Ramblings on RPGs, SF, and Misc. March, 1994
Virgil S. Greene {klyfix@aol.com}
INTRODUCTIONS
Howdy! I'm Virgil, as you can see above. My RPG experience started with AD&D (gee, like nobody else did), and I've played Traveller, RuneQuest, GURPS, Call of Cthulhu, a Nightlife game that changed into Vampire, Paranoia, and IFGS live-action games. I've GM'ed RQ and GURPS games with questionable success. I'm also slightly familiar with Twerps (anybody ever play it?), Attack of the Humans, and maybe some others. I'm not into super-serious gaming, but I still believe in Role-Playing over Roll-Playing. Subjects I write about here will be somewhat random, and I may go from one topic to another without warning. I don't have a one track mind, but an eight track mind. :)
SERIOUS ROLE-PLAYING, INTROSPECTION, AND FUN
(or, why are we playing?)
Once upon a time there was a Duck named Jorl Swiftbill. He was a character of mine in a RuneQuest game. Jorl was a shaman, and a relative primitive. I had not played much RuneQuest, and I was quite unfamiliar with the world of Glorantha. In the AD&D games I'd played, it wasn't tremendously important to have a detailed background for the character, and I hadn't figured on Jorl being a central character in the game. So, his background was mostly provided by the GM and his reason for being in the party was also provided by the GM. When Jorl arrived in the city of Pavis, he was to find a certain person who could help him with a problem his tribe was having. Took a bit, but he found her and also met his future party associates who were also in Pavis to meet with the woman's organization. As things turned out he found himself involved in unexpected complications, and didn't get the help he needed. He tried to get help from the Lankhor Mhy sages (LM is a Gloranthan knowledge god), but found that it was incredibly expensive, had no realistic assurance of success, and in any event they weren't terribly inclined to help. He and his fellow party members went out to his tribe to see if maybe there was something they could do.
Well...once we got back to the tribe, I found out that the problem was a lot more serious than I had expected. I had assumed that it was something that the party could solve relatively quickly with a bit of thought and effort, and then we'd get on to the business of adventuring. I hadn't expected the duck's problem to be a major adventure in and of itself. Plus, there were other problems that the tribe had with a dangerous enemy. After we left the tribe to try to deal with its problems we were in tremendous danger, we couldn't find a solution to the tribe's original problems, and Jorl was having problems with his faith. He had become tainted because he had allowed sorcery spells to be cast on him ( note: in RQ, there are three kinds of magic; Spirit or Battle magic, Divine or Rune magic, and Sorcery. Spirit magic is used by shamans and generally doesn't interact with Sorcery.), and for other reasons. Jorl was having incredible trouble. He wasn't able to find a solution to the tribe's problem. He was not able to get rid of the taint. He was constantly being picked on by the dragonewt PC, with no way to deal with him due to the dragonewt's greater size and strength, and the 'newt's immortality, and my general disinclination to personal conflict. Jorl's life paralleled mine in a lot of ways; a sense of failure and feelings of having betrayed faith.
At this point I should be writing about how Jorl overcame his problems, and how I learned from this ways to improve my own life. Uhhh, well, that's not what happened. Jorl tried and tried to deal with the taint, and the tribe's problem. He tried to travel on the spirit plane to Daka Fal, the Judge of the Dead and the First Ancestor, to learn how to get rid of the taint. The answers he got weren't answers, but just a re- affirmation that he'd messed up. The taint was so obvious that other shamans could see it, and shunned him. The dragonewt determined that Jorl was the cause of the party's problems and that Jorl was a great sinner against his way after a shaman told him of the taint. He on occasion tried to kill Jorl, though it was hidden by the erratic 'newt nature so it couldn't be proven that he was trying to kill him. Ultimately, Jorl dealt with the tribe's problem with a fix that really didn't cure the problem. He stayed with the party for a while after that, but eventually he left. Not for character reasons; I was just sick of the duck's problems and so were the other players.
I'm not happy about what happened with Jorl. The problem his tribe faced was made out to be so major that it was not realistic that he could solve it. The taint he gained was questionable; nothing in the RQ rules indicated that there was a problem with another player casting a sorcery spell on him to save his life. And he couldn't deal with the dragonewt's persecution in character; there was no way to kill the 'newt without destroying the 'newt's soul, and Jorl would never do that.
Why did I stay in the campaign, and why did I keep this character? Initially, it was a fun game. It was the first time I'd really gotten heavily into a character. The GM created more of a feeling of depth to the world. After a while though, it was more a question of just showing that I wasn't a quitter. There had to be solutions and answers, I just couldn't find them. Maybe if I stuck with it, I'd find them and then it would all be worth it. Truth is, there weren't answers I could find.
What should I have done? First off, I should have provided Jorl with more of a background instead of going with what the GM provided. Part of the problem was that I envisioned things differently than the GM did. Second, I needed to know more about the world. I didn't really know how the world worked, and I just accepted what I was told. The duck's background would have been MUCH different had I known more about the world; the provided background was a bit absurd ( yes, I know ducks are absurd :)). I didn't control as much of the duck's creation as I should have.
As to dealing with the duck's taint, I had two choices. One was ritual cleansing. I didn't think of it at the time, but this should have been something that a shaman would know. Jorl's ignorance of the ritual was a bit like a Catholic priest not knowing about the Confessional. The second choice was ritual suicide. I did think of that; since Jorl had a taint that couldn't be eliminated it seemed appropriate. But I didn't want to kill him. I've never suicided a character (there's a perception that I did just that in an AD&D campaign, reality is that I figured the only way to kill the monster was to just keep beating on it in close melee) and it seemed to much like, well, being a quitter. I think I'd have felt better about this whole thing though if Jorl had committed ritual suicide; it would have been more in character.
Now why have a gone on about all this? I got so into Jorl and his problems were so similar to my real-world problems that it was somewhat traumatic playing him. It wasn't escapism, it was continued frustration that I couldn't overcome. I'm not trying to say that games should be easy, but that the whole point is to have fun! If we get too involved (or not enough involved), it ceases to be fun. But we now have games like Vampire: the Masquerade in which part of the game is dealing with the dark sides of human nature, and with the player's own dark side. Storytellers (GMs) are encouraged to emphasize to the players that their characters have this evil side, and in one article in White Wolf they are encouraged to discourage their players from coming up with ways around having to kill or harm people to get blood. I'm not sure that philosophical explorations of the dark side of human nature are a good RPG subject. How serious do we want to get in a game?
[Additional thoughts. This game was quite a long time ago, and it still galls me that Jorl never resolved his problems in a satisfying fashion. However, as near as I've been able to determine from discussions with the GM, I would never have been able to work out for myself a way out for Jorl other than ritual suicide. This wasn't the GM's intention, of course, but I just do not think in such a way that I could have come up with a successful resolution. Perhaps this was a case of not being able to truly understand the GM's world a vision. Frankly, I needed hints which were largely what Jorl was trying to get in spirit plane excursions. I didn't get the hints, so I ended up pretty playing as if the game was one of those old text adventures. I tried anything I could think of and saw what happened.
Here's the thing; I'm not a puzzle solver, and I don't play RPGs to solve puzzles. I play them for the kick of being somebody different who can do neat stuff. If a campaign ends up being nothing but frustration as I struggle to figure out a puzzle that I can't solve but that my character should be able to solve, I'm not a happy camper. There was also the Dragonewt problem; something I almost hesitate to bring up as I get accused of "whining" when I mention it. The fact is that the dragonewt violated the "Dragon Path" by regularly using his draconic abilities which are supposed to be used sparingly if at all, by using magic power storage to power those effects and by having a host of spells cast on him by other party members at various times. But while Jorl was tremendously crippled for one questionable indiscretion, the 'newt was only punished lightly and was if anything rewarded because (my perception) the character entertained the GM and otherwise acted as the GM felt 'newts should. That problem really wasn't resolvable by me; the GM would have had to realise that since the character was far more powerful than the other party members it would also have to be held to a higher standard. The dragonewt should have become aware that he was falling away from his draconic ideal every time he used his abilities, and should have known that he could not use magic items or have spells cast on him without risking losing his way.
You live and learn. I know now that it's better to trash a character or quit a campaign than to be continuously frustrated. I perhaps also saw the potential problems of a "diceless" game; if one's character can get crippled because of not playing a character the way the GM feels is right in a regular game, how much more can the PC get hurt when everything is up to GM fiat?]
RPG MAGAZINES
There seem to be more RPG magazines around now than there were a few years ago. But what ones out there are worth spending one's hard earned funds on? I'll go ever some of the magazines I'm familiar with, and my biased impressions.
DRAGON
This is of course TSR's magazine. As such, there's lots of articles on AD&D and other TSR products, and not a lot on other systems. It does have a good computer game review section (currently written by Sandy Peterson of Call of Cthulhu and DOOM! fame), and fair comics. Its overall minuses? If you don't run TSR games, there's really not much there for you. Its pluses? It is a slick, well produced magazine, and the articles can probably be adapted to work with whatever system you use.
WHITE WOLF
This magazine is unusual in that the magazine came first, and then the game company. White Wolf merged with Lion Rampant and now produces the (in)famous Storyteller games like Vampire: the Masquerade and Werewolf: the Apocalypse. The magazine has generally made an effort to cover all systems including games from smaller companies. The magazine has generally avoided humor, except for jests about people in the company or in the industry (and stupid pictures of groups of people flipping off the photographer). The company philosophy seems to be to take RPG gaming seriously, as an artform. It has a new editor now, and is undergoing changes. It now has a comic, "Legacy Rite", which is set in the Werewolf game universe. And they're having articles on sex in RPGs (not a bad idea, must folk treat it as sort of a joke) and other serious topics.
Its overall minuses? It takes gaming perhaps too seriously, but this could just be a reflection of the sort of folk who play Vampire and its associated games. One of the line reviewers criticized one Vampire supplement as "reduces Vampire to the same level of mindless violence found in any other RPG". Uhhh, yeah, it's better to play blood-drinking, dangerous, undead doomed to lose their humanity. It's all in the play, any game be a mess of pointless violence (end sermon). Its overall pluses? They try to be balanced in their reviews; major reviews have one main review and one or more alternate views. Their coverage of various systems is pretty good; they have line reviewers for most systems. I think it is more likely to be useful than Dragon.
PYRAMID
The new publication from the nice folk at Steve Jackson Games. This is more like the old Space Gamer than the magazine currently bearing the name. It has a good coverage of non-SJG games, to the point of having the feature articles generally involving other companies systems. It has Murphy's Rules! It goes maybe a bit over board on humor, with article on "Hampire, The Masked Ace Raid" for Toon (Pigs we are, lest pigs we become), and the Cheese school of magic for GURPS. Its minuses? It may be a bit too goofy at times. Its pluses? If you play GURPS, or Car Wars, you need this magazine. It covers other systems pretty well. And it has Murphy's Rules!
[Now an online magazine]
CRYPTYCH
Cryptych is an independent gaming magazine. It isn't as slick as the above magazines, but it has a fair coverage of a lot of games, including non-RPGs like Magic: the Gathering. Its most striking difference is that it has newsletters from a variety of gaming (and related) companies; including Mayfair, Wizards of the Coast, and West End Games. Mediocre comics. Its minuses? It may be harder to find. Its pluses? Its incorporation of company newsletters is an interesting touch.
SHADIS
Shadis is another independent gaming magazine. It is even less slick than Cryptych, with pulpish paper. But it is thick and covers a lot of the minor systems and has lots of articles. It has pretty good comics and a lot of industry news and rumor. Its minuses? Well, it does look a bit cheap because of the low grade paper. Its pluses? The comics are pretty good, although I wish they wouldn't have stopped "Joe Genero" (the average man) when they added "Fineous Fingers". And lots of articles and news.
VORTEX
Another independent magazine. Good general gaming coverage and articles. One comic, "Stellar Babe" which is a bit sexist maybe and got Stellar Games angry at them. But any magazine whose editor is "the Guidance Ro-Man" and features a schedule for Mystery Science Theatre 3000 has to be good. Its minuses? Well, I don't know if it still exists; I haven't seen a new issue in some time. Its pluses? The Guidance Ro-Man featured not just in the editorials but in a little image at the end of articles.
CHALLENGE
Game Designer's Workshop's magazine supporting SF RPGs. Pretty good overall, and pretty fair in coverage. Generally no comics, but they did have an April Fool section last year. Its minuses? If you don't play SF RPGs, it has little to offer you. Its pluses? Pretty good articles for SF games, even some that aren't in print anymore. A necessity for Traveller gamers.
My overall impression is that the independents seem to try more to cover the minor games, and have more general articles. The gaming company magazines provide the most thorough coverage of their systems. I think it is quite possible that White Wolf magazine may not be around in a couple years. Dragon will never die, of course.
[And now of course most of the magazines I listed are gone. Cryptych died for a sad reason; the rise of collectable card games led the company to produce a price guide magazine instead. Challenge died with GDW. Not sure what happened to Vortex. And the White Wolf company is now a major game producer rather than a magazine producer.]
RANDOM THOUGHTS
Q: How many Dangerous Journeys Player Characters does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Oh, you mean Heroic Personae, and a lyte bullbe!
Except for one game that was pretty much AD&D, I've never been in a successful Traveller campaign. They all turned into TradingQuest.
Q: How many Vampire: the Masquerade characters does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Who needs a light with all this bright sunshine? WHAT! SUNSHINE! AHHHH!!!!!
Most of my gaming buddies have a disdain for commercial RPG modules. It seems to me that they should be very useful in providing more detailed scenarios. Oddly though, I've never run a published module. Not sure what this means.
Q: How many Call of Cthulhu characters does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Wait! That's not a light b......
We seem to be in the Golden Age of SFTV. With all the current shows, plus a possible return of Dr. Who in the form of a co-production between Amblin (Steven Speilberg's company) and the BBC. But for all the shows featuring a future in space, the various manned space programs are in serious trouble. Is SF becoming nothing but escapism, rather than an inspiration to greatness?
[And now, while the revival of Dr. Who was a no-go, we have a host of SFTV shows. The Russian space program is a disaster, and the overpriced and overcomplicated Space Station is in danger because of that. The vision on television is not matched in the Real World. Oh well.]
IN THE FUTURE
In future installments, I hope to write more about the Golden Age of SF TV, RPG magazines, weird adventure ideas, RuneQuest: Adventures in Glorantha, and other stuff. And of course the traditional comments on the contribution of other writers to Interregnum. And remember everybody, this is the special Collector's Issue! :)
LINKS
Here's some relating to stuff in this issue.