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Post by I AM the Way on Jan 16, 2013 14:55:18 GMT -6
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Post by Deleted on Jan 18, 2013 10:33:17 GMT -6
"what about the quality ?"
Very interesting. I played RPG, great moments...
An adventure played in a RPG can teach us a lot about ourselves or about life in general, as a "real" adventure. And very importantly, you'll probably never have in "real life" the opportunity to live such adventures.
Yet, as we are not really engaged, I hesitate to put them on the same level. If you really risk your life, I doubt you have exactly the same reactions and take the same decisions...
Remember yourself, for the emerald kingdom is at hand !
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Post by Kai'zen on Jan 19, 2013 1:25:34 GMT -6
[teal]I ran a game of my usual homebrew fudge-fluff-splat system a few years ago with my flat mates, a sort of Lovecraftian setting, but with any references to the mythos only occuring veiled through layers of symbolism and mythology, which reached a very high level of immersion and complexity. Eventually one of the players started using ritual magic to try and push the game a little further in the direction they wanted to move in. It was pretty interesting, but fell apart after a while when I was unable to handle the momentum that the game built up.
I've also run a game of Empire of Satanis, which went pretty well. I had to modify the setting a little, because of the players I was running it for, but it ended up shaping out quite well. Has anyone else managed to find a group of players for EoS before? Most RPGers seem uncomfortable playing it for some reason.
Going to try and introduce some Dungeon Crawl elements into my current game, which will be fun.
Also, thanks for recommending that primer. I passed it around the table at our game last night, and everyone seemed to respond quite well to it.[/teal]
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Post by I AM the Way on Jan 23, 2013 8:43:14 GMT -6
Let's look at it from Lovecraft's perspective. Were his weird tales more or less of his reality, his contribution to the world? Do we define Lovecraft's existence by his educational background, marriage, or illness towards the end of his life?
Certainly, Lovecraft had a rich life outside his fiction. He had friends, his favorite meals (presumably), and night walks. But if we're looking at the quality of his reality, does his ordinary existence measure up to the one in his imagination?
What's the difference between conscious imagination, creative visualization, and mechanical imagination which fools human beings into thinking they have it all figured out? This, in my opinion, is where the discussion should go.
I'll respond to Kai'zen's post tonight.
VS
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Post by I AM the Way on Jan 24, 2013 5:26:32 GMT -6
spellcard.blogspot.com/2012/04/are-board-games-and-rpgs-better-than.htmlMy comment:
Interesting post.
I'd say that board games engage the intellectual center, video games engage the physical center, and tabletop roleplaying games engage the emotional center. Perhaps that's why old school gaming based on wonder and fear are some of players most memorable moments at the table. The strangeness of unknown depths into the earth...
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Post by I AM the Way on Jan 24, 2013 5:32:38 GMT -6
[teal]I ran a game of my usual homebrew fudge-fluff-splat system a few years ago with my flat mates, a sort of Lovecraftian setting, but with any references to the mythos only occuring veiled through layers of symbolism and mythology, which reached a very high level of immersion and complexity. Eventually one of the players started using ritual magic to try and push the game a little further in the direction they wanted to move in. It was pretty interesting, but fell apart after a while when I was unable to handle the momentum that the game built up. I've also run a game of Empire of Satanis, which went pretty well. I had to modify the setting a little, because of the players I was running it for, but it ended up shaping out quite well. Has anyone else managed to find a group of players for EoS before? Most RPGers seem uncomfortable playing it for some reason. Going to try and introduce some Dungeon Crawl elements into my current game, which will be fun. Also, thanks for recommending that primer. I passed it around the table at our game last night, and everyone seemed to respond quite well to it.[/teal] That sounds really awesome! Shaping and intensifying an already stellar roleplaying campaign with ritual magic. I'm sure the momentum was huge. I've experienced hints of that, but never to that degree... a full, sustained level. One day, perhaps.
I haven't played Empire of Satanis in years. There were a few good ideas in there, but ultimately I don't think the game had enough overall appeal to find an audience.
VS
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Post by Deleted on Jan 24, 2013 15:46:06 GMT -6
Let's look at it from Lovecraft's perspective. Were his weird tales more or less of his reality, his contribution to the world? Do we define Lovecraft's existence by his educational background, marriage, or illness towards the end of his life?
Certainly, Lovecraft had a rich life outside his fiction. He had friends, his favorite meals (presumably), and night walks. But if we're looking at the quality of his reality, does his ordinary existence measure up to the one in his imagination?
What's the difference between conscious imagination, creative visualization, and mechanical imagination which fools human beings into thinking they have it all figured out? This, in my opinion, is where the discussion should go.
I'll respond to Kai'zen's post tonight.
VS
This is right, however Lovecraft was an author, so his life and is work are both very real. But if we suppose Lovecraft played RPG sometimes, his games are nothing...
I agree, a RPG may be an experience of something different, so it's valuable but certainly less than an experience were you engage yourself, I mean were you will suffer or benefit from the outcome. Your experience as founder of the CoC is more valuable than your role in a game with friends, isn't it ?
Or in other words, I think you and a role you play are different, even if you succeed to "be" your role for an evening.
Sure, arguably we are in life the role we decide to play, but... there is no "play again" and I prefer very much loosing some points of life in a RPG than being badly injured... Or finding a treasure in my own garden instead of in the fantasy world of a RPG.
Awake.
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Post by I AM the Way on Jan 28, 2013 11:40:53 GMT -6
Lovecraft's work as an author is only real because I have read it, experienced the story just as a gaming group experiences similar stories around a table. Sure, only 5 or 6 of us might know this particular story as opposed to "The Call of Cthulhu", but does the quantity of people experiencing a narrative make it less important, less real? What about gamers creating a story in Lovecraft's cosmos, piggybacking upon an established fiction, just as Lovecraft piggybacked many of his ideas upon authors he loved and tried to emulate such as Dunsany, Chambers, Poe, etc.?
I'm playing Devil's advocate here, but there's substance behind my obviously stretched argument. What's the difference between one kind of reality and another? If a certain type of reality is consciously created versus imposed upon us, does that change its value?
We can talk the 'belief is reality' talk, but can we also walk the 'belief is reality' walk?
VS
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Post by Deleted on Jan 29, 2013 9:39:18 GMT -6
An example to illustrate what I mean :
One may play RPG and choose to be "courageous" in numerous fights. Loyalty and honor first ! ... fine.
Now the game is finished, he return to his home and face a violent thief threatening him and his friend with a knife. He "know" that he is courageous, so he decide to take a stick and... And, as the thief is firmly walking to him...
FEAR ! ha ha ha! this time, it is for real, real fear is here !
Whatever he will eventually do, flee or fight, this experiment only, and not the RPG, will teach him about himself, will reveal him what he is.
We are all different from what we imagine we are. Adventures and experiments in the "Reality", the commonly accepted reality, have a irreplaceable quality : it shows you as you are, you cannot cheat with it.
Again I agree that the RPG is a good tool to experiment many interesting worlds and situations, but it's not the same.
Awake !
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Post by I AM the Way on Feb 1, 2013 13:51:52 GMT -6
An example to illustrate what I mean :
One may play RPG and choose to be "courageous" in numerous fights. Loyalty and honor first ! ... fine.
Now the game is finished, he return to his home and face a violent thief threatening him and his friend with a knife. He "know" that he is courageous, so he decide to take a stick and... And, as the thief is firmly walking to him...
FEAR ! ha ha ha! this time, it is for real, real fear is here !
Whatever he will eventually do, flee or fight, this experiment only, and not the RPG, will teach him about himself, will reveal him what he is.
We are all different from what we imagine we are. Adventures and experiments in the "Reality", the commonly accepted reality, have a irreplaceable quality : it shows you as you are, you cannot cheat with it.
Again I agree that the RPG is a good tool to experiment many interesting worlds and situations, but it's not the same.
Awake ! I totally agree that not everything is transferable, though some things might be. In reality "a", there is this function, that aspect, and we are liable to behave in a certain way. In reality "b", things are different. Perhaps we're not as courageous, free of familial entanglements, or able to hurl fireballs from our hands. Each reality, with its advantages and limitations, is confined to itself.
An alternative spin on your example, I can say that encountering several real life attackers won't necessarily help me in a roleplaying game. When playing D&D, my wizard could be totally unprepared for what I, in the ordinary world, find rather routine.
VS
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