that chance, she took it! That took guts, girl. It was a brave experiment. Congratulations!

[posted by Chyna, Game Owner, for the Council]

KTDARPG: Summer 2008 "Tribe Awards"

Welcome to the Council of Tribes TRIBE AWARDS, tipping our hats to the great show that gave us our start. You've all done a GREAT JOB! Here are highlights of the last 6 months from the Keep the Dream Alive rpg & the characters who brought them to life.

... and the winners are ...

• Amber Award -- Hawk
• Bray & Amber Award -- Tristan & Cecily, Val & Vincent, and Prince & Eve
• Drunken Bray Award -- Rio
• Dal "Little Trees" Award -- Jade
• Ebony Award -- Blackrose
• Eco's Award -- Evans Family Tribe
• "Good of the Tribe" Award -- Ace/Alister
• KC Award -- Lily
• Lex "Cover my ass first" Award -- Blood
• Lex & Taisan Award -- Jade & Zero
• Lex Award "when law enforcement goes wild" -- Urick
• Locos Award -- Cecily
• Mouse Award -- Maggie
• Patsy Award -- Izzy
• Paul Award -- Chidori
• Pride Award -- Oliver
• Ruby Award -- Valentine
• Ruby & Slade Award -- Nyx & Johnny Ohm
• Ryan Award -- Icarus and Saber
• Salene Award #1 -- Hawk
• Salene Award #2 -- Eris
• Sasha Award -- Jenna and Teller
• Taisan Award -- Zoey
• Top Hat Award -- Hellstorm (aka Vincent)
• Tribe Circus Award -- Alice
• Tribe Flashback Award -- Tristan
• Tribe Style Award -- Jet
• Trudy Award -- Lady Arianna
• Zoot & Ebony Award -- Villa & Marionette
• Zoot Lives! Award -- Tristan and Blasko

Congrats to all our winners. If you were disappointed this round? There's always next time, especially for the newer characters. Lots of game still to come! And if you aren't familiar with KTDARPG, stop by our game-site and read the full text of the awards including commentary. (The commentary is always the fun part!)

Chyna, Game Owner

reporting for the Council of Tribes

[artwork courtesy of Pride!]

Harsh

One thing every world or country or city or society or family faces post-apocalypse is harsh reality. By its very nature, an apocalpyse changes things drastically . . . and usually for the bad.

For Tribeworld and our gameworld, that "bad change" was the death of all adults over the age of 20.

Domino-effect: No adults means no government. No manufacturing. No advanced knowledge (mostly). Things begin to break down. Nobody's refining oil for gasoline. Food resources and delivery become very localized.

Violence is on the upswing. Anarchy is rampant. Survival of the fittest.

School's out, kiddies.

In a lot of those ways, our game has mirrored our inspiration. Over four years now, we've dealt with short rations, finding safe places to live, tribe wars, slavery, fighting to survive, even unwed mothers making their way with the help of tribe and friends.

We've taken the good with the bad and made the best of it. In addition to bullies and thieves and gang leaders and warlord-wannabees, some of our characters have shown charity, generosity and genuine concern for their fellows. Many our characters have shown courage, ingenuity and long-term planning . . . so nobody talk to me about how kids can't think ahead and work to make the future what they want it to be!

Still, life's harsh under the best circumstances . . . and these certainly aren't the best.

It's a challenge. One our players have set to with a lot of creativity.

Harsh?

Yes. But harsh can bring out the best in us. It can also bring out a lot of other things too. I think we call that the fun part.

-Chyna

Photo source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"

Party!

If there's one thing our friends on "The Tribe" knew how to do, it was to have a good time!

Any occasion for a party, they took advantage of.

Dance Party.

Tribe competitions.

Even rat-races!

Oh yes, life NEVER has to be dull.

In KTDA, we know how to party too.

You can catch the show each night at the Mirage. You'll probably find Vincent and his rock show or maybe Jade who has her own special style.

If big crowds aren't your style, then try Home. Right now there's a storytelling marathon beginning, between Jenna the Bard and the River Rats' very own Teller.

You can probably find more fun on the beach or at a house party somewhere like the Peachtree Mall.

Whatever you do - have fun!

-Chyna
Photo source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"