Movie Trends: Aliens in Post-Bush Era

There have been some trends in movies this year, little things that I feel like analyzing- they may not give great insight into mankind, but they may forecast movies to come.

There's been a lot of aliens popping up in the movie landscape lately. Short list from the top of my head:

The Battle for Terra
District 9
Avatar
Aliens in the Attic
Monsters versus Aliens

Now, three of these five movies have some things in common- Aliens in the Attic and Monster vs. Aliens being the outliers.

In District 9 and Avatar, we have:
1. Humans being assholes
2. Aliens playing the part of oppressed minorities whose human rights are violated
3. Messages about War profiteering/environment
4. Evil corporate entities

Something is obviously skipping merrily through the cultural consciousness of America for all this to hit at the same time, and it's pretty obvious the anti-war, pro-environment, cultural tolerance messages (all things I generally support) are a direct product of the Bush era, manifesting roughly a year after his exit.

It's pretty interesting that "Aliens as Foreigners" angle has been hit so hard so quickly. In many ways, we can just skip the plot of these films to get more of the jist, the essential salts for the alchemical creation of these movies.

District 9- Blood Diamond + Bug Monsters
Avatar- Dances with Wolves + Blue Cat People
Battle for Terra... I have not seen, but I get the feeling it's more of the same.

Using this formula, we merely need to find the next film meant to highlight the oppression of a human culture, throw in some lasers and CGI aliens, and we may have a critically acclaimed piece of sci-fi on our hands...

Come to think of it, both Avatar and District 9 have a transformational element in them, of people becoming aliens as well... and Monsters vs. Aliens... huh. Maybe some vibe of how our only real differences are superficial in nature...

I suppose in some ways, this feeds right back into Star Wars characters being bad racial stereotypes, though so far the new wave of aliens have been far more tasteful in their depictions over all. The Navi of avatar seem to be a blend of various tribal peoples of earth in their culture, so they really don't come off as any other race per se, not to mention their image is largely positive. The Prawns of District 9 are so alien, being bug monster, they really don't come off as anything other than poor aliens.

Since I try to bring things back to gaming when I can, I figure there might be a few lessons somewhere in this mess as far as creating alien cultures. I think the best way to go is that if you can't make something new, rip off so many things nobody can tell where it came from anywhere (credited to this guy). While he may not be able to make a decent film himself, the technique is sound for gaming- the Navi of Avatar come off as tribal, but it's hard to pin down what tribe they come from.

The other lesson might be that aliens are great source material as representing something other than the obvious- they take up classic roles readily.

Aliens work well as Gods, Angels, Invaders, Devils, Natural Forces, or any other role you want to throw them in without having to give 1)Supernatural reasoning nor 2) Sensical reasoning. Aliens are different, their ways of approaching the world strange. If an alien wants to hunt you for fun, give you superpowers, or blow up the planet, don't question it- they're alien, and whatever they are doing must obviously be science and makes sense to them. This isn't an open invitation to hand waving aliens doing stupid crap, but it is reason enough to squeak by with some odd behavior and unknown motivations at times.

Superhero Squad or Why Marvel Getting Bought by Disney Matters Little

The Superhero Squad Show

So, here we have a goofied up, kiddified version of Marvel, with squidgy little versions of almost the entire Marvel Universe. It's the latest in the line of proof that whatever Disney might decide to do to the Marvel Universe to try an ruin it, Joe Quesada will likely beat them to the punch.

I suppose I'm being a little unfair- it's light hearted children's fair, and I'm all for letting kid's get into comics, right? Well... yes, I am, but I also don't think going quite this stupid is doing kids any favors.

In this show, a group that strongly resembles the Avengers fights Doctor Doom in an anime-esque quest to collect all of the MacGuffin fractals to give him awesome super powers to win. Doctor Doom has assembled a Lethal Legion (read: basically every bad guy in the Marvel Universe) to fight against the Squaddies. I'm all for big superhero battles of epic proportions, and oddly, this show sort of delivers- there are more Marvel characters in this show than any I've seen before it. That being said, there are a lot of simplifications made, essentially putting the rubber claws on Wolverine.

1. It takes place in Superhero City. The city is walled off to keep the Lethal Legion out (ignore the whole flight thing).
2. The characters are all basically school children-esque.
3. Four fingers.
4. Dumbing down in general.

So, children of this generation will first see Marvel superheroes as daft, squishy, four fingered mutants who go around throwing temper tantrums, get sent back to school, and generally act like mild looney tunes. Bad guys are more Naughty guys that only really work in cartoons (the Ring Master dresses up like a lunch lady and waltzes into the X-Mansion. The Danger Room doubles as a cafeteria. Collossus is a dumb jock, Jean is a cheerleader. Only one character notices the yellow swirling eyes associated with hypnosis and Professor X has his mind controlled...).

Quelling my inner geek, this show does have a few things I like.

1. Dr. Doom is the main bad guy.
2. There are about as many marvel characters in this show as there are in JLU.
3. Each episode is inspired by a classic comic, apparently.

These few things don't really excuse the show, but they to me are signs they could have made a better show.

Youngerizing Heroes and the Slope They Slipped Off:
This trend is understandable, in some ways. X-Men was originally mutant teens at a school and X-Men: Evolution brought it back to those roots. Same thing for Ultimate Spiderman. But then we start to go further...

Iron Man armored adventures I think was the first step into hell. Here we have a young Tony Stark (okay), in a futuristic city (wait), and his father dies early (huh?) and the Mandarin is a teenage son of a crime lord with some rings (my mind!) and he fights against the evil designs of Hammer Industries trying to steal his fathers... no. Sorry, this is just TOO different in my mind. Pepper Potts is a perky teen, Rhodey is his teen buddy... this isn't Iron Man's roots, it's Iron Man skewed and re-imagined entirely.

Basically, in the Quesada era of Marvel, we know one fundamental truth: Nothing is Sacred. Not characters, origins, continuity, sense, NOTHING. If it makes a buck, it will happen. The line stops at Spiderman condoms... I'm pretty sure.

Disney, the big red M is in your court. Do your worst.

Bionic Commando vs. Dragon Age

Not my usual, but it feels like one of those things worth mentioning, if only because I don't know if I'll see much on it elsewhere.

The New Bionic Commando game is a classic mismatch of great gameplay and a lame, lame story. The gameplay is the proper mixture of challenge and intuitiveness- getting new moves does not add needless complication, or just make the game harder. The advanced techniques add to a growing repertoire of combat options that only serve to make an already solid combat system grow even more so. More enemy types are introduced, slowly, a good deal of the environment can be climbed or used as a weapon, and they manage to recapture much of the fun of the 2-D platforming experience in 3-D.

The plot in many ways follows the opposite course, having a hackneyed plot you can see coming from a mile away. The twists are assumed almost from the beginning of the game, from the first cinema. We see Nathan 'Rad' Spencer jailed- fair enough, public fear of bionics sends them underground, puts them in jail, etc. We see Super Joe, an obviously evil old military man, unlike his heroic former identity from Captain Commando, sending Nathan off to fight the baddies that have blown up the city and conveniently set up the radiation clouds that keep this game from being an open environment- which is fine, for the most part.

I'd call the following spoilers, but it's not like it's spoiling much of anything. Nathan finds out the baddies are not new baddies, but the same old baddies, led by Groder. Only late in we find out Super Joe is evil and, gasp! was using you to claim the MacGuffin for his own nefarious ends. The cliche Dead Wife is also, gasp, murdered by Super Joe, but for perhaps the stupidest reason ever- her... well... somehow she was turned into his bionic arm. Which would be really, really creepy, if it wasn't so stupid. I mean... how? Fleshy person to cyber arm. That makes no kind of sense at all. There is a girl with cybernetic legs and super speed... while the game progresses in a way where you think you'd fight her, or she'd do something important, she instead shows up a few times, then dies horribly- she made ZERO impact on the plot. None.

The game is such a stinker that GRIN, the parent company is dead. So, no chance of redemption. Which goes to show... plot matters.

Now Dragon Age: Origins is out, and I can't help but feel this game is truly the reversed situation. The game itself is, to be blunt, awful. It doesn't play in such a way that makes me feel that all classes or paths are truly viable- pick the mage's tower too early, with a week class, and it will be a long ugly trudge through it. The combat often feels random, many enemies having 'finisher' style moves that will kill a character, without fail, unless the AI messes up and forgets to do you in. Rogue's seem virtually worthless as their inferior combat skills make them a detriment to many parties. Mages show such flexibility as to be almost invaluable. Warriors play pretty much like better rogues, as they are basically a big sack of armor, hitpoints, and damage. The combats are HARD, but not in a way that I would call challenging- they're tedious affairs, victory more dependent upon enemy mistakes then player skill.

The plot of Dragon Age is absolutely amazing though. Ferelden is a fully realized world, characters all seem to have a place in it, with deep backgrounds and sensible relations to events around them. Each of the race, gender, class combos have their own little twists and options, putting much of the story squarely in the players hands to determine, with so much detail, there's even lore scraps you can pick up.

Bionic Commando is considered an utter stinker of a game, while Dragon Age is considered 'amazing'. Which leads to a few thoughts:
1) Gameplay is starting to matter less than visuals and story
2) Bioware can ride its success hard, even glazing over their bad games with positivity carry over from old
3) If you're plot seems unconvincing to a 6th grader, you might want to rethink a few things.

Usually, I do tabletop stuff, but I think this points out some parallel: good rules alone cannot sell a game, and a beloved setting can sometimes glaze over awful rules.

Only you can prevent Wife arm.

LARP and the IC/OOC Barrier: The Religion

I've played in multiple LARPs, both boffer and non-boffer. I've gotten to soak up the stories of yesteryear, the events of the day, and seen where things later end up. They're certainly not what I would call 'young' entities, having existed for many years, but I think only now, with many of them running their course for long periods of time, can we see certain trends in them.

In this article, I'm going to deconstruct what I find perhaps one of the most abysmal institutions in LARPing, a strongly held belief that serves SOME of the gaming population SOME of the time, but perhaps at the cost of others.

I talk about the separation of in character and out of character actions. Primarily, this involves what I would call 'open PVP'.


Background Experience:
I'll leave names blank to protect the guilty and the innocent.

I first get into boffer LARP, and from the standpoint of immersion, it's a blast. I hear about someone who, over the course of a year or so, built a stockpile of bodies, used some janky necromancy rules, and damn near killed everyone in the game. Total pwnge. But rules we're changed to stop that. During this time, I'd also seen that the social structures of the game we're quite draconian, especially in the arcane magics- a rule had been established that to learn a skill, you had to roleplay out learning it from a teacher. A good rule for roleplay, that unfortunately formed into a stranglehold on the magic rules when the mages banded together and all but made one fourth of the game inaccessible to other players. This in a largely cooperative, adventure based fantasy in which players are most likely to fight orcs, and not each other.

I at first thought this an isolated case, until I reached the next boffer LARP. I then get hit with tales of the first LARP players were in, where a singular evil character played skillfully over many years basically nuked the player base. I got killed in my second game there due to a poorly planned open PVP event, in which I got to hear about my characters grizzly dismemberment, almost like verbal salt in the wounds- hey, you're not just dead, you're also mutilated! Granted, the oldbie important characters get rezzed despite all the difficulties later because people want them back that bad, and the usual unfortunate trend towards LARP elder status, but it leads me to questioning just WHY open PVP is good. And the basic answer I am given is that it CAN lead to good consequences, and that one should just have FAITH that one's fellow players will make tasteful choices, accept when things go wrong, and then hope things go better the next time.

I warned them once, about the syndrome of the super necromancer, of the psycho, of the slow building terrorist- they said it couldn't happen in their game. A few months later, one of the major PCs turned evil and kills half the players in the game- and escapes, and survives. Me one, the religion zero.

So now I'm playing Vampire. It's a cut throat game, with open PVP, so it's expected people will power play, politic, possibly assassinate one another. The chainsaw is gimped slightly by numbers being more powerful than stats, but that doesn't really change things here sociologically. No vampire terrorists yet, from what I can see, but rules created to enhance roleplay and prevent twinking may be quickly turned into weapons to screw people out of XP. Status strips, intimidation, and covenant rivalries allow for people to be much, much worse to one another in some ways then a fantasy based but of live action D&D- and they are. I got to hear a story of people getting forcibly converted to a new faction after being unmanned physically by their enemies- fun!

All of this behavior, these bad results, are direct results of the Religion of OOC/IC being completely separate. Unfortunately, they're not.

The Three Types of Gamers

There is a theory labeled GNS Theory, a theory used in roleplaying games for the three types of fun they can provide. Not everyone adheres to this theory, as it's strictest interpretations are sort of unrealistic, but the basics of it are there. We may come up with a better theory one day, but for now, the GNS theory is perhaps the first step in deconstructing what makes a roleplaying game fun for people. If you don't think there are any theories or methods towards making a roleplaying game good, go bang your sticks together in a cave and hope for fire, because you might as well say there's no difference between good and bad movies. This may be opinion, but it is an informed opinion.

The quick of it is that Gamists play the game to compete, and in some sense, win. They may want to just be powerful, they may want to overcome challenges, they may want to PK. The worst of these are power gamers nobody wants, with the best being the tacticians you always want on your side.

The Simulationists play the game as a what if, wanting to just see what happens. This is, in some ways, the core strength of LARPing. It's deeply immersive, something simulationists love, meaning they can more easily get the What If aspect of gameplay- its almost real, cause you talk to real people in real time, with real bodies rather than images provided by a gamemaster.

Narrativists play games because they want cool stories. Whatever happens in a game, they want to see neat things happen, have moments of drama, tales that keep them interested and worth telling to others. Narrativists, in many ways, want to see that a game has something that resembles a plot when all is said in done.

Why the Religion Works:

The religion works because it serves both Simulationists and Gamists to keep OOC and IC completely separate, at least as a creed to say, and on paper. The Simulationists are often the improv actors of the game, people who play a character to a hilt- whether they are psycho or hero, a bit part or a mover and shaker, the Simulationist loves to just see where things go with whatever they play. Open PVP and IC/OOC separation, to them, is only logical as it adds to their immersion, at least theoretically. For them, separating the two is second nature.

The Gamists benefit from this because it means they can do whatever they want IC and reap no OOC repercussions for it. They can be 'as bad as they wanna be', callously kill others off, and basically go around kicking ass, taking names, bullying people, and 'winning' and there is no game master intervention to get in their way. In some cases, the system even supports it, allowing them further ways to strike at their imagined enemies with zero risk to themselves- this is the perfect gamist solution.

Narrativists are left on the outs by this, and the whims of Gamists and Simulationists do not always lead to good stories. While Simulationists are far less guilty of railroading and ruining the game, being that they often add a lot of immersion with their roleplay skill and interesting characters, more often we have to deal with the Gamists. A Gamist might kill your character for fun and then slyly give a blaise IC reason- he annoyed me, I have low humanity, he was another covenant, etc. They may kill you out of boredom. Their reasons are ultimately that it was a path to them winning, and it means they will use whatever means they wish to accomplish that.

Take a moment to realize that nobody is necessarily just one or the other of these things- people can derive fun from all the approaches, but there is probably one that is above all the others.

The Religion's main purpose is that it serves two kinds of mindsets- it forces everyone to OOC 'get along', but allows IC for people to be total assholes, even needlessly. This works into the hands of those who believe everyone could (and should) get along as well as those who wish to Win the game, because they can excuse even the most vile behavior IC as being 'just my character'.


Heresy: The Problems with the Religion

The First Heresy: My Character

It's just what my character would do is NOT an excuse. It's a reason, but it's surely not an excuse for ruining other people's fun because you MAKE your character. When you put the dots, the faction, and ultimately, when you dream up the persona of your character, you've decided just how they're going to act in the game. If you make a psycho killer who is going to PK at the drop of a hat and end people's stories then you DECIDED to make that. If you roleplay your humanity drop as a reason to PK, you DECIDED to roleplay that way.

Your character is not a ghost who possesses you and makes you do things.

The Second Heresy: Order

Some people think keeping IC and OOC seperate is the only way to keep people friendly, because when someone screws your character over, you should never hold it against the person who did it because it's just IC. There is some truth to this...

However, it contradicts human nature. When roleplay turns to PVP issues, it quickly goes sour. When playing against NPCs, nobody cares too much to look at your character sheet, but once it goes PVP people whip them out and double check and look at databases because the PLAYERS care about their CHARACTERS. It's a simple truth. No matter how good a dinner I am bought after getting assassinated, if the reasons were stupid or ill conceived, I'll probably be fuming the entire time. The hurt will likely remain. The people who are most equipped to get around this are the hardcore Simulationists, but both Gamists and Narrativists will hold the grudge both IC and OOC. Two thirds of everyone pays this rule lip service, ultimately.

There are big arbitration boards and rules in many LARP organizations as people take issue with one another, and I'm sure that PVP is due the lion's share of these conflicts.

The Third Heresy: Better Gaming

The final heresy on this rule is there is some belief that this divide leads to better gaming, despite evidence to the contrary. The best we can say is that open PVP and IC/OOC separation provide some element of 'surprise' to the game. Oh hoh, I never expected to be kill boxed tonight by people proxying their characters from half a world away! But this complexity doesn't necessarily lead to good story, immersion, or even a fun "I Win!" scenario for gamists. Gamists in open PVP are small sharks in a big shark pond and may find themselves on the receiving end of the same kind of action they deal out for reasons as simple as 'you were getting too powerful and I don't trust you'. Simulationists may have to deal with poorly reasoned PVP which they are then forced to rationalize away IC. And the Narrativist, as per usual, will probably watch as a chainsaw comes screaming through and killing a plot.

Oddly, most of the best gaming comes about from OOC/IC interaction- giving game masters character information to use in plots, establishing character ties with others. None of that is IC, but it effects IC for OOC reasons and its GOOD.

Losing the Religion or Where Do We Go?

It's a sad fact that to really predict LARPs, the easiest thing to model them on are MMOs. No, seriously. An MMO is a large social group of gamers, and while we stretch out our 'go time' and rules with talking IC and acting, MMOs function very similarly to LARP.

Add in long snippets of text in between each battle, and we're pretty close.

Now, in MMOs, we got to see the micro-evolution of PVP. Open PVP was featured in a lot of early MMOs, because people thought the What If machine and labeling something a roleplaying game would be enough to police the worst elements. Only it wasn't. People would still be cheesy assholes and kill newbs for fun, make the game a living hell if they were bored. Open PVP generally proves to be not very fun for anyone but the most hardcore elements.

A few years later and we get the flag system: we can challenge people to duels, which they can deny or accept. We can be Flagged, allowing ourselves to be attacked, inviting that misfortune and competition. And there are special areas where things like that can happen.

I give the Requiem Larp some credit for taking this last feature and introducing an inverse rule- Elysium's are places where it takes Willpower points to hurt and Willpower Dots to kill. This certainly cuts down on the direct violent PVP aspect of Vampire a good deal, adding an element of stability. However, we do not see any Flag elements- there is no 'duel' system, nor is there any 'flagging' for PVP. There is a 'parlay' type system to PVP, where one can negotiate consequences down, but it's rarely if ever employed.

So, to replace the religion, what would it take?

I think, a PVP flag of some type could be useful- there are people who want to engage in the extremely confrontational aspects of Vampire, fighting tooth and nail in the global game. I think a flag could include both benefits and disadvantages: unflagged characters certainly could not diablerize, but there may be other advantages available I am unaware of.

Meanwhile, those unflagged would be relatively 'safe', unless they initiated a 'duel'- duels being a PVP based situation both parties agree to engage in. Once someone duels, they are flagged for a certain period. I think a period of a year would be fair- this gives plenty of time to plot against and deal with said person if anybody wanted to. It also fosters reasons for new characters to get involved with the game without fear they will be killed, bloodbound, and diablerized a short time after joining- certainly not common events, but totally possible in the rules at this point.

I also think, dueling ought to have some Storyteller/GM intervention involved, for the simple following reason: I trust Storytellers, for the most part. Storytellers are there to make the game good, are voted in to do so, and they can look at the IC reasons for attack/declines/etc with a critical eye. Unlike a player, whose reasoning I have no input or effect on whatsoever, a Storyteller I can at least Vote on at a later date. If someone plays a horrible PK machine and runs rampant, I have no real recourse, no way of preventing him from coming back and killing my next character, or the next. BUT if the Storyteller decides to allow for PVP I thought was unfairly deserved, I can vote against him next term, even run against them if need be. There is a way to show my disapproval in this case without having to get a lengthy bureaucratic nightmare involved.

Summarized Conclusion:

The OOC/IC divide and Open PVP could be replaced by a flag and duel system with GM oversight and intervention. It let's new people play for a while without having the global game stomp them, it let's gamists make progress without getting utterly stomped, it assures most narrativists better story, and lets simulationists avoid the worst excesses of gamist attitudes.

Fast, Furious, Fuku

There are some anime type rules for Savage Worlds I'd kicked around a few months ago. The idea is to provide a plot point campaign as well as a rule set that allows for anime type fighting. That could mean a lot of things, but I'll try to get across a few.

Powerful: Anime characters have good fights when it's against a main character, but extras are REALLY extras. Savage Worlds is good for this since there are extra rules inherent, but a few more power moves and Edges to speed up minion clean up and create truly large scale battles seem appropriate. This part was easy, represented by a set of edges that are there to allow for characters to destroy multiple minions with one spell, as well as objects.

This also includes a sort of uber arcane background that, while using multiple skills much like super powers, provides more power points, as well as a penalty for rolling ones. It's more powerful than the average AB, but it 1) fits an anime setting style better and 2) is available for everyone to use during the game, for free at character creation.

One Upping: A lot of anime fights are a series one upping the other person- a new technique is broken out to overcome the last technique used, over and over again, until somebody ends up on top. These techniques may be secret or spur of the moment, or even just a sheer moment of Willpower overcoming the character and pushing them past their limits, but it's the way things tend to go.

A One Upping system has been discussed, an advantage that is passed around between characters as they bust out new powers, each time the advantage growing until it will almost certainly lead to characters being knocked out or killed from it's use with one side victorious.

The current system gives a lot of options for how this advantage is passed around and what it does for people, but I'm starting to realize that the list, while allowing a lot of flexibility, isn't necessarily fast, furious, or fun. So I think I'll change it from being a flexible list into something characters pick from, like a Limit Break from FF VII, maybe picking a single 'one up' advantage and one up taking technique per rank.

Vets and Youths: I kind of want a way to distinguish this in a way that feels 'fair'. I've been thinking about allowing Vet's to gain all the starting advantages but the special arcane background, instead getting a more focused, but less powerful arcane BG- they would be far more skilled and powerful starting off, but weaker in the long run. Probably, they'd have less power points, but a single controlling skill, and less powers over all. It would make them very GOOD with the power they had though. Just not having as much potential as the youth, which is the usual route of such things.

A Flexible Setting: Anime runs a gamut of genre's so no setting can be appropriate for everything. I think of things like Tenchi Muyo when I think broad- there's space, aliens, demons, magic, super powers, a little of everything. But it's not Savage at all, it's far too fluffy. Savage makes me think of Berserk, but that's just low fantasy. I'd love for a game to really fit things like Trigun, Cowboy Bebop, Gunsword X, and a few other types of shows with a nice ensemble cast.

My first try was the idea of a school that trained Earth's next generation of superhuman children after the Power Wars (a war fought with superpowers) destroyed most of Earth's infrastructure, leaving a large underground population of children, who are growing into teenagers, as the largest superhuman population in the world. Hijinks, calamity, and world saving ensue from the various Battle Schools.

The second idea I tried to throw around was one where a Colony Ship has flown away from a wrecked Earth to establish a new home on a colony world. Only the colony world seems to be on the rocks when they get there, small patches of lawless human civilization, lots of monsters, superhuman gangsters, etc. The young Colonial Troopers, using the disciplines of Martial Arts, Super Science, and Magic, must work to save this wrecked world and discover the hidden evil that plagues it. Kind of a Space Exalted feel.

No third idea at this point, but I really do want to figure out what would be better. The first seems more ready for some light hearted antics, while the second feels a little too close to the Phantasy Star series.

Really, my biggest obstacle is setting. I may post on this elsewhere to find some opinions.

How Can We Judge an RPG?

So, I've been running into a very interesting attitude of late due to all the game reviews we've been doing, best summarized as the following.

"The game is fun if you ignore the setting and change the rules."

I'll let that sink in a moment.

It's a true statement, in that if you make a game into another game that you like, you will like it. It's also an awfully idiotic statement in whether or not this evaluates a game as good.

What can we rate an RPG on and how can we justify it? Games run different ways- some are deadly, some are forgiving, some are detailed and slow, while others are lite and fast. To say which approach is right is sort of a cost benefit analysis combined with an identification if the System matches the Setting.

For a Quick List of Traits of a Good Game, I would Probably List:
-Balance
-System Supporting Setting
-Effort to Play

Balance:

Balance means fairness, generally an equal footing with the player standing next to me at character creation. If we're playing a squad of monsters in a game meant for it, my werewolf should be equally useful to his mummy. The paragon of game balance is the HERO system. Years of tinkering and toiling have been spent to try and create a system in which 'you get what you pay for'. Guidelines as to what makes something too powerful, warning stickers on potentially broken powers, and other safeguards and balances work to make HERO one of the most fair systems ever.

There are lots of examples of poor balance out there, but I think one of the easiest is early model RPGs where rolled stats reward people more for rolling well. As if winning wasn't enough, you can win more, so you can win more, before the game even starts.

System Supporting Setting:

Take Seventh Sea, for example. It's a game of swashbuckling adventure, more or less. There are fights, epic virtues and vices, plots based around character, larger than life characters, rules to have awesome duels as well as cut a swath through lesser foes. These are all useful features for a game about this kind of adventure. The rules reinforce the tone and action of the setting and this is what makes it a good game. It has it's rough points, but thats why a lot of games get new editions to sand those out.

Effort to Play:

There is work in playing games- making characters, reading setting, learning rules, rolling dice to get results, etc. The more effort this takes, the more pay off you should get for it. Savage worlds is probably a paragon of bang for your buck gaming: you can make characters quickly, use the book and grab NPCs to run them, and it has a low handling time for rolls made. It's quick to get the basics down and just start playing if you have a GM willing to create a game on the fly.

Hackmaster may be the height of effort to play problems. Big book full of rules, long character gen, complicated charts- we've heard the game is fun, but we've never had the gumption to make it through all the effort required to actually play it.

While more opinion and less quantifiable, I would also List:
-Setting Appeal
-Style
-Engagement

Setting Appeal:

Some people like apples, some like oranges- there is no way to please everyone. However, there are some steps you can take to make a game fun for more people, which means making it accessible to everyone. This means making the setting something that doesn't exclude people based on race, religion, orientation, or gender. Thankfully this is not an issue in most games, even the alternate history ones, which make allowances for those characters who would otherwise be discriminated against in less enlightened times.

Style:

There are little widgets to a system that make it fun. Sometimes it's a single feature, like Cthulhu's sanity system or the Spiritual traits of Riddle of Steel. Sometimes, it's the ability to build each power with the same care you would build a small character, like in HERO. Some games come out so bland you can't really latch on to it or do more than shrug and say 'It works'. I like games that have a bit of quirk that fits the system and does something cool.

Engagement:

A good system should keep you caring about whats going on, keep you engaged. This can vary a great deal between game styles- rule's lite RP intensive systems may accomplish this with a low handling time and fast results, while a more tactically intensive mini's based game may have very heavily engaging combat rules. This goes right along with System Supporting Setting. To summarize, a good combat keeps me on my seat, paying attention and planning what I will do next- a bad combat makes me read a book and wait to roll for my swing at the baddie.

And Then Life Happened: And Then There Were Superheroes

So, been getting back to doing some Twenty Weeks of Hell. Been doing Vampire LARPing. Moved out of my house. Moved in with friends. Did some fiction writing with hopes of publishing. Etc. And then Champions Online came out.

The first couple days it was like I'd discovered crack and didn't realize how bad it was. The Beta was a blitz of gaming and I find myself diving head first into playing it way more than was healthy. It was the usual high I get when I feel life in my veins- I sleep a few scant hours and awake jazzed and ready for more.

We actually created a contract to control our behavior upon buying the game and so far it's worked- I make sure to do an hour of useful work every day before playing.

So, the game itself is like a really long Beta in many ways. Some powers are unfairly advantageous, some are completely useless, and a few are just right. The basic gameplay is fun, fast paced, and way more interesting than that other superhero MMO. At a quick glance, the game is wonderful, but there are many ugly little pimples to find.

Big Pimples Include:

A content gap
Power Balance
Few Reasons to Team
Not Enough End Game Content

Despite all those, I love this game. This game is heroically geared. A lot of the missions involve saving people, few of the missions are just about beating guys up, you fight a lot of supervillains instead of just thugs, and the personal nemesis stuff, while campy, is still pretty awesome.

The make or break for this game will really be the Blood Moon event in my opinion. They continue to work on problems, and one of the biggest is the content- little end game, and a content gap. If this next expansion can either occlude that or patch it up, then it should all be gravy. But without end game and 40 achievable well within a month... it needs end game content really, really badly. Otherwise, people are just going to lose interest and do something else after getting all 8 character slots to 40. Hard, but not impossible by any stretch.

TLDR: How Much Time Are We Willing to Spend?

So, I just visited with some of my friends who will be playing in my D&D game using the Dreok setting I put up. I've spent a lot of time on the setting, with the visible in this blog accompanied by plot points, characters, adventures, etc. in my own personal notes. I was able to give everyone some spiel to give them the quick rundown of the setting, but none of them had taken the time to read what I wrote up. It made me wonder if I was trying to hard, or expecting too much?

Back in college and high school I wasted many a page and hour upon setting design and details, writing adventures, trying to make the best games I could. When making some of my LARP characters, I put in pages of detail, even on minutia like relatives that will never get brought up. But as I get older, the time invested to pay off seems slimmer and slimmer. I suppose I can blame RL some, but I seem to have lost a lot of the patience I once held along with most of my players.

So, rhetorically, I sort of ask myself, how much should we do for roleplaying, especially on a single game? How much can we expect of those around us? I figure there are samples of good and bad.

Good preparation type stuff- generating a nifty setting with friends that everyone likes. Did this in Necessary Evil when we did our own take on things, fighting fascist super heroes instead of aliens. Getting player backgrounds and weaving into campaigns, damn near necessary for Seventh Sea. Reading book and knowing rules and setting makes it easier to jump in.

Bad Prep stuff- Background material overshadowed by game, long effort for little gain. Background wasted when character dies suddenly. Long prep time discourages trying to play at all.

I dunno. Its all about balance. I just feel like, the older I get, the older my friends get, the less excited we get about cracking open the new RPG and taking the time to make a super bad ass game. Then again, sometimes its better to jump in and play than not play at all.

More later if I have some insight.

Dungeons and Dragons Setting: World of Dreok

For those just popping in, this setting is something I put together for running a campaign with friends and this seemed like a good place to put it. Check it out if you like.

Races: This setting plans to include Goliaths, Dwarves, Tiefling, Dhampyr, Deva, and Eladrin. Planned not to be included are Gnomes, Shifters, Halflings, Dragonkin, Half-Orcs, and Elves. However, if somebody really wants to play one, they can make an argument for it.

Classes: All are allowed, some of which have particularly appropriate roles in this setting. One's that might need additional reasoning include:
Wardens- These are war shamans, and by no means 'standard' among most tribes.
Bards- Magical music is not formalized, and bards are not common. Usually, some hook to hang your hat on it.
Sorceror- These happen, but are not 'common', especially the dragon variety as dragons are rare to non-existent in the setting.

Nations and Tribes: You can play being from the Tsumer Empire, from the Border States, or from one of the Tribes. You may want to invent your own culture outside this Empire you are part of, and you may, but do not expect for this foreign power to become involved in the setting (ie. I'm not making a mini-setting for someone's character).

Origin Stories of the World

The name of the world is Dreok.

In the Beginning:

Church of Light Version:
In the beginning, their was only light. Light was all creation, all things. The light wished for there to be more and it created the first thinking creature- unfortunately, its first friend brought darkness with it. The creature was not pure light, and it was not ready for the darkness its shadow cast. The shadow subsumed it and warped it and the darkness grew. The light was all, but the darkness was growing. The light wrapped the source of the darkness up tightly in a ball and buried it deep in the earth, surrounding it with stars, a moon, and a sun to keep it at bay. Yet the darkness still crept in the deep places of the earth, ready to corrupt all that it touched.

The Lord and Lady Version:
As it is, so has it been. The seasons of the universe are vast and long. The stars tell a tale that the world is deep within a winter, that the life of the world is growing still and dying, but that an inevitable spring is coming. The Earth is viewed as the feminine, the Sky as the masculine- before them, the moon and the sun, before them, the darkness and the light, and another pair before that. In either case, it was the union of Earth and Sky that combined Matter and Intellect, creating the thinking creatures of the earth.

Shaman Version:
The world stands on the back of a tortoise, and is topped by a great tree- in the spirit world. The spirit world is a place of metaphor and mystery. What this means is that the world has a solid foundation on the backs of living spirits, and from this solid foundation, greater spiritual life has grown. The origin? The turtle was said to be swimming through the great seas, when a crocodile tried to bite it. The turtle and the crocodile wrestled in the mud, until the crocodile tired and the muddy turtle surfaced. Seeds from above fell upon the turtle and the forest grew. From the forest, a host of things.

Cities and Sites

Human Civilizations

Humans are the most numerous race upon the face of Dreok. There are three major cultures.

The Illuminated Tsumer Empire:

The Church of the Light blazed its illumination even in the decadent era of the Blood and Fire Republic- the Daeva were the Lights voice, the Invokers its power, the Clerics its blessing. The Vampire Lords could not hold sway while the Light raged and the Tieflings were forced from their royal homes. Faith and steel overcame the darkness and a new empire was born.
The Daeva were wise in the ways of the light, but were distanced from the plight of mankind by their reincarnations. It was for this reason that when the great council of the light met that it was decided there would be a human king for a human empire- a sword to fight the darkness, a shield to protect the people. This was the first Paladin, Emperor Garth the 1st. The Emperor saw nobility not in blood, but in deeds and in actions, and so always watched for those with the spark of nobility, the honorable holy warriors that fought across his lands. His symbol of station was not a crown, but a helmet and sword. The winged helmet, Chertoise, was said to give clear vision to those who are just, while his sword, Helvympius, was said to strike with the force of a comet, impossible to lift by those were not worthy.
Garth’s reign lasted 77 years, during which time the Empire was rebuilt and fortified, dark creatures driven from the land into the wilds, the cities freed of the dark taint of vampires, devils, demons, and other servants of the dark. Before his death, he drove Helvympius into a stone, for when a righteous man would claim the mantle of emperor.
The head of the church of the light, High Priest Crispus, set a guard on the sword and began seeking candidates immediately. When all failed to pull the sword from the stone, Crispus declared it was ‘for another generation’. The Great Council of the Light sought wisdom and declared Garth’s son, Faelim the Just, Emperor of the Tsumer Empire. Since this time, the Church has supported the eldest son of each Emperor after him.
Faelim’s reign was one of great expansion. The Church of the Light had begun to cast a harsh illumination upon the barbarians at their borders.
“Consorting with spirits is merely another means by which the Darkness creeps out of it’s prison in the center of the world. We must take heed, lest they bring more monsters to our gates.” Faelim declared.
Thus the Empire expanded it’s borders, driving the barbarians back into the far reaches of the wild. This expansion continued for 100 years, past the reign of Faelim onto Garth the II, and to his son, Thumos the 1st. Thumos ended the war by signing treaties with the fiercest of the barbarian tribes, ensuring them that no further violence would come. Thumos ruled into old age with little to no change in the Empire, beyond the steady increase of the royal coffers and the building of new churches along the border states.
Rapid expansion left many of the conquered lands added to the Empire little changed by rule. While lip service was paid to the Church of the Light, pagans worshipped the Lord and the Lady in secret, while barbaric peoples would slip off at night to invoke the spirits and seek out the shamans hidden among them. Fusions of ideas left people seeking out new paths for the Light, to view it in different ways, ways that were simultaneously brilliant and dangerous.
Thumos the 1st’s reign ended quietly, and Thumos the 2nd seemed as if he would follow in his father’s footsteps, until he quietly made initiatives to stamp out heresy in the border states. A new, invisible branch of the Church of the Light, the Avengers, moved to find and punish warlocks, shamans, druids, and all those who brought people away from the Light. It was a dark time, as the witch hunts frequently took victims without need, their zeal unchecked. The Church during these times was viewed with not only respect, but fear, and none were sure whether the friendly priest wandering the roads was really there to help or to hurt anymore.
Thumos the 2nd married a girl from outside the border states, Pritis, a princess in her own land, and the marriage seemed to sooth Thumos the 2nd’s bloodlust. The Avengers were recalled to train in secret, but not to act without very express authority, and the border states regained a semblance of peace, free from fear- but they did not forget.
In the 229th year of the Tsumer Empire, Thumos the 2nd died and the kingdom was left with no male heirs. In this absence, Pritis ruled for 8 years before passing the kingdom on to her eldest daughter, Wynnos. Empress Wynnos was much beloved and inspired an entire generation of knights devoted to her. She also made it a point to fund advances in the arcane arts, founding the Academies Arcane. Primitive sorcerers (and some warlocks) were studied to investigate the arcane arts in detail and lead to greater understanding of magic. When Empress Wynnos’s reign ended in the year 269.
Emperor Garth the 3rd, the youngest son of Empress Wynoss but apparently the healthiest as his other brothers died, ruled conservatively at first, emphasizing law and discipline. However, it became obvious that he held secret ambitions for a new war as he increased army budget and squeezed the economy, forcing the armies ranks to swell. The recently developed academies began to protest, and Garth the 3rd quickly reinstated the Avengers in an anti-magical crusade, claiming such arts would only give greater tools to the darkness. The greatest tools of the darkness proved to be dissent and disorganization.
During the most recent inquisition, practicers of the arcane arts have been flung to the far corners of the kingdom and the resources of the Church of Light have been squandered trying to control them. It was at this time that the servants of darkness made themselves known to the world once again, as feral undead beasts were unleashed to ravage the kingdom from within. The great road system of the empire has been shattered by banditry, monsters, and rebellious border states. Amidst this chaos, Garth the 3rd was assassinated, the royal line broken. Scheming politicians and church officials vie for power even as the Empire crumbles to the machinations of the monsters that surround them…

Three Great Cities of the Tsumer Empire:

Orbis- The center of the Empire, built upon the ashes of the Blood and Fire Republican capital, Orbis sprawls out from the Black and Ruined Castle of the vampire Lord Cagul. While Cagul was thought to be killed in the rebellion, his Castle, the Onyx Temple, is still considered to be an evil blight. Trebuchet, fire, and catapult seem to damage it little, so high walls and holy symbols of the light surround the castle, with new capital buildings springing up around it- a circular city containing a fragment of pure evil within it.

The Grand Temple of the Church of the Light can be found here, intensely training hundreds of acolytes to be sent off to the far corners of the Empire as priests and missionaries. A select few are chosen for other duties- some show the signs of blessing that mark invokers, some show the divine insight and favor of the cleric, while still others have the proper zeal to become an avenger of the church.

While Orbis was once the center of all things in Tsumer, but education has suffered in recent time. The Academies were under constant watch for ‘consorting with the darkness’, and almost any sign of arcane magic was taken as reason to be investigated thoroughly. The death of the Emperor has taken a good deal of this pressure off as the Church of the Light finds it’s left hand in politics even as the right hand fights to preserve the land. Thus the Academies enjoy new freedom- for a time. Many a young wizard, sorcerer, bard, and sword mage find their roots here, studying intensely while they dare…

Orbis’s enormous population takes a lot of farmland to supply with food, food cut short by the recent rise in monster attacks and banditry. Thus civil unrest has increased- while no truly heinous riots have broken out, it is only a matter of time unless resources are increased. Crime is on the rise as spoiled landowners and merchants feed off the suffering of the working class- and often lose a purse or two for their decadence.

In the heart of the Empire, humans are quite isolated from the more exotic races of the world. Most are looked upon with some suspicion, occasionally awe stuck wonder. Deva are the most readily accepted, but the recent activities of the Church make some wary.

Adventure Possibilities:

The Church of the Light, the Thieves Guild, and a bevy of wealthy merchants and politicians are all willing to hire heroes to deal with various elements secreted in the city. Unfortunately, they are often just as willing to hire more nefarious types for more questionable work.

Prodigiopolis- A great port city, Prodigiopolis is considered Tsumer’s net, dragging back the treasures of the world to the Empire- but it also sweeps up scum. Traders and fishermen work to make their fortunes, while cheap businesses catering to sailors with pockets filled with gold crowd the warf. Ale, women, gambling, and all manner of vice fill the streets, and a thriving criminal underworld ensures that anything may be bought here- for a price.

Prodigiopolis is the perfect place for a hero on the run. No one her judges harshly or asks too many questions- its too dangerous and hypocritical. Instead it welcomes with open arms those rich enough to afford it’s wares and those tough enough to survive its streets.

People in Prodigiopolis barely blink when seeing a non-human race- strange folk of all sorts run in and out of the ports. More disturbing is the presence of the Church of the Light- while a few missionaries cling to hope here and there, large outings to this ‘lost’ city are rare.

There are rumors of a strange new drug on the streets of Prodigiopolis, a red powder that alleviates all hunger and pain- for a while. Withdrawls often leave users ravenous and bloodthirsty, with a surprising animal like strength and speed, willing to do almost anything to get their next fix.

Adventure Possibilities:

Prodigiopolis is a medieval Sin City, filled with crime, prostitution, and corruption, all tolerated because it brings wealth into the Empire. Here more edgy and roguish heroes often get their start, fighting to survive. A quick tongue, a sharp sword, and a friend to watch your back are your best weapons in this port.


Belliatora- The armies of King MacElmass the Iron Hearted were the most powerful military force in the world. While relatively small, their expertise in the production and use of arms, with a slant towards innovation and rigorous training techniques produced men who were often worth ten ordinary soldiers, made more dangerous when working in unison. It was this army that protected the proud land of Ferrigna. The Empire held numbers and faith however, and soon MacElmass was forced to bow before the Tsumer Empire.

Belliatora was the proud capital of Ferrigna before it became a border state. The Church of the Light quickly spread through Belliatora’s poor and disenfranchised, solidifying the Empire’s grasp upon the north. Belliatora, in turn, began to produce some of the most faithful soldiers to ever serve the Empire, its military academies second to none.

Near the northern mountains, Belliatora has often come into conflict with the dwarves and goliaths of the nearby mountains, seizing vital iron mines to continue war efforts. There has been an uneasy truce between them- until now. News of the Empire’s instability has reached the ears of the dwarves, and it is only a matter of time before they begin a full scale attack to take back their mines.

The city’s people are as cold and harsh as the land around them, a dry place, with mild springs and summers, with long cold falls and winters. While festivals allow for more emotional displays, year round, the people do their best to mind their own business and not make a scene or stir up trouble. Regular border patrols are maintained in the growing season to prevent banditry and monster incursions, but during the cold months, dark creatures often prowl the land when soldiers dare not risk winter’s wrath. While not common, more than once spring has come to reveal an entire village devoured by ghouls or other undead. In one case, it disappeared entirely leaving only blackened grasses and the foul stench of death.

Adventure Possibilities:

A harsh and isolated Northern fortress, the walled city of Belliatora is a place where war is always close, and death stalks the countryside when it is at its weakest.


The Three Great Tribes

Untamed by steel, faith, or magic, the great tribes would not bend to the civilizing forces of the world. They live free and proud, but it is a harsh existence, where hunting, weather, and fate can lay low even the toughest of peoples. The tribes that remain depend on their heroes to keep them alive- great warriors, powerful shamans, gifted barbarians, sorcerers, warlocks, druids, and other heroes guide them across the land and protect them from the evils that roam the world. While their numbers have been reduced by the Empire’s zeal, the tribes still struggle to survive, and in time, may become truly great once again.

The Northern Tribes: The Northern Tribes that survives are nomadic, riding on horse back, moving across the plain to find new fertile hunting grounds, camping near the coasts and in the warmer woods during the harsh winters. The fiercest and most depraved of the Northern Tribes have begun raiding civilized villages for supplies, burning houses, claiming women, with more peaceful tribes often taking the blame.

Northern tribes are known for their skills in hunting, horsemanship, and livestock. It is said that a Northern barbarian tracker can track a man across dry rock after a thunderstorm. Northern tribes often have secret trails and rest spots along the mountains, secret spots and caches, knowledge of mystical doors and hidden things in the wilds. How much is rumor and how much is fact is often hard to say.

Northern Tribes most often come into conflict with dwarves and the Tsumer empire, but have good relations with many of the goliaths. Mountain trails and annual festivities, where in goliath and man compete in games, followed by feasts, finishing with training have worked well for both peoples for a very long time.

One of the primary food sources of the Northern Tribe is the mammoth. Mammoths provide a great deal of meat as well as needed furs and even shelter to a tribe. However, the mammoths have begun to dwindle as the farmlands of the Empire have expanded, driving the creatures off. What will happen to the Northern Tribe when the last of these animals die is unknown.

Common Spirit Animals include horses, mammoths, eagles, and wolves.

Adventure Possibilities: The Northern Tribes are almost always on the move, hunting, and bumping against other cultures. This penchant for moving allows a party traveling with them to encounter many things, such as temples and caves in the mountains, to village on the plains, to marching armies, to strange roaming beasts in the land. This means that the Northern Tribes may also be used anywhere in the northern part of the world as they travel to keep alive.



The Eastern Tribes: The Eastern Tribes survive primarily through stubborn resistance to change in harsh wilderness and hills, places considered too barren for most to survive. There is food if you know where to find it though, and certain animals do well in the environment, sheep and goats being among them.

Many of the Eastern Tribes were pushed off more fertile lands during the Empire’s expansion and conquering, and so they are often fiercely xenophobic to outsiders. The hill clans stock up in the winter and form tense alliances for marriage, but otherwise keep to themselves. The best of the clans are honorable warriors, people who stick to their word through thick and thin and show hospitality to those who have earned it; the worst are devolved cannibals, with no use for people outside their clan other than for food and reproduction.

The clans of the woods and hills are often privy to secrets of their area, knowing the local terrain, but sometimes they become part of these secrets. Clans taking residence in mystical groves may have faerie heritage, while those sequestered in tombs may entirely give themselves to vampiric lords.

The Eastern Tribes often come into conflict and alliance with the Border States of Tsumer. Many of those living on the border states are considered cousins and sellouts by the Eastern tribes- those who were too weak to fight off what was coming, never mind the geographic location. While a given kinsmen from the border states may have a good relation with a given tribe, it’s not universal.

All in all, getting involved with the Eastern tribes from the outside is a study in variability: no two clans are really the same, and your visit with friendly tartan clad hillsmen in your first encounter may not ready you for the savage woodlands tribe you encounter in the second.

Common spirits for hillsmen include rams, foxes, hawks, lions, and rabbits. Common spirits for woodsmen include stags, boars, bears, and owls.

Adventure Possibilities: The hills and the woods at the borders of the Tsumer Empire are some of the most wild places left in the world. In this magical world, the dangers of fierce beasts and monsters are one threat, but ever greater looms the threat of mankind and the other sentient races. Running into one monster can mean a fierce battle, but an angry tribe can prove to be a threat until you leave their area. Playing a tribesman means coming from a harsh land of dangerous and tenuous alliances- a smaller world, but an important one, where the strength of a single man is often more important than the size of his armies.



The Southern Tribes: The Southern Tribes once dwelled on the coast of what is now southern Tsumer, but no longer- those who were not willing to assimilate fled to the chain of islands know as the Spice Islands or the Claw Islands. There, the Southern Tribes have adapted and blended with the other island natives, and have worked hard to empower themselves with magic, to keep their independence against the expanding Empire.

The Southern Tribes are known for a deep spiritual bond to the earth, nature, and their animal brethren. They have eschewed metal weapons, creating marvelous weapons of wood, rock, and bone. Spirits seem to inhabit the areas they have frequented, woken to work as guardians, and the wilds come alive to claim civilized men. Rather than angry, most of the Southern Tribes feel a deep sorrow for the men of Tsumer, seeing them as disconnected from the world, living to satisfy a hunger without end in sight.

The Southern Tribes have a good relation with each other… for the most part. Most of them are civil, counting coup and tourneys replacing most wars, with thriving trade and travel among the islands. However, there are a few bad apples, cannibals and dissidents, as well as lizard men and other bizarre creatures, that make traveling among the islands without a guide hazardous.


There is a hidden land, behind the mountains, a vast jungle. The Southern Tribes live along the coast of this region, fishing, but the depths of the jungles hold mysteries- ancient temples filled with darkness unseen for millennia…

Common spirit animals for the Southern Tribes include thunderbirds, jaguars, dolphins, wind spirits, serpents, coyotes, and otters. Many shamans have more exotic spirits among the Southern Tribes, sometimes calling upon unique spirits such as Chatka the Cracked Jug or other strange names.

Adventure Possibilities: The Primal power runs strong in the south and traveling amongst these peoples is to walk in a different world. Metal weapons and metal working become scarce to non-existent skills, clothing and armor scarce, but spirits often appear, even to the non-initiated. One might even accidentally enter other realms such as the astral or the shadowfell by wandering into the wrong part of the jungle. The unobservant see primative peoples in a untamed wilderness; the wise see a powerful people, harnessing the forces of nature and living in relative harmony within it.



The Border States

While technically part of the Tsumer Empire, they are recent additions, a people torn between tradition and fealty. Conquered in the Empire’s expansion, converted by the Church of the Light, the people of the Border States are a strange lot: their accents make them foreigners among the Empire proper, their destroyed heritage and subjugation make them unwelcome among many of the tribes, some embrace the Light with zeal, while others make to keep their own traditions alive in secret, a few harbor thoughts of open rebellion, while others wish to become equals in the eyes of the Empire. This mixture of cultures makes the Border States both interesting and dangerous, a volatile land protected little by it’s kinsmen, their fates still undecided.

Frost Moore: The northern border state, Frost Moore was once made of several tribes and nomads. Slow conquering through hard fought battles have left these gently rolling hills, plains, and forests in Tsumer control for hundreds of years, but the people do not forget their roots.

Frost Moore is speckled with many swamps amid its plains, hills, and forests. These harsh areas are often home to hermits and bandits, left alone by civilized men. Here some of the great druids of the old religion stay, secreted away. Those who revere nature gather here, the dark and the light- hags and nymphs gather together in these places to ensure the protection of the wild places.

Some of the most devout and zealous priests live in this region, loyal to the light- but not to the empire. Many a devout light follower dreams of freedom from the oppression of government to follow the light unchecked and banish evil as they see fit. Many of the people of the area are serfs, with worse conditions than their fellow citizens in the empire.

To this end, Frost Moore is a land of mixed feelings and resentment, with a small but powerful elite class living alongside a large, poor, disenfranchised majority. It will take only a small spark to set the settlement off- the only question is who will receive that wrath: native Tsumer loyalists, the nearby tribes, or the Tsumer Empire itself.

Adventure Possibilities: Frost Moore is best described as a place of quiet intensity. The people there do not speak openly of their contempt for the Empire, for their neighbors, but brewing behind closed doors there are always plans in motion, secret rendezvous occur in the wild, and sermons filled with fire fuel the people to take action- whatever that action might be.

Frost Moore is a place where heroes can truly make a difference in it’s future- siding with a faction could lead to liberation, unity, or utter destruction.


Thumosia: Thumosia is a fertile land that was once held by what had been some of the most peaceful barbarians in the land, before being driven out by the power of the Tsumer Empire, those not slaughtered driven into the eastern woodlands. Here a great deal of food is produced for the empire by those who have moved to this region, largely free of the intense oversight of the church due to a lack of pagan and shamanistic roots- however, the very lack of oversight led to a tendency towards free thought and development.

Many of the greatest arcane minds in the world have been born in, researched in, and retired in Thumosia, unhampered by the closeness of the Church of the Light. This is not to say that the Church does not have a presence here or does not send envoys- merely that it has not been considered a point of contention. Until recently.

Many of those disenfranchised by the most recent inquisition have hidden in Thumosia, and a few have banded together in a fierce alliance known as the Brothers of the Tower. These fierce arcane adherents train any who are willing to learn in the arcane arts, defend themselves without shame or quarter, and are infamous for one skirmish in which their swordmages, wizards, warlocks, and sorcerors laid waste to a church envoy flying a flag of war, making short work of their holy warriors. The message was clear: We will not be cowed. Further encroachments of the Church into the region have been covert or overtly peaceful, though they are known to shout and debate vigorously.

Some fear that Thumosia will pull away entirely, but few worry that the eastern tribes might reclaim their land. Still, in these times of Chaos, everything is possible.

Adventure Possibilities: Thumosia is in many ways a land swept clean of the old making way for the new. The arcane arts here are finding a second home, proliferating among the people, but this independent and amoral power threatens something new for the people: independence. If the arcane arts can defend them, and the land feed them, what need is there to serve an Empire that for all intents and purposes is leaching off of them? Without that Empire, it could be Thumosia could become a potent nation in it’s own right- if it survives the birth.

As a place known for free thought, almost any kind of off the wall new group can come from here: primal hippies? Necromantic doctors? Reverse Warlocking? It can all be tried out here, but that doesn’t mean bad ideas don’t cause trouble. Rather the opposite: playing with fire can burn, but Thumosia is willing to lick those wounds if it means making the steam engine.

Big Numbers of the First Age

So, my friends have all been looking at Dreams of the First Age and shown a mutual disappointment in it. Basically, it's not that its bad, it's just that there is nothing in it that really surprises or 'pops'. It's just all the information someone who is a fan of Exalted expected to get, including ridiculously huge stat blocks for the First Age Solars. Including a page of so of Charms that may as well just be the Charm chapter from the damn book.

I firmly believe that in table top role playing games, big numbers tend to be a bad idea. They add excessive memorization, stat crunching, complexity, randomness, and a bunch of other elements that turn a game into a whirling pile of headaches. It most often happens at the upper limits of a game, where the numbers are sort of supposed to be big- but whats the point? With the sheer number of stats on a First Age Solar, one can barely begin to figure out just what you can do, because there are always more options- not to mention the combos.

My quick interpretation of how First Age Solars could be done is just simplifying everything and making some quick assumptions:
*Your character has almost a countless number of charms. Assume your favored traits are enhanced by crazy essence powers.
*You can stunt on anything, and may include crazy charm names and combos while doing so.
*You have a high amount of skill in your Caste abilities, with less so in the other Castes.

I figure, you get three main traits: Physical, Social, and Mental. You have five dice for the first pick, four for the second, three for the third. You get one specialty for each of these three traits, corresponding to one of the nine traits.

You get five skills, one for each of the Castes. Your Caste skill is five, you pick out two others to put at a 4, one at a 3, and one at a 2. You pick on specialty for each of these, corresponding to your greatest skill for each Caste section.

You get max health levels and may stunt as normal. Your Essence is considered high enough that 'lesser' Exalted can't even begin to challenge you unless they show up in numbers.

Skip on using charms and essence- assume their use in the flavor text. DV should be based on Physical+Dawn/Night/Zenith. Every round of combat is likely more intense then the next, so increase die pools every round. Set a time limit of rounds ahead of time for any battles and assume essence loss has finished them once it has been reached.

It's still a bit rough, and needs to be smoothed out a bit, but it's a hell of a lot easier than trying to stat out and play an entire book worth of crazy powers.

Houses of the Blooded or How to Make Enemies and be Manipulated

I've been reading this game, and I have to say, the setting and fluff text alone make me cringe. The Ven make so little sense. They're a weird society with lots of rules, no armies, cowed peasantry, revenge, and romance. You play doomed anti-heroes with a strong 'drow' vibe. I honestly can't see where the fun starts in this game. Its just trying to find a road to fail, and I don't know if I really want to find it.

Turned off by the first paragraph of the book, but maybe, somehow, I'll find a way to like this game. Reading the book; will add more commentary once I figure out how the hell it plays.

LARP Rules Part 4: Traps

Traps

All characters can set basic traps, but specialists make them much more effectively. All traps are represented by a buzzer and a phys rep- a piece of twine, rope, or safe wire for snares and tripwires; some type of brambles, door, or other floor covering for pit traps. It is best to write down the damage of the trap on the buzzer.

Damage bonus may be bought for traps. Traps as a weapon point break counts for all three trap types. One may nest traps (Tripwire that causes trap door to drop into pit, where the octopus ensnares your legs) but only one of each trap.

Pit- Anyone can make a basic pit. Every ten minutes allows a foot of digging. 1 damage for 3 feet, 2 damage for six feet, 3 damage for 9 feet or deeper pits. Pit may do +1 damage if spikes are set in the floor. A floors worth of spikes takes 10 minutes to make. Additional dangers of the trap are represented by damage multipliers. Multiple characters can work to make a pit faster than a single character could, time total being divided by characters. Falling in to a pit over six feet may render one helpless to get out.

Snare- Anyone can set a basic snare trap. A loop of rope represents the snare and takes as long as you take to make the loop and set the buzzer. A snare disables one leg for a count of 10 seconds. Extra trap damage may be converted to 5 extra secs of immobilization OR an additional limb, starting with the other leg.

Tripwire: Anyone can set a basic trip wire. A strand of twine between two points represents this trap- this may even be suspended if the string can set off the trap without causing someone to trip. A tripwire will usually just cause one damage and takes as much time as it takes to set up.

LARP Rules Part 3: Miraculous Skills, Adders and Limiters

Character Abilities, Miraculous:

These abilities encompass the truly impossible, the things of science fiction, fantasy, and the holy grails of future science. While these miracles are few and far between, they must be addressed. All miraculous abilities must be approved by a GM.

Combat Miracles
Invincibility- This ability is exactly what it sounds like and may not be purchased without a disadvantage attached. Cost is based on how narrow its ‘weakness’. Weaknesses such as “Fabled Sword of Lost Atlantis” are the basic purchase price for invincibility. A wider range of weaknesses or more common substance “Silver” or “Vampire Weakness” is the next level. The fifty-fifty of immunity to magic or immunity to physical is next. Last is immunity to a specific damage source, such as swords, fire, arrows, etc. 400/200/100/50

Transformation- Much like damage, save that instead of going unconscious a character is transformed at the end of combat. This transformation damage tracks separately from normal damage and must equal hits to initiate a transformation. When the transformation damage totals to hits, the character goes unconscious for game purposes but is ‘transforming’ in game. The basic version will transform them into something allied to you. The limited version allows you to transform a characters body but not their mind. The least version only works on willing targets. Depending on the depth of transformation, experience may be spent in a vastly different fashion to represent changes made, but no extra experience or abilities will be rewarded.
360 points per level/180 points per level/90 points per level.

Resurrection/Regeneration- The ability to bring a dead character back to life. Base cost is times per combat in levels. No restrictions need to be taken but it is prohibitively expensive and recommended that one do so. 300 points per level.

Mind Control
While characters are often influential, its rare that their words are truly controlling. If one wishes to convince others, work on your communication skills and ability to give stirring speeches. If one wants to make it a sure thing, use mind control.
Domination- Used to manipulate other characters, making them instantly follow your every command until control is broken (either character is knocked out). You can control characters of a level equal to your mind control level singularly. For multiple characters, you must have a level equal to their levels added together. Announce “Mind Control #!” to your target and he will tell you his level to let you know if he resists and how impaired you mind control is until your control is released. While packets and weapon strikes are not necessary to use this skill, you may use one to get the targets attention. 240 per level
Emotion Control- The ability to give a character a certain attitude is easier than commanding their every action. Emotions may include fear, love, hatred, etc. and may include a target for the emotion (love him, hate her, fear food, etc.). This emotion lasts for a minimum of five seconds per level, but outside of combat it will continue until a character is jarred from the feeling by something. Emotion control can be used a number of times equal to its level every 10 minutes. When used, say the “[Name of the emotion] [Emotion target, if any] #!” to the target. While packets and weapon strikes are not necessary to use this skill, you may use one to get the targets attention. 50 for one emotion, 150 for all emotions.

Limitations and Adders:
Incantations- Must speak loudly and obviously. For instant occurrences, may be one to as many words as you feel necessary. For longer, must speak, sing, or chant entire time, though chant does not need to be specific. If combined with gestures and activation, packets count as base 4.

Gesture- Ones hands must be empty of all useful in game items when one uses this skill. Must be done entire time skill is being used. Spell packets may be considered a non-item in this case, but may not be used before the gesturing is completed. If combined with extended activation, packets count as 3 damage.

Extended activation- Every skill is considered instant unless modified. The following list is for all skills activations, save those whose time are GM controlled. Instant, concentration(five seconds per skill level affected), Ritual (one minute per level affected), and Grand Rite (one hour per skill level affected). If concentration is used for throwing packets, consider packets base 2 damage.

Useable by others- Lend effects will make you lose the skill while you let another borrow it and cost a percentage of the points spent. Boosts will temporarily grant the bonus to others as many times as you like. Boost costs can be reduced very slightly if applicable to others only.

Silent- Some skills are inherently noisy. Silent allows them to be used in ‘virtual’ silence. This adder may not be purchased if a GM feels it will be too problematic for RP purposes.

From Behind- May only be used for attacks that hit the back. Cannot be used for non-offensive skills.

While running away- May be used only when retreating

LARP Rules Part 2: Resource Skills and Tool Assisted

Resource Skills
Represent wealth, resources, and other forms of material power. May represent treasures, magical items, or even contacts and organizational ties. All characters are assumed to have enough resources to survive their first event and own a handful of weapons (one weapon, one two handed weapon, two dual wielded weapons, weapon and shield, or one weapon and one ranged weapon). Any other items that a character wishes to have for RPing purposes are okay, but if they become useful by the rules, they will require a purchase of generic resources. For example, if a shoulder monkey was something you wished to have, it is fine, until that monkey is used to retrieve your keys or something- then you need to make a purchase.

Generic resources: Any IG item that suddenly finds a use, but has little in the way of hard and fast rules. The GM will assign a price to whatever the item is. This price may be renegotiated and the price refunded or raised at the GMs discretion. Variable price.
Travel resources: IG resources that allow rapid transit over land and sea. The ratings are abstract to avoid micro-management. First rank local(within state distances), second continental(within the land or sea), and third global(anywhere on the planet). Travel times are variable for many factors (weather, stealth, terrain, hostiles, etc) and will be decided by a GM. 1st Level: 10 self, 20 to take others.
2nd Level: 20 self, 40 to take others.
3rd Level: 30 self, 60 to take others.
Extra Weapons: Every purchase gives the character an extra weapon they may carry on their person. A character may change which weapons they bring between events, but may not change during play. 4 per weapon.
Spare weapons: If a weapon is sundered, this allows a character to have a spare they may retrieve. Spare weapons should be kept with other IG items. If off field, takes an hour to retrieve. 2 per spare.
Hired Men: Based on a formula. Must take time to gather your forces. May not do so more than once per day.
XP Cost of NPC(as PC+2)to the power of the npcs (squared for 2, cubed for 3, etc).

So, a brute squad of six one hit wonders would cost 26 or 64 xp.
The XP paid may be re-arranged for a different number of men.
So, the 64 points could be one 62 point NPC or two six point NPCs as well as six brutes.

Character Abilities, Tool Assisted:

Some things that are not possible with sheer human skill can be achieved with the help of tools. In the fantasy genre, such technology may be replaced with magic, but this is no reason it must. If it is possible by human ingenuity and tools today, it will likely be included here.

Basic Healing- Basic healing restores hits to a character instantly, number of times a battle equal to purchase. Surgery, combat drugs, braces, stitches, and other medicine should likely have the extended activation disadvantage and gestures as well. Basic healing only restores hits and cannot resurrect the dead, re-attach limbs, or other forms of healing. Starts at base 2 for 40 points per level, doubles every level. Can be performed every ten minutes.
Ex) Level 1, Heal 2 once a battle. Level 2, Heal 4 twice a battle. Level 3, Heal 6 thrice a battle, etc.
Communication- Allows communications faster and further than a messenger on horseback. Level one allows communication with anyone on field. Levels past one buy much like travel, first local, then continental, then global. A fourth level may be purchased for communications that span to other worlds and realms. 60 per level.
Air Travel- Like the more mundane version, but allows air travel. This means that a party may travel to otherwise unreachable areas like a valley surrounded by mountains or cloud kingdoms in the sky. Also allows them to skip over more hostile terrains in travel. Travel is much like the speed of a helicopter (~200 mph). 60 for self, 120 for others.
Fast Travel- A modifier for normal travel, each level enhances travel speed. One level is considered traveling at modern car speeds or by train for land, modern speed boat speeds for sea. If applied to Air travel, travel becomes the magnitude of an airliner (~650 mph). x4 cost for travel purchased.



Tool Assisted Adders-
Area Effects- Though useable for other effects, this generally refers to explosives and traps. The classic ‘fireball’, one must call out “Burst!” with the descriptor. As explosions (and battle) are chaotic, it is necessary to shout this. If someone does not hear it, they may be considered unaffected. This works within a 5ft radius of a strike point, whether ranged or point blank. Point blank area effects will hit you as well, though a ‘other only’ area effect may be purchased in Miraculous abilities. X4 cost.
Delay and Trigger Effects- Delay effects are used to represent poisons, bombs, and curses. The effect of a normal skill may come about later when this is used, at a specific time. This time can be any length, but must be set upon the use of the skill. If used on an area, clear tags or devices must be used to warn people, as otherwise they may walk through a bomb blast, not taking the damage as they were unaware of their peril entirely. X2
Trigger effects are delayed effects that happen upon a certain set of circumstances being reached. The more specific the circumstances, the more this skill adder costs. X3
***Recurring- Recurring effects happen again after a period of time. Will recur equal to the lowest part of skill it is bought for times at a minimum unit of minutes later per level for ease of use. If used in battle only take place once the battle is over.
Example) A level four damage toxin is used. After combat, four damage is dealt four times once every minute for the next four minutes. X4***

LARP Rules Part 1: Basic System and Martial Skills

Part One of my rules set. The top lines are some of my guidelines to how to make this game worthwhile. I'm curious to see what others think of them.

LARP-Evolution

Experience is a measure of how important you have become to the story.
Loot will always unbalance the system.
Gamists ruin games. Such behavior yields nothing. No rewards for killing beyond survival and death.
Simulationists enhance the game. Wearing a good costume, armor, or appropriate weapon for a skill= bonus XP for purchase of matching trait. These rewards must be minor save perhaps the costume one.
Narrativists make the game worth playing. Good role playing, contributing story elements, or tying ones background into the plot will yield the equivalent of loot.

Basic Characters or the average NPC:
May use any weapon they can pick up and wield, including two handing, ranged weapons, and shields. Shields and ranged weapons deal one damage, “Heavy” weapons deal 3, all others deal 2.
1 hit = 1 death
Hit limb = limb disable
Armor adds 1-3 hits extra, in the area they cover.
Can do what your body can do
Racial Ability
Basic Skill
Heal at realistic rates, a wound usually equaling months of healing.

Character Abilities, Inherent:
Heroic Defenses- Have 10 hits and no longer lose limbs to damage.
Heroic Stamina- Will go unconscious rather than die after being struck to zero.
Wearing armor gives bonus XP for simulationism, but no HP.
Heroic Healing- Characters tend to be less hurt than they look. Regain 1 HP every ten minutes, all HP in 6 hours.
Charging- All characters can charge up their melee and ranged attacks. This means picking a single target and counting to multiples of 5. Upon reaching 5 seconds, add one damage multiplier and consider the weapon a category higher (Light to medium, medium to heavy, heavy stays the same). At ten seconds, all attacks should be heavy and have two extra damage modifiers. Packets and other ‘tiny’ ranged weapons may not be charged, though javelins, throwing axes, large knives, etc. may be.

Character Creation:
Step One: Distribute four point breaks. Can be assigned either to a specific skill OR to buy an adder OR to buy a limiter. Tool assisted skills cost two point breaks, miraculous skills cost three point breaks.
Every adder puts an increased multiplication on a skill's cost (x2 for one, x3 for two, etc). Every limiter level divides a skill's cost further down (1/2 for one, 1/3 for two, etc). Adders and limiters combined into a single skill cancel out one another on a level per level basis to avoid complex math. Once purchased, an adder or limiter may be applied to any power, but may not be removed. For instance, if Incantation was attached to Greater Offense and you wished to add damage to a weapon without incanting, you would have to purchase Greater Offense separately from the beginning.
Step Two: You have 70 points to spend on skills.




Character Abilities, Mundane:

Mundane abilities simulate things real people can do. While many of these things enter the realm of the fantastic (example: a high level character can fight perhaps a dozen enemies relatively unscathed), the feats one can achieve with this are not impossible, even if extremely unlikely. Modifiers may move some of these skills into Tool assisted or Miraculous abilities. However, all of these skills can be role played as one wishes. A x3 damage sword skill can be fighting prowess, a firey aura that blazes around ones sword, or a modification to ones blade that makes it even more damaging.


Martial Skills
These skills are all useful in combat. They are all things that people in real life can do theoretically, if not regularly. They may be RPed as more exotic techniques or powers if one desires.

Defenses
Greater Defenses- More hits may be purchased. 50 points per level.
Skilled Defender- Extra hits for the purpose of ignoring special attacks, may not be used for normal hits. 20 per level.
Sixth sense- Extra hits versus surprise attempts only, cannot be used in mass combat. 3 per level.
Shield Skill- Anyone can use a shield. A shield can block anything, but will break if hit with four damage or more. Every level of shield skill increases its breaking point by a multiple. 50 points per level.

Attacks
All offenses are taken for a specific weapon OR for a greater price for all weapons. If two handing, purchase the increase for each hand. If two-siding (staff), add 50% to cost.

Greater Offense: May purchase more damage for a weapon(x2). May be bought multiple times. Forty points per level, 120 if for all weapons.
Assassinate: As greater offense, but only for surprise strikes. Cannot be used in mass combat. 8 points per level, 24 if for all weapons.
Backstab: As greater offense, but only for attacks from the rear. May be used in mass combat. 20 points per level, 60 if for all weapons.

Special Attack: There are several special attacks in the game. These are interesting things that can sometimes be achieved in combat. Because these special attacks can utterly alter the course of a fight, they are restricted for most adventures. Players will be given what specials they have for a particular adventure in advance. However, if not informed, the player may assume he has one of the following types of attack and pick any of the effects below if he meets the level of special attack. He may instead pick multiple of the lower attacks if he so chooses.
When hit with a special, a number will be called. That number is the amount of damage the player may take rather than doing what the special requires- this damage may be ‘charged’ like other melee attacks. All attacks are once per day. 48 per level, 144 for all weapons.

Level 1- Knock: Hit shield or body and call "Knockback #!". This number is equal to a normal strike from the characters weapon, including damage multiplier. Otherwise, the player must expose his chest and take 3 steps back. The chest exposure is to simulate the disadvantage of proneness without the OOG safety risks. A shield reduces knockback to two steps.
Level 2- Disarm: Hit weapon and call "Disarm #!". Number equals normal weapon damage with an extra level of greater offense.
Level 3- Sunder: Hit weapon and call "Sunder #!". Number equals normal weapon damage with 2 extra levels of greater offense.
Level 4- Disable: Hit limb and call "Disable #!". Number equals normal weapon damage with 3 extra levels of greater offense.
Level 5- Blind/Deafen: Hit body and call "Blind #!" or "Deafen #!" In either case, role playing these in combat must be modified for safety. A blinded person is considered half hit points and must call half normal damage until unblinded. A deafened person cannot react to incantations or instructions in combat. Normal recovery time for either attack is one minute base out of combat. Number equals normal weapon damage with 4 extra levels of greater offense.

Dawn of Legends Review Up

Well, my Dawn of Legends review is up at RPG.net.

http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/14/14312.phtml

I know there will be some backlash. The makers of the game frequent the forums after all. Still, I had to call it as I see it- a system without balance or innovation is not a good system, the tools provided are weak, and the setting is awful.

It does make me wonder what criteria people use for games sometimes? Fun is the obvious one, but if it's like patching up a leaky rowboat to get there, to the point the system almost ends up ignored, whats the point of using THAT system? If I have to go places to get extra supplements and errata and other nonsense to make it work, then it really isn't a complete game.

I know a few older systems I have some tender feelings towards that I can't entirely defend. Call of Cthulhu is fairly archaic, martial arts putting punches through people like paper at times, more dangerous than guns, using old school hit points for unrealistic wounds, but I LOVE the insanity system so much I can ignore those big glaring flaws for a horror game: Cthulhu is fun. The old Marvel Saga game is there too, with it's weird card system and unbalanced powers; AD&D, a system so ancient I felt free to add and subtract whatever I wanted, a homebrew haven; Fuzion, my first introduction to Champions. Still, when I get past the nostalgia, I can see that each of these systems has glaring flaws and errors that can't just be handwaved cause I like it- they are bad systems, with great settings.

Ah well. It's not easy making good games. I've put together some homebrew systems, good and bad (mostly bad) and I can't say it's easy to make a system that makes everyone happy and everything fair. Just a little more effort is all I ask from anyone asking for money for their work.

Boffer LARP: Investment and Return

I said I'd be back to this subject in next post, so here it is.

The problem with a limited time LARP is that a lot of people invest so much time in a LARP, so much effort into a character that letting go is HARD. These investments include:

• Background- LARP is live, and weird questions can come up. Well fleshed out characters with quirks, relatives, events in their lives, etc. are useful to roleplaying well.
• Costuming and Weapons- It takes money to put together a good LARP costume. While LARPs very in their degree of needed detail and authenticity, good costumes lead to more immersion, which is arguably the most important aspect of LARP.
• Time & Experience- The longer you play, the more XP or other bennies you get. It may be magic items or character ties, but generally, playing a LARP means you become more powerful than other characters... which brings me to...

Loss of Investment: So we take a lot of time, money, and effort to bring a character to life. When a character dies, we lose some of that. Now, if the journey was fun, hey, its all gravy. A few cool events and interesting stories may be all we were looking for. However, if you put in a lot of effort and die after a single game, you find yourself out all that investment, then told "Them's the breaks."

I don't like to view roleplaying as some kind of crap shoot, where fun is an accident and you gamble a whole lot of effort with a chance of having it utterly wasted within a single game. So, just like character death, a limited time campaign can leave a person feeling cheated of effort- unless, we find a good way to reward that effort.

So, here's the basic layout in my mind, for a Limited Time Campaign:

We have one world, with a campaign planned to last anywhere from 2 to 4 years. We track the maximum and minimum character XP throughout the game. New characters start at the minimum, and old characters who miss some games get boosted to this amount. That way, even when reaching the Climax, newbies and lowbies aren't useless, just not as powerful as the big characters.

Outside experience, there will be a number of Special points, RP Experience or some such, only awarded for participating in plot goals, for roleplay, and such. This allows people to get some extra advantages for the game, but also creates a log of how much a person invested themself into the game plotwise, effecting it. When the game wraps up, the setting is kept but the time line is pushed forward. Using these RP points at the end, players can help to decide how the NEXT campaign will go, alleviating a lot of the hurt of losing a character. After all, if your character becomes a permanent feature of the setting in some way, and you get to decide how the next chapter goes, thats kind of cool right?

At least, thats the theory. It would keep stories from ending in eventual character death or failure, avoid the lowbies being treated as NPC peasants, and hopefully create richer stories that people will tell years later.

Some of the investment issues, like clothing, might be helped by holding a 'swap meet' for generating new characters. Trading garb, playing ancestors, etc. allow for new costumes with less overhead.

Anyhow, I have a rules set wrote up as well. I'll put it in next post.