Time. Time is always the issue. As you grow older, time becomes a very valuable resource. I end up setting myself aims such as "Once I have time, I will do xyz." Once the time comes for me to have "time", I cannot set my arse down and do whatever I wanted to do and squander the precious little time I have by watching the same youtube videos over and over again.
I accepted that, because I know me well enough now to understand that it is part of my recovery process. I need that "time", too. Time to sit and look blankly into space and not think about anything at all, while going through a routine that I have done millions of times before. It is just part of my rhythm.
It then feels all the better, when I actually achieve something with my time. In this case, I finished Act 4 of 5 acts of my roleplaying campaign. 57 sweet pages of a plot that I was worried would never see the light of day. I have no idea about the quality of the storyline or whether my players "will dig it", but it feels good having finished it.
There are many ideas floating around, but very rarely one comes to complete fruition, because people are not willing to put the time in. There we are again with time. Just too little to go around. Finishing something is just as valuable as starting it.
This 4th Act took me a damn long time. Why? In my mind, I already told the story. The fun process, the one where the story is made up, where the sheet is blank and you do not know what it will look like in the end has been over for more than a year now. The only thing I still need to do now is fill in the blanks with details. I hate that part. I hate drawing up maps of houses, I hate describing the interior of a room, I hate thinking up reasons why a particular guardsmen happens to be on a 30 minute rotation. It just does not interest me.
The reason why it does not interest me is, because the players tend to fill this space up with their ideas while playing. They may not always do this knowingly, but when a player says, he would like his character to do something in particular and I think it would be cool, I just let him, by conjuring up the necessary prop out of thin air. It makes the process interactive and fun and you spend some quality time with your old friends from school who you do not see often enough, because we're all going through the daily grind.
So as I said, I dislike the last part. I let it drag on. Then you lose track of where you were exactly and 4 months later, it is even harder to get back in, since I did not know where to start. Well, I finally did it. I wrote little letters that will tell the characters what they need to get. I wrote shitty little maps that I stole partially from video games (not that I will ever publish this stuff), hell I even wrote descriptions of rooms (oh god how I hate that part). It feels good. 57 pages of good. I am sure, I will notice some logic holes or things that I left out, but I will fill those as I go along. It is the easy part. Making things up wildly as I go along.
Now onto Act 5. The one that is not yet written... Apart from the Ending. I wrote the ending at the beginning so that I know where the characters should end up...
Here, I will talk about things that go through my head during the day. Call it a mental dump if you want. Reviewing the last posts it looks mostly like miscellaneous nonsense with a bit of programming and very little role-playing stuff mixed in. I mostly write here, to get a couple of my thoughts onto (virtual) paper and out of my head (and to remind myself of some programming related topics). Since you found your way to this blog, I hope you enjoy the read.
Showing posts with label DSA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DSA. Show all posts
Sunday, 7 September 2014
Saturday, 14 December 2013
Circumstantial RPG Writer's Block
Anyone who follows this blog knows by now, that I am playing a The Dark Eye ("Das Schwarze Auge") Role-playing game with a group of friends. To round it all off, I happened to be the GM for the game.
When I started this, I had loads and loads of ideas for telling a story and helping the players to develop their characters and only the twelve higher gods, their countless demi-god children, Rastullah, The Nameless God, the demons of the lesser hells, the archdemons and some god-like giants know what else. Due to my recent long-term unemployment (that has finally come to an end) and my current surroundings, I seem to be unable to muster up the inspiration and enthusiasm to carry on writing on my campaign.
It pisses me off, in fact. I know what needs to be done. I have been doing it successfully for quite some time. It's just that when I sit down to do it, I seem to be unable to connect the dots and fill up the grey areas with life. This came to me so easily only a year ago. Now, whenever I try, I end up thinking about what needs to be done for the new job, insurances, my wifes impending PhD defense, making sure the car is alright etc. etc. you get the picture.
It is just not a good mindset for creating a story in a medieval fantasy setting with magic where the heroes of the story need to rescue an innocent elven child from a catatonic state with the help of a long lost divine artifact that they need to find by following the almost forgotten trail of four noble knights who hid it from the clutches of a mad demon-summoning empress a thousand years ago.
If someone knows a cure to this ailment, I bid them inform me of it. I tried all my previously working recipes. Listening to Power Metal and bard's music, reading fantasy books, hell even playing fantasy RPG videogames doesn't help.
Saturday, 19 October 2013
Using fear in a pen and paper role-playing game
Wow... it has really been almost 2 months since I last looked at this blog here. As usual the reasons were many, why this has not come to pass. Mostly lack of time and enthusiasm, but also lack of things to write about.
It is a Saturday morning. On Friday, my wife and I fell asleep in front of the TV at round about 8 o'clock in the evening and apart from a brief shuffle from couch to bed at around midnight, I slept all the way through until 7:00 am. 11 hours of sleep that speaks volumes, I needed it, but what to do with this much time now so early on a Saturday. Yep, writing an update in my blog seems like a fine idea.
I initially wanted to write about my experience reading and recording Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, but that is not complete yet, so I will write a bit more about role-playing :) Last weekend, we had a role-playing session after a rather long hiatus (almost a year) and it was awesome!
We are currently in a demon infested area and it opened up some surprising avenues for me. The one I wanted to talk about here is fear. Yes, fear. In role-playing, I think there are two types of fear. The fear of the character, but also the fear of the player for their character.
The latter is an interesting phenomenon, it lets the player act quite unlike what the character would do. Thankfully, I, so far, have shown enough sense to not let the player get into such a situation, but I also know that the players are role players enough to accept the fate of their character if it may come to pass.
There were a couple of close calls, especially with our viking like player character. He plays him just as suicidal as you would expect and it needed some tempering, otherwise there would have been no reason for the character to logically stay with the group... or in fact, the rest of the group wanting to have him around. With the player (a really reasonable fellow who just had a specific idea of the character in mind) we shipped around this problem with some very near death experiences. He was shown that he can't kill everybody, when he got involved in the drug trade of a city without the knowledge of the other players. He was addicted to a weak stimulant, but didn't have the money. In the end the drug bosses made him do their dirty work and when he wanted out he was completely destroyed and left for dead. As a good measure, in case he survived, they made him addicted to one of their worst drugs. It was interesting to watch. The player knew one false move and he would have to make a new character so he was surprisingly tentative throughout the process. Usually playing him very boisterous, loud, arrogant and violent, the viking was suddenly rather more... tame, let's say.
Then he had to go through the drug addiction. That took an entire all-day session (several weeks in playtime). It got the other characters to kind of respect him again, I felt.
Then lastly, he was taken and tried for his crimes. He once diffused a frightened villager mob situation, by throwing an axe into the crowd and killing the baker. That sort of injustice can't stand. As a consequence, he was tried before the sun god (and god of justice) in his holiest of chapels. Everyone expected him to be executed (including the player himself), but strangely the god through his priest decided that instead of execution, he was to guard a fellow citizen for a very extended period of time (thus introducing a new character). This was the final step, that made the character a gods fearing man again and more in-sync with the rest of the group, without really completely overhauling the concept.
I write this as if I planned to do this, but it was more of a work in progress. I just reacted to things that happened.
What has this to do with fear? Well, the player really didn't want to stop playing his character, so he always took the way that let the viking live in the end leading to a gfantastic compromise and acceptance of the character in the group.
Now, in the last session, I was inadvertently able to play with the fear of the characters, not necessarily the fear of the players. If any of my players reading this, hopefully they don't lose all respect. It may have appeared as if I planned this, but the effect came about due to my forgetfulness and just going with the flow. But let's start from the beginning.
The heroes (yes in this game we are heroes) were looking for someone in a demon-infested forest. They find the person who broke a leg because a wild boar attacked his horse. The guy had a horse with him and I actually wrote down in my notes: "They find the horse shortly after grazing on a clearing." For good measure, I thought: "What the hell! Let's make this a bit more atmospheric." and I let the horse be found as a carcass entangled in vines that seemed to have choked it to death.
Of course, I chose that moment to let the wild boar with two of his friends attack the group of four players in a frenzy (Split the party up and all). The first two attacks by them were rather devastating to the characters endeavor to survive and as an afterthought I read out loud what the boars are like. I didn't mean to startle the players by saying that it was 250 kilos. In fact, I was as surprised as they were. I just concealed my surprise.
While the players were going through the motions of organising the rather complex fight system, I read through the scene again. Bear in mind, I wrote this more than 2 years ago and 3 rounds in I realized that those vines were supposed to actively hinder them. So I started to weave that information into the game. The look in the players faces was interesting. It went from "Oh this is a hard fight." to "What the...!!!" and then while still playing, the same happened again. Suddenly, the wizard who thought he was safe from the action got hit by a tree branch since I just read what I wrote 2 years ago. That is, I read: "The trees will at intermittent intervals attack a random player".
The effect on the fight was a constant build up of the situation from bad to worse. The players were quite busy with the fighting system, but it dawned on some of them that their characters should really be frightened now, because they are encountering something that they have never seen before and every time they think, it can't get any worse, it heaps on another shovel.
At the end of that fight, most of them were worse for wear and one had a near death experience. What happened next, was something that I had not planned but seemed like a good idea at the time. One player had a new character and we decided that the old one, a hunter/ranger type strong with a bow, would become possessed by the demonic arch enemy of the god of the hunt. I didn't know what to do with him at the time of doing it, but it occurred to me during the session that the characters won't rest until they knew what happened to him. So, I had to show him once more for them to realise that he is not a player character anymore.
So, I let him stand atop a hill, clearly to be seen and shoot an arrow at them and let him miss. All the characters knew his skill with a bow so they knew he wanted to miss. The arrow had a note saying: "The hunt begins...". Again, the players were strangely quiet taken in by the atmosphere but not scared for their character (strangely), but were realising what their characters are experiencing and tried to weave this into a reaction and they all came to the conclusion that this is effing scary.
Finally they had to camp in that forest for one night and that was the final point where I noticed that they all were quite interested in the situation so I did some face to face discussions with each player making him aware that this is an extraordinary situation for their character and what his reactions are. Not necessarily visible to the other characters, but also emotionally. I didn't bother with courage checks or the like as I thought it would take away from the situation if one of the warriors who had been in tense situations like these suddenly pisses his pants in fear due to a badly failed courage check.
All in all, I felt it was a cool experience all round creating some nice atmosphere for the players and letting them explore the less heroic side of their heroes. If any of my players read this, I would be interested how they felt this whole ordeal went along.
It is a Saturday morning. On Friday, my wife and I fell asleep in front of the TV at round about 8 o'clock in the evening and apart from a brief shuffle from couch to bed at around midnight, I slept all the way through until 7:00 am. 11 hours of sleep that speaks volumes, I needed it, but what to do with this much time now so early on a Saturday. Yep, writing an update in my blog seems like a fine idea.
I initially wanted to write about my experience reading and recording Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, but that is not complete yet, so I will write a bit more about role-playing :) Last weekend, we had a role-playing session after a rather long hiatus (almost a year) and it was awesome!
We are currently in a demon infested area and it opened up some surprising avenues for me. The one I wanted to talk about here is fear. Yes, fear. In role-playing, I think there are two types of fear. The fear of the character, but also the fear of the player for their character.
The latter is an interesting phenomenon, it lets the player act quite unlike what the character would do. Thankfully, I, so far, have shown enough sense to not let the player get into such a situation, but I also know that the players are role players enough to accept the fate of their character if it may come to pass.
There were a couple of close calls, especially with our viking like player character. He plays him just as suicidal as you would expect and it needed some tempering, otherwise there would have been no reason for the character to logically stay with the group... or in fact, the rest of the group wanting to have him around. With the player (a really reasonable fellow who just had a specific idea of the character in mind) we shipped around this problem with some very near death experiences. He was shown that he can't kill everybody, when he got involved in the drug trade of a city without the knowledge of the other players. He was addicted to a weak stimulant, but didn't have the money. In the end the drug bosses made him do their dirty work and when he wanted out he was completely destroyed and left for dead. As a good measure, in case he survived, they made him addicted to one of their worst drugs. It was interesting to watch. The player knew one false move and he would have to make a new character so he was surprisingly tentative throughout the process. Usually playing him very boisterous, loud, arrogant and violent, the viking was suddenly rather more... tame, let's say.
Then he had to go through the drug addiction. That took an entire all-day session (several weeks in playtime). It got the other characters to kind of respect him again, I felt.
Then lastly, he was taken and tried for his crimes. He once diffused a frightened villager mob situation, by throwing an axe into the crowd and killing the baker. That sort of injustice can't stand. As a consequence, he was tried before the sun god (and god of justice) in his holiest of chapels. Everyone expected him to be executed (including the player himself), but strangely the god through his priest decided that instead of execution, he was to guard a fellow citizen for a very extended period of time (thus introducing a new character). This was the final step, that made the character a gods fearing man again and more in-sync with the rest of the group, without really completely overhauling the concept.
I write this as if I planned to do this, but it was more of a work in progress. I just reacted to things that happened.
What has this to do with fear? Well, the player really didn't want to stop playing his character, so he always took the way that let the viking live in the end leading to a gfantastic compromise and acceptance of the character in the group.
Now, in the last session, I was inadvertently able to play with the fear of the characters, not necessarily the fear of the players. If any of my players reading this, hopefully they don't lose all respect. It may have appeared as if I planned this, but the effect came about due to my forgetfulness and just going with the flow. But let's start from the beginning.
The heroes (yes in this game we are heroes) were looking for someone in a demon-infested forest. They find the person who broke a leg because a wild boar attacked his horse. The guy had a horse with him and I actually wrote down in my notes: "They find the horse shortly after grazing on a clearing." For good measure, I thought: "What the hell! Let's make this a bit more atmospheric." and I let the horse be found as a carcass entangled in vines that seemed to have choked it to death.
Of course, I chose that moment to let the wild boar with two of his friends attack the group of four players in a frenzy (Split the party up and all). The first two attacks by them were rather devastating to the characters endeavor to survive and as an afterthought I read out loud what the boars are like. I didn't mean to startle the players by saying that it was 250 kilos. In fact, I was as surprised as they were. I just concealed my surprise.
While the players were going through the motions of organising the rather complex fight system, I read through the scene again. Bear in mind, I wrote this more than 2 years ago and 3 rounds in I realized that those vines were supposed to actively hinder them. So I started to weave that information into the game. The look in the players faces was interesting. It went from "Oh this is a hard fight." to "What the...!!!" and then while still playing, the same happened again. Suddenly, the wizard who thought he was safe from the action got hit by a tree branch since I just read what I wrote 2 years ago. That is, I read: "The trees will at intermittent intervals attack a random player".
The effect on the fight was a constant build up of the situation from bad to worse. The players were quite busy with the fighting system, but it dawned on some of them that their characters should really be frightened now, because they are encountering something that they have never seen before and every time they think, it can't get any worse, it heaps on another shovel.
At the end of that fight, most of them were worse for wear and one had a near death experience. What happened next, was something that I had not planned but seemed like a good idea at the time. One player had a new character and we decided that the old one, a hunter/ranger type strong with a bow, would become possessed by the demonic arch enemy of the god of the hunt. I didn't know what to do with him at the time of doing it, but it occurred to me during the session that the characters won't rest until they knew what happened to him. So, I had to show him once more for them to realise that he is not a player character anymore.
So, I let him stand atop a hill, clearly to be seen and shoot an arrow at them and let him miss. All the characters knew his skill with a bow so they knew he wanted to miss. The arrow had a note saying: "The hunt begins...". Again, the players were strangely quiet taken in by the atmosphere but not scared for their character (strangely), but were realising what their characters are experiencing and tried to weave this into a reaction and they all came to the conclusion that this is effing scary.
Finally they had to camp in that forest for one night and that was the final point where I noticed that they all were quite interested in the situation so I did some face to face discussions with each player making him aware that this is an extraordinary situation for their character and what his reactions are. Not necessarily visible to the other characters, but also emotionally. I didn't bother with courage checks or the like as I thought it would take away from the situation if one of the warriors who had been in tense situations like these suddenly pisses his pants in fear due to a badly failed courage check.
All in all, I felt it was a cool experience all round creating some nice atmosphere for the players and letting them explore the less heroic side of their heroes. If any of my players read this, I would be interested how they felt this whole ordeal went along.
Saturday, 31 March 2012
DSA: Frauen in Aventurien
Als ich heute meiner Frau von der regeltechnischen Gleichberechtigung der Frau in Aventurien erzählte, sind mir urplötzlich ein paar recht eigenartige Gedanken gekommen, die ich gerne mit jemanden teilen wollte.
Ich ging immer der Annahme nach, dass die Autoren des Schwarzen Auges der Einfachheit halber keinen expliziten Unterschied von Mann und Frau in den Eigenschaften gemacht haben (Mann KK und KO +1 und für die Frauen? Schwierig, schwierig und regeltechnisch unfair).
Daraus hat sich aber so ein wenig auch entwickelt, dass Frauen in den meisten Kulturen (Orks mal ausgenommen) gleichgestellt sind. Bei Thorwalern prügeln sich Mann und Weib immer um zu entscheiden, wer auf Kaperfahrt darf und wer bei den Kindern bleibt. Ich finde diese Ideen hervorragend und als ich von den Ferdoker Lanzerinnen in diesem einen DSA Schundroman gelesen habe (wie hieß der noch... Der Scharlatan?) fand ich das alles noch viel toller. Jedoch...
Von einem biologischen Standpunkt aus, heißt das dann, dass der Hormonhaushalt einer Frau im Grunde genommen gleich ist, wie der eines Mannes? Da dies ja eine Fantasiewelt ist und die Rasse Mensch an die unsere angelehnt ist, kann man "meistens" davon ausgehen, dass es sich gleich verhält. Der Magen wird also wohl eher nicht in der Achillesferse zu finden sein und das Hirn mit hoher Wahrscheinlichkeit nicht am linken Ellbogen.
Man darf aber nicht die Fakten des Spieles außer Acht lassen. Frauen sind genauso stark wie Männer. In der echten Welt, sind Männer auf Grund des Hormonunterschiedes generell kräftiger gebaut und ihre Muskeln wachsen schneller als bei Frauen. Dies ist ja offensichtlich nicht der Fall.
Kann man jetzt davon ausgehen, dass Frauen bis auf ihre Brüste genauso leicht Muskeln und Definition aufbauen können wie Männer? Somit auch eindeutig männlichere Gesichtszüge haben? Will heißen prominenter Gesichtsknochen, weil dickere Knochen etc. Evtl. wechselt ihr Hormonhaushalt erst zu der einer typischen Frau, sobald sie schwanger sind.
Ich finde diese Frage sehr lustig, weil sie irgendwie mein Weltbild zerstört. Denn ein höherer Testosteronspiegel heißt auch mehr Aggression. Somit besteht die aventurische Welt nur aus Mannweibern, die sich genauso zünftig prügeln wie jeder daher gelaufene Alrik (unter der Annahme, dass "nur" das Verhältnis der Hormone anders ist). Die Situation in der ein verweichlichtes Männchen eine kräftige Frau darum bittet seinen Koffer zu tragen und diese galant und Gentlewoman-like darum kümmert in der Hoffnung auf ein bisschen Geschlechtsverkehr ist dann auch nicht so abwegig.
Oder eine Gruppe von Weibern, die nach einer Sauftour soweit jenseits von gut und böse sind und nur noch einen flach legen wollen. Ich bin mir nur nicht sicher, auf was sie da starren. Männer starren im volltrunkenen Zustand bekanntlich nur auf die Brüste. Große Titten. Check. Dünner als ich. Check. Wenn du sie küssen willst, rennt sie nicht weg. Check. You got yourself a one-night-stand. Bei Männern nenne ich es gern den Spermablick. Der Blick, der dir sagt, dass außer grundlegenden motorischen Funktionen da oben im Stübchen nichts mehr vor sich geht.
Im Generellen könnte man wirklich jede klassische Situation mit den bekannten Geschlechterrollen vertauschen und somit komplett ins Lächerliche ziehen. Ich könnte diesen Gedankengang solange weiter spinnen, bis ich zu einem Punkt komme, an dem die Welt an sich nicht mehr existieren kann (Wenn alle nur geil auf Prügeln sind, wer kümmert sich dann mit Zuneigung, um die Kinder?).
Was so eine kleine Entscheidung am Anfang für tolle Stilblüten nach sich ziehen kann :-D .
Sunday, 29 January 2012
Helden auf kluge Weise verstärken
Wir hatten eine etwas längere Pause in meiner Rollenspielgruppe in der ich mir Gedanken gemacht habe über mögliche Verbesserung der Helden durch Gegenstände. Es ist ein relativ sensitives Thema in jeder Gruppe. In manchen mehr als in anderen, aber wenn man dem einen Helden einen tollen Gegenstand gibt, dann wollen die anderen Helden natürlich auch einen. Sie mögen es vielleicht nicht zugeben, aber jeder Spieler will einen tollen Charakter haben, der alles viel besser kann als die anderen... und wenn da nun ein anderer Held etwas tolles hat, sieht man sich natürlich seinem Ziel um einiges weiter entfernt als man denkt.
Aus diesem Grund bin ich wirklich am Überlegen, was man da machen kann. Nicht jeder Held kann etwas mit einer tollen magischen Waffe anfangen, denn nicht jeder Held ist ein Kämpfer. Was ist mit den Dieben, Magiern und Geweihten... Naja ok, Magier und Geweihte sind einfach, aber die Charaktere mit den eher sozialen Fähigkeiten sind wirklich nicht besonders einfach zu beschenken. Dadurch das Aventurien noch obendrein ein low-magic setting ist, wird der Sachverhalt keinesfalls einfacher. In Dungeons & Dragons war die Sache immer sehr einfach. Da gibt es sogar ein Buch mit Richtlinien. Ab Level X eine Waffe+Y, ab Level Z eine Waffe+A usw. usw.
DSA funktioniert einfach nicht so. Ich habe das Gefühl, dass ich als Spielleiter viel mehr gedankliche Vorbereitung hineinstecken muss und mir partout immer tolle Sachen ausdenken muss, die in stimmig in die Welt passen und dann auch noch irgendeinen Nutzen haben ohne jetzt unbedingt magisch zu sein. Auf die Dauer kann recht anstrengend sein. Hesinde sei Dank sind mir während des Schreibens ein paar Ideen gekommen, welches derische Hügelzwergenwerk ich in die Hände der Helden fallen lassen kann. Da jedoch die Gefahr besteht, dass einige meiner Spieler diesen Blog lesen, werde ich mal nichts weiteres verraten.
Aus diesem Grund bin ich wirklich am Überlegen, was man da machen kann. Nicht jeder Held kann etwas mit einer tollen magischen Waffe anfangen, denn nicht jeder Held ist ein Kämpfer. Was ist mit den Dieben, Magiern und Geweihten... Naja ok, Magier und Geweihte sind einfach, aber die Charaktere mit den eher sozialen Fähigkeiten sind wirklich nicht besonders einfach zu beschenken. Dadurch das Aventurien noch obendrein ein low-magic setting ist, wird der Sachverhalt keinesfalls einfacher. In Dungeons & Dragons war die Sache immer sehr einfach. Da gibt es sogar ein Buch mit Richtlinien. Ab Level X eine Waffe+Y, ab Level Z eine Waffe+A usw. usw.
DSA funktioniert einfach nicht so. Ich habe das Gefühl, dass ich als Spielleiter viel mehr gedankliche Vorbereitung hineinstecken muss und mir partout immer tolle Sachen ausdenken muss, die in stimmig in die Welt passen und dann auch noch irgendeinen Nutzen haben ohne jetzt unbedingt magisch zu sein. Auf die Dauer kann recht anstrengend sein. Hesinde sei Dank sind mir während des Schreibens ein paar Ideen gekommen, welches derische Hügelzwergenwerk ich in die Hände der Helden fallen lassen kann. Da jedoch die Gefahr besteht, dass einige meiner Spieler diesen Blog lesen, werde ich mal nichts weiteres verraten.
Friday, 6 January 2012
DSA SteamPunk
Ich hatte heute einen Thread im DSA4 Forum angefangen, um mal nachzufragen, wie der technologische Fortschritt und Mode etc. zur Zeit von Bosparans Fall war (wen's interessiert...), dabei bin ich auf eine viel interessantere Gedankenspielerei gekommen, die ich dann etwas weitergesponnen habe.
Die Anfangsidee kam von dem Fakt, dass das aventurische Horasreich der italienischen Renaissance nachempfunden ist. also viele kleine Stadtstaaten, Intrigen zu Hofe usw., jedoch kommt damit auch der technologische Fortschritt. Es gibt zum Beispiel schon den maraskanischen Buchdruck und andere irdische Erfindungen.
Die Frage darauf war, ob sich der technologische Fortschritt genauso linear vollzieht, wie auf der Erde, also quasi ein viktorianisches Zeitalter (nach der guten, alten Queen Victoria). Daraus ergibt sich zwangslaeufig im Kontext mit Rollenspiel das Thema SteamPunk, daher auch die Idee "DSA SteamPunk".
Dieses Thema wurde anscheinend schonmal im DSA4 Forum diskutiert (Link zum Thread), jedoch fand ich die Ideen etwas zu... ein-dimensional. Ich fand, da wurde einfach die SteamPunk Schablone auf Aventurien gelegt und geschaut, was man uebernehmen kann. Zu Beispiel verkamen die goettlichen Kulte zu Wunderbringern ohne jeglichen Einfluss.
Wenn man sich die Entwicklung der realen Welt anschaut, dann wurden die polytheistischen Glaubenswelten doch weitestgehend abgeschafft, weil alle Domaenen nach und nach durch Wissenschaft erklaert werden konnten (Ein Gott des Wassers war nicht mehr noetig, weil man mit genuegend Physik und Chemie Wissen verstand, warum Eis friert), will heissen Wissenschaft hat mehr oder minder den Polytheismus wegrationalisiert... und das geht in Aventurien so eben halt nicht, weil es eindeutig bewiesen ist, dass die Goetter existieren und manche Wunder doch recht pompoes sind und eindeutig den Glaeubigen daran erinnern, dass die Existenz der Goetter nie in Frage gestellt werden sollte.
Als solches koennte ich mir sehr gut vorstellen, dass die Kulte einfach mit der Zeit gehen. Ingerimm oder Hesinde Geweihte koennten dann unter Umstaenden die vollen Technokraten sein, die ihren Glauben durch Fortschritt ausdruecken. Geweihte des Efferds und der Rondra koennten unter Umstaenden im Wetterdienst kooperieren, um eine sichere Zeppelinfahrt vorherzusagen.
Was ich damit sagen will, ist, dass ein aventurisches SteamPunk Setting unglaublich mehr koennte als ein Abklatsch von viktorianischer Zeit + andere Rassen + Magie. Die gesamte Gesellschaft koennte sich anders entwickelt haben, allein basierend auf der Glaubenswelt. Denn mit dem wissenschaftlichen Fortschritt kam die langsame Entmachtung der Kirche im westlichen Europa und somit die Welt, wie wir sie heute kennen.
In Aventurien wird die Kirche ziemlich sicher nie komplett ihre starke Rolle verlieren, nur anders interpretieren, da die Goetter ja quasi selbst Mitspracherecht in ihrer Entwicklung besitzen. Somit kann man sich unter Umstaenden sogar eine Art diktatorische, praiotische Herrschaftsform vorstellen, die einem totalitaerischem Staat sehr aehnlich bis gleichkommt, jedoch einfach nur streng dem Kult des Praios folgt. Wer kann sich nicht streng praiosglaeubige Disziplinartruppen vorstellen, die mit Elektro-Schlagstock auf die unzufriedenen Massen eindreschen?
Was ich wohl damit sagen will, ist dass ein SteamPunk Setting in Aventurien eine herrliche Sache waere, um einem polytheistisches Glaubenssystem in ein modernes Gewand zu setzen und zu sehen, was dabei herauskommt.
Friday, 16 December 2011
Gildenmagier in DSA
Das Schwarze Auge ist wahrscheinlich das einzige Fantasy-Rollenspiel in dem Magier keine übermächtigen Kreaturen sind. Im Besonderen nervt es mich ein bißchen, dass Magier mit Schaden verursachenden Kampfzaubern sich selbst fast außer Gefecht setzen.
Aber fangen wir von vorne an. Da in DSA Astralenergie (AsP) für Magie benutzt wird, um zu zeigen wie lange ein Magier zaubern kann und diese sich auch recht langsam regeneriert, finde ich magiebegabte Helden generell recht schwach.
Wenn man sich nun aber auch noch aussucht, einen Kampfzauberer zu machen, der sich auf Schaden spezialisiert hat, dann sollte man schleunigst auch Kampffertigkeiten haben. Ein Magier hat durchschnittlich 40-50 AsP. Jeder Angriffszauber legt als Kostengrundlage voraus, dass die Kosten gleich der Anzahl der Schadenspunkte ist. Das heisst, dass der Magier 40-50 Schaden machen kann (ein durchschnittlicher Mensch hat ca. 25 - 30) und danach so lange warten muss, bis genug Tage mit 1W6 + 3 AsP Regeneration vorbei ist.
Ich finde dieses Verhalten unnütz und schlecht. Damit schwächt man die Magier in einer Art und Weise, die das Gleichgewicht schon wieder fest in die Hand der Kämpfer legt. Natuerlich muss man eine Balance finden (vielleicht AsP-Kosten = Schaden / 2), aber durch solch ein System wird man in meinen Augen eines integralen Bestandteils eines Fantasysettings beraubt: Dem Kampfmagier.
Aber fangen wir von vorne an. Da in DSA Astralenergie (AsP) für Magie benutzt wird, um zu zeigen wie lange ein Magier zaubern kann und diese sich auch recht langsam regeneriert, finde ich magiebegabte Helden generell recht schwach.
Wenn man sich nun aber auch noch aussucht, einen Kampfzauberer zu machen, der sich auf Schaden spezialisiert hat, dann sollte man schleunigst auch Kampffertigkeiten haben. Ein Magier hat durchschnittlich 40-50 AsP. Jeder Angriffszauber legt als Kostengrundlage voraus, dass die Kosten gleich der Anzahl der Schadenspunkte ist. Das heisst, dass der Magier 40-50 Schaden machen kann (ein durchschnittlicher Mensch hat ca. 25 - 30) und danach so lange warten muss, bis genug Tage mit 1W6 + 3 AsP Regeneration vorbei ist.
Ich finde dieses Verhalten unnütz und schlecht. Damit schwächt man die Magier in einer Art und Weise, die das Gleichgewicht schon wieder fest in die Hand der Kämpfer legt. Natuerlich muss man eine Balance finden (vielleicht AsP-Kosten = Schaden / 2), aber durch solch ein System wird man in meinen Augen eines integralen Bestandteils eines Fantasysettings beraubt: Dem Kampfmagier.
Sunday, 11 December 2011
RPG Music'N'SFX - Music in roleplaying - a first Trial
If you read the blog carefully, you will remember the entry where I mention the music player that I wrote (follow this link). I finally managed to use it in a session. I had several scenarios prepared and I must admit, it worked out pretty well.
I think the proof that it worked very well, was that two of the players after awhile complained that it really had to rain "all the time" (they were fighting a group of bandits in a forest in the pouring rain) while two others said, this should really be the case, because being outside without shelter in the pouring rain "is" miserable. So it definitely had an effect.
However, it must be said that screening the music is a very tedious job. I spent the train journey to the roleplaying venue (about 4 hours) sieving through various games and movie soundtracks.
Improvement wise, I have to say that I best restructure the GUI and add some functionality. It just goes to show that it really is best, to use the classical design for a music player with playlist and so on. I didn't want to do that, because I had three different categories on how to use the files (well, now, I have four) and it would have been confusing.
Now, I think differently about it and I may need to make a bunch of adjustments to give it more flexibility. i realised the flexibility issue after I realised I need a backgorund sound for a graveyard... I didn't see that one coming. Anyhow, more fun to play with python.
Since I started on helping out in the core mentorship program, I have already learnt a fair bit more about various aspects of python.
Conclusively, I would say, all in a ll a very good session again. I am starting to feel more comfortable as a GM.
I think the proof that it worked very well, was that two of the players after awhile complained that it really had to rain "all the time" (they were fighting a group of bandits in a forest in the pouring rain) while two others said, this should really be the case, because being outside without shelter in the pouring rain "is" miserable. So it definitely had an effect.
However, it must be said that screening the music is a very tedious job. I spent the train journey to the roleplaying venue (about 4 hours) sieving through various games and movie soundtracks.
Improvement wise, I have to say that I best restructure the GUI and add some functionality. It just goes to show that it really is best, to use the classical design for a music player with playlist and so on. I didn't want to do that, because I had three different categories on how to use the files (well, now, I have four) and it would have been confusing.
Now, I think differently about it and I may need to make a bunch of adjustments to give it more flexibility. i realised the flexibility issue after I realised I need a backgorund sound for a graveyard... I didn't see that one coming. Anyhow, more fun to play with python.
Since I started on helping out in the core mentorship program, I have already learnt a fair bit more about various aspects of python.
Conclusively, I would say, all in a ll a very good session again. I am starting to feel more comfortable as a GM.
Saturday, 3 December 2011
DSA: Eine rassenreine Gruppe
Wir hatten kürzlich die selten dämliche Schnapsidee mal einen Rollenspielabend lang eine rassenreine Gruppe zu spielen. Nach längerem Überlegen fiel uns dann auf, dass diese Schnapsidee eigentlich ziemlich cool wäre.
Wenn man so einen Fall ausspielen würde, wäre das eine Herausforderung besonders für den Spielleiter und auch für die Spieler. Für den Spielleiter, weil er wirklich alles über diese Rasse wissen muss (ALLES!!!) und auch von Sekunde 0 den Spielern erklären muss, wie die generelle Denkweise der gespielten Rasse agiert. Ich stelle mir da am Anfang einen kleinen Vortrag über die Welt vor, der die Atmosphäre erschaffen soll, und danach durch erfragen der Spieler wird das Szenario erweitert und die Löcher ausgefüllt.
Hier kommt dann die Herausforderung für die Spieler. Sie müssen es schaffen, so zu denken, wie die Wesen. Ein Elf denkt einfach komplett anders über die Welt nach als ein Mensch. Besonders wenn er sich in seiner Sippe befindet. Das kann für die Spieler sehr spannend, aber auch sehr frustrierend sein.
Ich erinnere mich an eine Begebenheit in der ich ein Rollenspiel über Orks gespielt habe (ich wünschte ich wüsste den Namen noch). Das Spiel war eher als Parodie gedacht, aber es erinnert mich daran ein bißchen, weil wir mussten "doofe" Orks spielen. Da kam, dass wir auch unsere Satzstellung und Wortwahl anpassen mussten (Aus "I am rather peckish today, darling" wurde dann sowas we "Me be hungry, she-ork"). Und ganz ehrlich: Das war verdammt schwer! Ich hatte echte Probleme, erstmal, simpel zu denken (ich bin jetzt kein Genie, aber dass sich Seife im Wasser auflöst, weiss ich, und das durfte ich nicht wissen) und auch so zu sprechen.
Mit diesen Hintergedanken haben wir uns überlegt, welche Rasse man nehmen könnte und am meisten würden uns die Achaz reizen. Echsen haben irgendwas. Man muss immer mit viel 'ssssssssssssss' reden, des weiteren sind sie eine ehemalige Hochkultur vor tausenden von Jahren, die mittlerweile zurück in die Sümpfe gedrängt wurden. Das heißt, sie können nicht einfach irgendwohin gehen. Dazu kommt noch, dass die kulturelle Stellung der Frauen und Männer komplett verschieden ist. Hört sich einfach geil an :D
Mal sehen wie weit wir damit kommen :)
Wenn man so einen Fall ausspielen würde, wäre das eine Herausforderung besonders für den Spielleiter und auch für die Spieler. Für den Spielleiter, weil er wirklich alles über diese Rasse wissen muss (ALLES!!!) und auch von Sekunde 0 den Spielern erklären muss, wie die generelle Denkweise der gespielten Rasse agiert. Ich stelle mir da am Anfang einen kleinen Vortrag über die Welt vor, der die Atmosphäre erschaffen soll, und danach durch erfragen der Spieler wird das Szenario erweitert und die Löcher ausgefüllt.
Hier kommt dann die Herausforderung für die Spieler. Sie müssen es schaffen, so zu denken, wie die Wesen. Ein Elf denkt einfach komplett anders über die Welt nach als ein Mensch. Besonders wenn er sich in seiner Sippe befindet. Das kann für die Spieler sehr spannend, aber auch sehr frustrierend sein.
Ich erinnere mich an eine Begebenheit in der ich ein Rollenspiel über Orks gespielt habe (ich wünschte ich wüsste den Namen noch). Das Spiel war eher als Parodie gedacht, aber es erinnert mich daran ein bißchen, weil wir mussten "doofe" Orks spielen. Da kam, dass wir auch unsere Satzstellung und Wortwahl anpassen mussten (Aus "I am rather peckish today, darling" wurde dann sowas we "Me be hungry, she-ork"). Und ganz ehrlich: Das war verdammt schwer! Ich hatte echte Probleme, erstmal, simpel zu denken (ich bin jetzt kein Genie, aber dass sich Seife im Wasser auflöst, weiss ich, und das durfte ich nicht wissen) und auch so zu sprechen.
Mit diesen Hintergedanken haben wir uns überlegt, welche Rasse man nehmen könnte und am meisten würden uns die Achaz reizen. Echsen haben irgendwas. Man muss immer mit viel 'ssssssssssssss' reden, des weiteren sind sie eine ehemalige Hochkultur vor tausenden von Jahren, die mittlerweile zurück in die Sümpfe gedrängt wurden. Das heißt, sie können nicht einfach irgendwohin gehen. Dazu kommt noch, dass die kulturelle Stellung der Frauen und Männer komplett verschieden ist. Hört sich einfach geil an :D
Mal sehen wie weit wir damit kommen :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)