So you want to be an SPC. You know that as soon as you're cast as a "Special Player Character," you'll be able to let your real roleplaying skills shine. You'll finally be important, and have a real impact on the game, and be able to make it cool! And everyone will pay attention to you and will remember you because you were so awesome! Right?
Please tell me you didn't say, "Right!" There's a common misconception in Westfinder that being an SPC means being important, and I'm afraid we haven't done enough to dispel that. Let's start with the basics.
1) SPC does not stand for Special Player Character. Maybe it did once, but it doesn't anymore. For now, we say it stands for "Story Player Character", but it would be more accurate to call them "Responsibility Player Characters" (too bad that doesn't fit the initialization). More on this as we progress. (We could also go with "somewhat scripted player characters", but that gives a little bit of the wrong impression.)
2) SPCs are not necessarily important. Sure, the big speechifying villain is an SPC, but so is the one person who turns out to know where a specific macguffin is, but has no real "center stage" moments for the rest of game. And the people who stand up to the big demon, or make a valiant last stand while the rest of the PC team escapes? A lot of the time, they're not SPCs. They're "normal" PCs who decided to be brave and valiant and play their character in a way that meant that they had a last stand moment. They created a moment of pure awesome, and it was all their own doing.
3) SPCs are not the people who make a cool game. Or at least, not for themselves. The reason why "Responsibility Player Character" fits so well, is that SPCs guide flow. For the ones who know where a macguffin is, and not much else, that's not so big a deal. But for the big shouty bad guys, that means that they are not allowed to deep-end into their characters. They spend all of game making sure that everything happens more or less according to flow, while still making sure that characters have their freedom. SPCs make the game cool for everyone else. And a lot of the time, if they're doing it right, you won't realize because you're so in character. Because the SPC helped you realize your character's feelings and actions within the structure of the game.
Anyone can be a big shouty bad guy. That's not what makes an SPC. A real SPC is noticed for being shouty, but not noticed for being an SPC and making the flow work. That's the whole point.
4) If your goal is attention, an SPC is the worst thing we can assign you. Because, if we do, you will make the game about you. And that is the exact opposite of what we want to happen. Everybody needs to have a good game. Everybody. So if you brush aside someone else's goal or character arc in favor of making game go the way you want, you have just devalued that player, that character, the gamewriter who created that character, and all of staff who worked hard to make this a good game for everyone.
Now, all of this isn't to say that playing an SPC isn't cool! I personally love playing SPCs because I don't deep-end into characters. If I don't have responsibilities or goals that I know are helping game, I feel absolutely useless, and wander around bored for most of the time. When given the structure of playing an SPC, it means I get to help everyone else have an awesome game, even when I sit out of character for the first half before making my dramatic entrance as the big bad. Helping other people feel intense emotions is one of the most gratifying aspects of playing here at Westfinder.
Guiding flow can also be super rewarding! Like, this one time, I know I talk about it a lot, but it was super cool, guys! I was defeated as the big bad, so I put on my spirit costume, but the next thing that's supposed to happen is taking a while, so I go find out where my fellow SPCs are. Well, they're busy doing something else, so I come back, have Boss Battle 2: Electric Boogaloo, and by the time I'm defeated again, the people are there, and everything works! It's great! But what was so great was not the gasps or the reaction as I pulled off my spirit costume and said, "You thought you could defeat me that easily, did you?" (although that was pretty gratifying). The real awesome part was that I was able to keep everyone else from having an anticlimactic endgame, and keep it building straight to the end. What was so cool was that I made it so cool for everyone else.
If you want a cool character arc, don't ask to be an SPC. You often don't have the luxury of losing yourself in your character. If you want attention, please don't ask to be an SPC. Find a way to make your character important to those around them without trampling all over everyone else's storylines. But if you want to help other people to have an awesome game, maybe you're thinking along the right lines. Just think it over before you ask to be an SPC. You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
-Erin
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Sunday, April 22, 2012
On 5250 and Feedback.
This game was odd for me in a lot of ways. I spent three years putting it together, and though I had help from different people at different stages, it always felt like it was mine and only mine. I suppose that's unfair to those who worked on it with me, but that's the way it is, unfortunately. So, for this three-year project of mine to end up running only an hour, and a rather fractured hour, game-wise, is a bit of a letdown for me, to be honest. It was great to see people inhabiting these characters that I'd thrown together, and since the plot was mainly a vehicle for character interactions and internal roleplaying, I didn't mind so much that it went a bit off the rails. The original premise for this game, back in my junior year of high school, was just, "A game in a mental institution!" Out of that, Gloria was born, and then "The Sane One" who became TSO who became Theo was created as a way to stand up to her. The very idea of plot was nebulous at best.
What was disappointing for me, then, was not that plot didn't run as planned. It was that this project, to which I'd devoted three years on the large scale, and many many hours this past month on the smaller scale, only had one hour manifested in reality. I wrote each character sheet based on the surveys I got, with no pre-created characters but Gloria and Theo, and it seems that everyone was cast well because of it. I just wish that these characters had had more time to get to know each other, to fight and support one another; to have some sort of character arc. Maybe I should blame the sun for making everyone want to cut game short. I don't know.
I will say that I'm still incredibly happy with a lot of how things turned out. People seem to have enjoyed game regardless of length, and they've expressed their enjoyment of their characters sincerely enough for me to believe them. I'm glad that something I created was appreciated in this way.
So! Now it is your turn. Please give me your honest feedback on game or anything else; I'm doing this on the blog so that you can make your feedback as anonymous as you'd like. Don't hold back. I'd rather be able to make any future project better than have my feelings protected right now. Thanks!
What was disappointing for me, then, was not that plot didn't run as planned. It was that this project, to which I'd devoted three years on the large scale, and many many hours this past month on the smaller scale, only had one hour manifested in reality. I wrote each character sheet based on the surveys I got, with no pre-created characters but Gloria and Theo, and it seems that everyone was cast well because of it. I just wish that these characters had had more time to get to know each other, to fight and support one another; to have some sort of character arc. Maybe I should blame the sun for making everyone want to cut game short. I don't know.
I will say that I'm still incredibly happy with a lot of how things turned out. People seem to have enjoyed game regardless of length, and they've expressed their enjoyment of their characters sincerely enough for me to believe them. I'm glad that something I created was appreciated in this way.
So! Now it is your turn. Please give me your honest feedback on game or anything else; I'm doing this on the blog so that you can make your feedback as anonymous as you'd like. Don't hold back. I'd rather be able to make any future project better than have my feelings protected right now. Thanks!
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Hey, guys!
Guess what? This thing still exists! I'm going to try and get this thing up and running again, but mostly this is just an impetus post so that I don't back down now, and a way of letting you old-timers know that things are happenin' around here. In the meantime, we've got Dichotomy coming up on the 25th, so if you haven't filled out a survey, please do so! I look forward to seeing you there.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Tavernites and Adventure the Flags
Hello everybody! As the first of two followups to our previous email, this is being sent to provide more details on Tavernite and Adventure the Flag submissions, which we're expecting lots of! Write them! What have you got to lose!
Tavernites:
Tavernites are basically half-games with no, or nearly no, combat. If there is combat, it should generally either be a small planned scene, or simply the vague potential for a brawl or similar fighting. Tavernites generally run from 1 PM to 5 PM, and generally on Saturday afternoons. Production and costuming generally bring very little to Tavernites: if you want a few small props or specific pieces of costuming, it is likely possible they can be supplied, but these games are meant to be mostly self-costumed. The intent is to have zero additional creations asked of production and costuming for a Tavernite, so they can keep their work focused on our big games. The day consists of a bit of improv work, and then usually a couple specific workshops, then the game during the last hour or hour and a half. Keep these factors in mind when thinking about your Tavernite concept.
A Tavernite submission is far simpler than that of a full game. Because of the shorter scale of a Tavernite, many things necessary for a game could be missing in a Tavernite if the other aspects of the game are well designed. There are only two truly required elements of a Tavernite:
-A summary of the setting/world background. This establishes the overall feel and place of game for the characters to be drawn out of.
-A description of the situation of game. This could be meshed with the world background. This is a description of the game on the local scale: what's the situation at game, why are these people here, and what are they doing?
There are a number of other elements which are often important. Generally you'll want most or all of these other parts, but some can potentially be left out. Keep in mind that all of the descriptions here are guidelines! If it works, write it! But keep in mind, a game with none of these other parts is likely too vague and undefined.
-Flow and events: These are very useful, however a Tavernite cannot have an extensive flow with many steps: there simply isn't enough time. A good standard would be to have an opening and a conclusion, and perhaps one or two planned events somewhere in the middle.
-Character groups: It is useful to add a description of each group in game, and even if you don't they should at least be described in the situation description. An important thing to remember: Even in our full games, but in Tavernites especially, you DON'T need to fully write individual characters. Putting people into described groups, and then allowing them to create their own characters, is the preferred method of character creation for Tavernites.
-A teaser: It's good to have a teaser, however it is not required (although highly suggested by the time it is being run, even if you don't submit it with one).
We are going to be running Tavernites in quarters this year. This means that there will be four calls for Tavernite submissions, one every three months. In each quarter, we intend to run 2-3 Tavernites. If you are already running a full game in the quarter the call is for, then we won't run your Tavernite that quarter, but feel free to submit it for a different one. This email is officially opening our call for Fall Tavernites: September to November. Tavernite calls will be open for the month running previous to the opening of the next quarter. As we're already rather a bit late, Fall quarter will end up slightly shorter this year, and we will likely run 1-2 Tavernites. Submissions are open for one month, running from today until Friday September 24th.
Adventure the Flags:
Adventure the Flags are basically miniaturized versions of our larger games which we play occasionally at our Sunday Capture the Flag at Cordornices. They are much simpler, often (but not necessarily) conflicts over some object of importance, making them effectively Capture the Flag with characters and a setting and maybe a bit more. They run for one hour out of the four hours of CTF, and generally have no advance preparation: Costuming brings nothing to an Adventure the Flag. Production is capable of bringing some weapons beyond the standard swords if you specifically contact production beforehand. There are no workshops in preparation for an Adventure the Flag beyond possibly a couple introductory workshops we run regularly at CTFs: Sword workshop, improv workshop, improv magic workshop, shadowboxing workshop, or the like. There are generally few game conventions.
Effectively, an Adventure the Flag is a quick adventure story, somewhere between Capture the Flag and a full game. Combat with roleplaying, player-developed characters, and often some unusual weapons or magic mixed in. Perhaps a conflict which results in an interesting or unusual type of combat which we don't see in simple Capture the Flag. Or maybe just a mash up of different groups with some special capabilities fighting over some (likely flag-shaped) tokens of importance in a wild melee. Usually there is little to no flow planned for an Adventure the Flag game: perhaps an opening, or an ending, or something in between, or a few of these if you think they will fit.
An Adventure the Flag submission can simply be a paragraph summary of the concept, conflict, and details you want to add. The only teaser you need for an Adventure the flag is a title, and if you want, maybe a few sentences of description. There is no preparation for the players before the day of CTF for an Adventure the Flag: no surveys. There is one other factor which you need to detail when you submit an Adventure the Flag game: how often are you capable of attending Capture the Flag, and would you allow us to run your Adventure the Flag when you can't make it to CTF?
Submissions for Adventure the Flag games are ALWAYS open. The entire year long and ever onwards, we will be keeping an open pool of Adventure the Flag submissions. If you ever have a fun idea, throw together a description, and mail it in. We will add it to the table which tracks the pool of submissions. Every month, we will select a game from the pool. If we have enough submissions, we will run Adventure the Flag games more than once per month. If all you people out there really write, we may be able to run Adventure the Flag games at nearly every session of CTF! In addition to keeping all submissions for consideration, we will respond to submissions which we are not running with advice and modifications, so any game submitted will likely be run within a few exchanges of improvements and resubmissions. The permanent pool for Adventure the Flag games is now officially open as well, so get writing those games!
Tavernites:
Tavernites are basically half-games with no, or nearly no, combat. If there is combat, it should generally either be a small planned scene, or simply the vague potential for a brawl or similar fighting. Tavernites generally run from 1 PM to 5 PM, and generally on Saturday afternoons. Production and costuming generally bring very little to Tavernites: if you want a few small props or specific pieces of costuming, it is likely possible they can be supplied, but these games are meant to be mostly self-costumed. The intent is to have zero additional creations asked of production and costuming for a Tavernite, so they can keep their work focused on our big games. The day consists of a bit of improv work, and then usually a couple specific workshops, then the game during the last hour or hour and a half. Keep these factors in mind when thinking about your Tavernite concept.
A Tavernite submission is far simpler than that of a full game. Because of the shorter scale of a Tavernite, many things necessary for a game could be missing in a Tavernite if the other aspects of the game are well designed. There are only two truly required elements of a Tavernite:
-A summary of the setting/world background. This establishes the overall feel and place of game for the characters to be drawn out of.
-A description of the situation of game. This could be meshed with the world background. This is a description of the game on the local scale: what's the situation at game, why are these people here, and what are they doing?
There are a number of other elements which are often important. Generally you'll want most or all of these other parts, but some can potentially be left out. Keep in mind that all of the descriptions here are guidelines! If it works, write it! But keep in mind, a game with none of these other parts is likely too vague and undefined.
-Flow and events: These are very useful, however a Tavernite cannot have an extensive flow with many steps: there simply isn't enough time. A good standard would be to have an opening and a conclusion, and perhaps one or two planned events somewhere in the middle.
-Character groups: It is useful to add a description of each group in game, and even if you don't they should at least be described in the situation description. An important thing to remember: Even in our full games, but in Tavernites especially, you DON'T need to fully write individual characters. Putting people into described groups, and then allowing them to create their own characters, is the preferred method of character creation for Tavernites.
-A teaser: It's good to have a teaser, however it is not required (although highly suggested by the time it is being run, even if you don't submit it with one).
We are going to be running Tavernites in quarters this year. This means that there will be four calls for Tavernite submissions, one every three months. In each quarter, we intend to run 2-3 Tavernites. If you are already running a full game in the quarter the call is for, then we won't run your Tavernite that quarter, but feel free to submit it for a different one. This email is officially opening our call for Fall Tavernites: September to November. Tavernite calls will be open for the month running previous to the opening of the next quarter. As we're already rather a bit late, Fall quarter will end up slightly shorter this year, and we will likely run 1-2 Tavernites. Submissions are open for one month, running from today until Friday September 24th.
Adventure the Flags:
Adventure the Flags are basically miniaturized versions of our larger games which we play occasionally at our Sunday Capture the Flag at Cordornices. They are much simpler, often (but not necessarily) conflicts over some object of importance, making them effectively Capture the Flag with characters and a setting and maybe a bit more. They run for one hour out of the four hours of CTF, and generally have no advance preparation: Costuming brings nothing to an Adventure the Flag. Production is capable of bringing some weapons beyond the standard swords if you specifically contact production beforehand. There are no workshops in preparation for an Adventure the Flag beyond possibly a couple introductory workshops we run regularly at CTFs: Sword workshop, improv workshop, improv magic workshop, shadowboxing workshop, or the like. There are generally few game conventions.
Effectively, an Adventure the Flag is a quick adventure story, somewhere between Capture the Flag and a full game. Combat with roleplaying, player-developed characters, and often some unusual weapons or magic mixed in. Perhaps a conflict which results in an interesting or unusual type of combat which we don't see in simple Capture the Flag. Or maybe just a mash up of different groups with some special capabilities fighting over some (likely flag-shaped) tokens of importance in a wild melee. Usually there is little to no flow planned for an Adventure the Flag game: perhaps an opening, or an ending, or something in between, or a few of these if you think they will fit.
An Adventure the Flag submission can simply be a paragraph summary of the concept, conflict, and details you want to add. The only teaser you need for an Adventure the flag is a title, and if you want, maybe a few sentences of description. There is no preparation for the players before the day of CTF for an Adventure the Flag: no surveys. There is one other factor which you need to detail when you submit an Adventure the Flag game: how often are you capable of attending Capture the Flag, and would you allow us to run your Adventure the Flag when you can't make it to CTF?
Submissions for Adventure the Flag games are ALWAYS open. The entire year long and ever onwards, we will be keeping an open pool of Adventure the Flag submissions. If you ever have a fun idea, throw together a description, and mail it in. We will add it to the table which tracks the pool of submissions. Every month, we will select a game from the pool. If we have enough submissions, we will run Adventure the Flag games more than once per month. If all you people out there really write, we may be able to run Adventure the Flag games at nearly every session of CTF! In addition to keeping all submissions for consideration, we will respond to submissions which we are not running with advice and modifications, so any game submitted will likely be run within a few exchanges of improvements and resubmissions. The permanent pool for Adventure the Flag games is now officially open as well, so get writing those games!
Sunday, August 22, 2010
First news of Season Five!
Hey Westfinders!
Hope you all had/continue to have fantastic summers. Quite a bit of change has come to Westfinder over the summer, what with half of Staff moving off to college and the SITs of last year coming in to take their places. And so, with August starting to wind down and Westfinder's 5th season about to start, it's time for.... EPIC NEWS EMAIL TIME.
Staff News:
Staff now consists of Tom Kelly, Co-Head of Production and CTF staff; Sam Sher, Co-Head of Production; Jaron Smith, CTF and general staff; Benjy Wachter, Workshop Head and CTF staff; Eve Irwin, Costuming Head; and Jeremy Gleick and Simka Senyak, Co-Directors.
As all the old SITs have become new Staff, we're going to need some new SITs. We'll be sending out a call for applications very soon!
Capture the Flag and Adventure the Flag news:
As always, Capture the Flag will be every Sunday from 12 to 4 at Codornices Park in Berkeley. There's a suggested donation of $1 (CTF staff is awesome! They work super hard! Yay!) but that is, of course, only suggested. CTF has been going on all summer, but with pretty low attendance. Start coming again, guys! It's awesome and fun.
As of now, the Adventure the Flag submission pool is OPEN! This is a constant call for adventures, with absolutely no limit on how many you submit. Please send Westfinder a paragraph summary of your one-hour-or-so-long adventure. ATFs have no advance preparation or assigning of characters; everything will be done day-of. Also, no propstuming. The title is all the teaser you need. We'll pick one a month to start, but as the number of submissions (we hope) goes up, we'll increase the frequency of running them.
Bootleg and Tavernite news:
If you haven't heard already, we have a truly awesome lineup this year (like it's ever not awesome...). The schedule is as follows:
September 11th: Chord: Quest for the Tree of Song, by Ben Gould
October 16th: Artichoke Salad, by Rowan Abraham
November 13th: Hive: Shadowplay, by Jeremy Gleick
January 1st: Too Soon Forgotten, by Ben Schwartz & Jesse Riemer
January 15th: Spectrum Nations Delegations, by Jenna Brotsky & Molly Fullerton
February 12th: Karolina’s Bloodline, by Tait Melody "Purple" Pan/Adams & Colette Smith
March 12th: The Bestiary of Baton Rouge, by Devon Brinner
April 16th: Uber, by Stefan Hulaj
May 21st: Covenant, by Sam Magness
The teaser and survey for Chord are going out shortly!
Bootlegs are usually run in Tilden from 9 to 6 and cost $20. Specifics and other information will go out with each game.
We're doing something different with Tavernites this year. Instead of making a yearly call like we do with the bootlegs, we will have four Tavernite seasons throughout the year (and the summer!) with quarterly calls for submissions. Submissions should go in in August, November, February, and May, and of course we'll send you a reminder email. One or two will be run each season.
A Tavernite submission should be a teaser and a little summary, with one or two flow points and some characters. Remember that they should be low production. Please start sending us your Tavernite submissions for the September - December season! We'll send out a separate reminder email about this.
Finally, as you may have noticed, we're losing quite a bunch of people to the gaping maw of college (college is great, we support college. We just miss you guys!), so it's time to take action. How? With the Solano Stroll! If you don't know already, the Solano Stroll is a ridiculously fun yearly event on Solano Avenue, which goes through Berkeley and Albany. This year, Staff and anyone else who wants to join in will meet up, divide into groups, and go up and down Solano having epic sword battles and handing out fliers. It'll be super fun, plus people will see and want to join in and thusly we'll have new members! Once again, a separate email with more information will go out closer to the Stroll.
Also, anyone interested in helping design fliers and/or posting fliers around and possibly in schools in the area, please contact us! We want you, we need you.
So here ends our news. We want to keep ya'll up to date, though, so we're going to start sending out monthly newsletters and regularly updating this blog again!
Hope you all had/continue to have fantastic summers. Quite a bit of change has come to Westfinder over the summer, what with half of Staff moving off to college and the SITs of last year coming in to take their places. And so, with August starting to wind down and Westfinder's 5th season about to start, it's time for.... EPIC NEWS EMAIL TIME.
Staff News:
Staff now consists of Tom Kelly, Co-Head of Production and CTF staff; Sam Sher, Co-Head of Production; Jaron Smith, CTF and general staff; Benjy Wachter, Workshop Head and CTF staff; Eve Irwin, Costuming Head; and Jeremy Gleick and Simka Senyak, Co-Directors.
As all the old SITs have become new Staff, we're going to need some new SITs. We'll be sending out a call for applications very soon!
Capture the Flag and Adventure the Flag news:
As always, Capture the Flag will be every Sunday from 12 to 4 at Codornices Park in Berkeley. There's a suggested donation of $1 (CTF staff is awesome! They work super hard! Yay!) but that is, of course, only suggested. CTF has been going on all summer, but with pretty low attendance. Start coming again, guys! It's awesome and fun.
As of now, the Adventure the Flag submission pool is OPEN! This is a constant call for adventures, with absolutely no limit on how many you submit. Please send Westfinder a paragraph summary of your one-hour-or-so-long adventure. ATFs have no advance preparation or assigning of characters; everything will be done day-of. Also, no propstuming. The title is all the teaser you need. We'll pick one a month to start, but as the number of submissions (we hope) goes up, we'll increase the frequency of running them.
Bootleg and Tavernite news:
If you haven't heard already, we have a truly awesome lineup this year (like it's ever not awesome...). The schedule is as follows:
September 11th: Chord: Quest for the Tree of Song, by Ben Gould
October 16th: Artichoke Salad, by Rowan Abraham
November 13th: Hive: Shadowplay, by Jeremy Gleick
January 1st: Too Soon Forgotten, by Ben Schwartz & Jesse Riemer
January 15th: Spectrum Nations Delegations, by Jenna Brotsky & Molly Fullerton
February 12th: Karolina’s Bloodline, by Tait Melody "Purple" Pan/Adams & Colette Smith
March 12th: The Bestiary of Baton Rouge, by Devon Brinner
April 16th: Uber, by Stefan Hulaj
May 21st: Covenant, by Sam Magness
The teaser and survey for Chord are going out shortly!
Bootlegs are usually run in Tilden from 9 to 6 and cost $20. Specifics and other information will go out with each game.
We're doing something different with Tavernites this year. Instead of making a yearly call like we do with the bootlegs, we will have four Tavernite seasons throughout the year (and the summer!) with quarterly calls for submissions. Submissions should go in in August, November, February, and May, and of course we'll send you a reminder email. One or two will be run each season.
A Tavernite submission should be a teaser and a little summary, with one or two flow points and some characters. Remember that they should be low production. Please start sending us your Tavernite submissions for the September - December season! We'll send out a separate reminder email about this.
Finally, as you may have noticed, we're losing quite a bunch of people to the gaping maw of college (college is great, we support college. We just miss you guys!), so it's time to take action. How? With the Solano Stroll! If you don't know already, the Solano Stroll is a ridiculously fun yearly event on Solano Avenue, which goes through Berkeley and Albany. This year, Staff and anyone else who wants to join in will meet up, divide into groups, and go up and down Solano having epic sword battles and handing out fliers. It'll be super fun, plus people will see and want to join in and thusly we'll have new members! Once again, a separate email with more information will go out closer to the Stroll.
Also, anyone interested in helping design fliers and/or posting fliers around and possibly in schools in the area, please contact us! We want you, we need you.
So here ends our news. We want to keep ya'll up to date, though, so we're going to start sending out monthly newsletters and regularly updating this blog again!
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Lost and Found
Hey everyone. Its time once again for a lost and found roundup. Here is the current list of items in our lost and found. If you recognize something, let us know, and we'll get it back to you as soon as we can. Thanks!
1 brown hoodie with a bear on it
1 blue hankercheif
1 blue shirt with gold sides
1 white blouse
1 copy of Gardens of the Moon, by steven erikson
1 small blue umbrella
1 blue shoulder bag
1 rubber rat
1 pair of blue swimming trunks
1 black shirt with a white line running diagonally on the chest
1 purple hankercheif
1 kqed baseball hat
1 large The North Face hoodie
1 blue wetsuit
1 pair of dark green canvas cargo/painters pants
Let us know if you recognize anything.
Sincerely,
Westfinder Staff
1 brown hoodie with a bear on it
1 blue hankercheif
1 blue shirt with gold sides
1 white blouse
1 copy of Gardens of the Moon, by steven erikson
1 small blue umbrella
1 blue shoulder bag
1 rubber rat
1 pair of blue swimming trunks
1 black shirt with a white line running diagonally on the chest
1 purple hankercheif
1 kqed baseball hat
1 large The North Face hoodie
1 blue wetsuit
1 pair of dark green canvas cargo/painters pants
Let us know if you recognize anything.
Sincerely,
Westfinder Staff
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Making Your Character - Some Useful Advice
(This may seem long, but if this is your first time playing, please at least read the beginning!)
SO you want to make yourself a character! There are a lot of ways to go about this, and almost anyone you ask will give you a different answer as to how they make characters. This is meant to be a fairly general set of suggestions, and I tried to encompass lots of different options at every step.
Making a character can be very simple, or it can be an incredibly complex and epic thing--it's up to you how much work you want to put into it. In my experience, the more you put into a game, the more you get out of it, and making a deep and dynamic character is a good way to do that! So, without further ado:
PRELUDE: What is your character?
Your character is who you are going to play in the upcoming game! Often times, this character will be written for you, but for this particular game, your character is up to you. Your character has a background, personality, relationships with others, and goals to fulfill!
STEP ONE: Concept
To begin with, you need a basic concept the character will be centered around. You can find a concept in any number of ways--some characters are based on a dramatic piece of backstory, some are inspired by an archetype, and some are inspired by existing fictional characters. It's entirely up to you! I often sit down and look at the kinds of characters I've played recently, and try to think of something I haven't played before, because I like pushing myself!
Once you have your central concept, you can begin coming up with more specifics about how your character got that way. At this point I often look to my group background and the world background, and find ways to tie my character into existing structures in the setting. This leads right into:
STEP TWO: Background and Relationships
Flesh out your character's backstory! Where did they grow up? Was their childhood pleasant? How much schooling did they get? Were there particularly significant events in your character's life?
One common way of backstorying is to come up with a single pivotal moment in your character's life, such as the death of a lover, a falling-out with a sibling, an exile, something like that. This often ties into your character concept, and explains how your character got that way.
An important part of your character background is how they came to be a part of whatever PC team you're in. Hand-in-hand with this are their relationships with the other characters. You are strongly encouraged to contact your fellow players prior to the game and come up with complex character relationships. You can also have relationships with characters outside of your team--perhaps an archrival or ex-lover elsewhere? Pre-established relationships are a great way to set up drama for in-game craziness!
If you have questions about specifics of the setting, or aren't sure who's in your group, drop a line to Jaron, or his aide-de-camp, Quinn! They'll be more than happy to give you neat setting details that will help give you a more solid backstory.
STEP THREE: Psychology and Goals
What is your character trying to achieve? What are their current goals? These can vary from broad abstract ideas (they want to prove their own self-worth) to the material (they want to get rich) to the very direct (they want to beat up [total loserface] for killing their father). Giving your character a strong and active goal is a very easy way to give yourself a better experience in game!
There's also no reason not to have multiple goals--perhaps even some contradictory ones! Nothing like a conflicted character to keep things interesting.
This is often a good time to work out how your character thinks and views the world. Don't be afraid to make a character with a very different worldview from your own--push yourself! An important aspect of internal psychology is your character's self-image. Are they arrogant? Do they have low self-esteem?
Another good way to make your character interesting here is to give them some serious flaws. Do they snap at people when stressed? Do they secretly hate everyone? Are they only with the people they are because they're scared of being alone? A good flaw or two can make for a much more complex and realistic character.
STEP FOUR: Details and Such
From here on out, things are pretty optional. The only non-optional one is ... giving your character a name!
After that, though, it's time to start digging into the minor details. What are their favorite foods? What was their relationship with their parents like? Do they play any instruments? If you feel like a lot of such questions, here is a massive list: http://www.gmpiv.com/Gaming/CharacterSurvey.html
Another fun aspect of characterization is the physical side. Work out how your character moves, fights, and talks. Think of what aspects of their backstory or way of thinking would result in interesting vocal quirks or physical tics, and experiment with various forms thereof!
If you still want to explore your character more, there are some fun ways to do so! Try drawing a picture of your character, or writing as them. Do they write poetry? Write some of it! Or perhaps write a few days' worth of journal entries for them (or a few hours of tweets). Here's a fun thing to do--get together with a friend, and roleplay out a scene between your two characters set prior to game. This will both help you find your character's voice, and help establish your relationship with the other character!
Have fun with writing! Good luck!
+Sunshine
SO you want to make yourself a character! There are a lot of ways to go about this, and almost anyone you ask will give you a different answer as to how they make characters. This is meant to be a fairly general set of suggestions, and I tried to encompass lots of different options at every step.
Making a character can be very simple, or it can be an incredibly complex and epic thing--it's up to you how much work you want to put into it. In my experience, the more you put into a game, the more you get out of it, and making a deep and dynamic character is a good way to do that! So, without further ado:
PRELUDE: What is your character?
Your character is who you are going to play in the upcoming game! Often times, this character will be written for you, but for this particular game, your character is up to you. Your character has a background, personality, relationships with others, and goals to fulfill!
STEP ONE: Concept
To begin with, you need a basic concept the character will be centered around. You can find a concept in any number of ways--some characters are based on a dramatic piece of backstory, some are inspired by an archetype, and some are inspired by existing fictional characters. It's entirely up to you! I often sit down and look at the kinds of characters I've played recently, and try to think of something I haven't played before, because I like pushing myself!
Once you have your central concept, you can begin coming up with more specifics about how your character got that way. At this point I often look to my group background and the world background, and find ways to tie my character into existing structures in the setting. This leads right into:
STEP TWO: Background and Relationships
Flesh out your character's backstory! Where did they grow up? Was their childhood pleasant? How much schooling did they get? Were there particularly significant events in your character's life?
One common way of backstorying is to come up with a single pivotal moment in your character's life, such as the death of a lover, a falling-out with a sibling, an exile, something like that. This often ties into your character concept, and explains how your character got that way.
An important part of your character background is how they came to be a part of whatever PC team you're in. Hand-in-hand with this are their relationships with the other characters. You are strongly encouraged to contact your fellow players prior to the game and come up with complex character relationships. You can also have relationships with characters outside of your team--perhaps an archrival or ex-lover elsewhere? Pre-established relationships are a great way to set up drama for in-game craziness!
If you have questions about specifics of the setting, or aren't sure who's in your group, drop a line to Jaron, or his aide-de-camp, Quinn! They'll be more than happy to give you neat setting details that will help give you a more solid backstory.
STEP THREE: Psychology and Goals
What is your character trying to achieve? What are their current goals? These can vary from broad abstract ideas (they want to prove their own self-worth) to the material (they want to get rich) to the very direct (they want to beat up [total loserface] for killing their father). Giving your character a strong and active goal is a very easy way to give yourself a better experience in game!
There's also no reason not to have multiple goals--perhaps even some contradictory ones! Nothing like a conflicted character to keep things interesting.
This is often a good time to work out how your character thinks and views the world. Don't be afraid to make a character with a very different worldview from your own--push yourself! An important aspect of internal psychology is your character's self-image. Are they arrogant? Do they have low self-esteem?
Another good way to make your character interesting here is to give them some serious flaws. Do they snap at people when stressed? Do they secretly hate everyone? Are they only with the people they are because they're scared of being alone? A good flaw or two can make for a much more complex and realistic character.
STEP FOUR: Details and Such
From here on out, things are pretty optional. The only non-optional one is ... giving your character a name!
After that, though, it's time to start digging into the minor details. What are their favorite foods? What was their relationship with their parents like? Do they play any instruments? If you feel like a lot of such questions, here is a massive list: http://www.gmpiv.com/Gaming/CharacterSurvey.html
Another fun aspect of characterization is the physical side. Work out how your character moves, fights, and talks. Think of what aspects of their backstory or way of thinking would result in interesting vocal quirks or physical tics, and experiment with various forms thereof!
If you still want to explore your character more, there are some fun ways to do so! Try drawing a picture of your character, or writing as them. Do they write poetry? Write some of it! Or perhaps write a few days' worth of journal entries for them (or a few hours of tweets). Here's a fun thing to do--get together with a friend, and roleplay out a scene between your two characters set prior to game. This will both help you find your character's voice, and help establish your relationship with the other character!
Have fun with writing! Good luck!
+Sunshine
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)