Tag: players

S2E1: The Quest – Gaming Culture

Published on by Jeff

Hello and welcome to Season 2 of The Quest! New music, new way of doing things, same old non-sense!

Lets get right to it!

News

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Apparently a new documentary is on its way that explores the origin of the game, and the story of its creators, Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The film is called The Great Kingdom, and there is currently no release date, but you can check out the trailer and info updates on their Facebook page.


Star Wars RPG

Fantasy Flight Games has announced they are preparing to release the Age of Rebellion Beginner Box. The set is available for order on the Fantasy Flight website and it is expected to ship later this year.

Fantasy Flights AoE Beginer Box

New RPG on Kickstarter

There is a new tabletop project on Kickstarter called DeadQuest that is set in the American Southwest in the wake of a Zombie Apocolypse.

<iframe width=”640″ height=”480″ src=”https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1452396741/deadquest-a-zombie-tabletop-game/widget/video.html” frameborder=”0″ scrolling=”no”> </iframe>

Kickstater link

Eve Battle

Space MMO EVE Online has been providing stories of corporate espionage and massive space battles for years. A battle began yesterday that’s the biggest one in the game’s 10-year history. The main battle itself involved over 2,200 players in a single star system. The groups on each side of the fight tried to restrict the numbers somewhat in order to maintain server stability, so the battle ended up sprawling across multiple other systems as well.

Now, EVE allows players to buy a month of subscription time as an in-game item, which players can then use or trade. This allows a direct conversion from in-game currency to real money, and provides a benchmark for estimating the real-world value of in-game losses. Over 70 of the game’s biggest and most expensive ships, the Titans, were destroyed. Individual Titans can be worth upwards of 200 billion ISK, which is worth around $5,000. Losses for the Titans alone for this massive battle are estimated at $200,000 – $300,000. Hundreds upon hundreds of other ships were destroyed as well.

How did the battle start? Somebody didn’t pay rent and lost control of their system.

Original story

Discussion

Gaming culture comes with a little more than its fair share of stigmas. There are a lot of stereotypes, some justly deserved, some not.

We discuss the “basement dwelling”, and actual play podcasts…and how we all suffer a little from the stereotypes.

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S1E9: The Quest – Building Your Campaign

Published on by Jeff

The Quest for News

From RPGNEWS.com

Last Man Standing (1 of 16 in UNFASHIONED CREATURES)

Hey, you got Zombies in my Frankenstein! In the midst of an undead apocalypse, one scientist tries to sustain the human race by cloning himself (again.) Unfortunately, things don’t work out exactly as planned.

But then, do they ever?

In Last Man Standing, writer Monica Valentinelli and artist Josie Pi Grant do a modern twist on the first, great literary zombie. The digital download includes a BONUS page from “Monsters and the Monsters Who Make Them,” a mini-series written by James McGee and illustrated by Alex Cormack.

UNFASHIONED CREATURES, A Frankenstein Anthology, is a collection of original comic art and stories inspired by Mary Shelley’s classic horror novel “Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus.” Edited by Enrica Jang.

From TABLETOPGAMINGNEWS.com

Mage Company has launched their Kickstarter campaign for The Amityville Project, a miniatures game where you’re trying to play on the fears of the other players, trying to become the dominant personality inside an asylum patient.

Phobos is a Horror Strategy Miniature game for 2-4 players. Each player takes on the role of one of these personalities which were created in the detective’s mind. Your goal is to eliminate the personalities of your opponent(s). Once accomplished then your personality prevails allowing you to control the detective.

Each of you chooses a Mentality board, 8 Ghost Miniatures, 12 Mentality Tokens, a D12 Die and 3 Action cards. Players then each get 3 Phobos cards (from 12 different possibilities) and keep these face down.

From TABLETOPGAMINGNEWS.com

Fantasy Flight Games has released their Wave 3 ships for their Star Wars X-Wing Miniatures Game. Four new starship expansions have now arrived to forever redefine the dramatic space battles of X-Wing™!

The Lambda-class Shuttle, HWK-290, B-Wing, and TIE Bomber Expansion Packs each feature a detailed model, faithfully rendered at 1/270 scale, as well as a maneuver dial, and all the ship cards, upgrades, and tokens you need to make these starships a dynamic part of your X-Wing battles. Head to your local retailer today to pick up your copies.

Building Your Campaign.

A great place to start thinking about a campaign is your players. A good place to start to learn how to be a great GM, John Wick’s book Play Dirty!

Another great resource for helping you set up a campaign is a system created for the 7th sea RPG, called “The Other Hundred Points”. The idea was you give the players a list of options regarding your campaign and let them rank each option on how much they would enjoy each aspect and then you build your game around those suggestions.

Here is a link to the AEG 7th Sea GM Sheet for campaign building:

Also, here is an e-bay link for the AD&D Birthright Campaign.

Final Thoughts

Use your players as a resource to build a campaign you can have fun with, and if you can’t do that, have fun with the campaign you get!

In Closing

Don’t forget to like us on Facebook or follow us on twitter! You can also find us on iTunes. Be sure to leave comments on iTunes and share us with your friends.
You can contact The Quest via email at thequest [at] dancinggriaffe [dot] net!

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S1E8: The Quest – Death and Dying

Published on by Jeff

This episode DOES contain SPOILERS!!!!

This episode was recirded on Friday September 6th, 2013!

We had a lot more planned for this eppisode, but my Joss Whedon rant took up a lot of time. We will cover this topic again in season 2!

The Quest for News

http://mashable.com/2013/07/01/lucas-cultural-arts-museum/

Lucas has been working behind the scenes on his proposed Cultural Arts Museum — not just a home for all the art he’s collected over the last four decades, but a place to tell the story of visual storytelling.

The Lucas Cultural Arts Museum is one of three finalists competing for a coveted spot in the San Francisco Presidio, right by the waterfront, with a commanding view of the Golden Gate Bridge. The three have been whittled down from an initial 16 proposals.

Lucas insiders say that if the Presidio doesn’t choose his proposal, he won’t look elsewhere in the Bay Area — he’ll build it in Chicago, where Mayor Rahm Emmanuel awaits with open arms. “It’ll be a nice wedding present for Mellody,” the former Lucasfilm chief has said.

Though San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee has come out in favor of the Lucas proposal, the Trust’s decision is no slam dunk. Lucas faces some stiff competition in the form of the Presidio Exchange — an “open source” and partly open air museum that would host many kinds of free events and act as a cultural center for the Presidio. The third proposal is a Sustainability Institute; read about that here [PDF link].

Check out the videos on mashable, for more.

http://palladiumbooks.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=651%3Aprepare-for-invasion&catid=53%3Aproduct-features

 

Robotech® RPG Tactics™ – Coming Fall 2013

If you’re a Robotech® fan, this is the game you’ve wanted for decades, with beautifully sculpted, in scale, game pieces and the fast action of Robotech®.

Robotech® RPG Tactics™ is a fast-paced, tabletop combat game that captures the action and adventure of the Robotech® anime. Two or more players can engage in small squad skirmishes or scale up to massive battles. Relive the clashes of the First Robotech War, engage in stand-alone tactical games or use the dynamic game pieces to enhance your Robotech® RPG experience. Or simply collect your favorite mecha from an expanding range of top notch game pieces.

Mecha vs Mecha. Take command of the fighting forces of the United Earth Defense Force (UEDF) valiantly defending Earth from alien annihilation. Or lead the massive clone armies of the Zentraedi Armada to recover an alien artifact of immense power and enslave humankind.

Go to Palladium.com for a detailed list for the boxed set.

http://oceanicgamer.com/2013/09/swtor-game-update-2-3-2-full-patch-notes/

Game Update 2.3.2 Patch Notes

9/4/2013

Highlights

  • New Vehicle! The Desler Nomad is a new rare drop from the final boss of all level 55 Hard Mode Flashpoints.
  • Vendor Update! Emergency Medical Table and Mood: Outraged have been added to the Bounty Supply Company Vendor. Each item is bind on pickup and available for 1 credit to all players, regardless of Bounty Supply Company Reputation rank.
  • New Feature! Players can now purchase Cartel Coins in-game through the “Add Coins” interface within the Cartel Market:
    • This feature requires that players opt-in before it can be accessed. For additional details, please refer to this News Article.
    • Subscribers receive a 50% discount on the first purchase made using the in-game feature. Please note: this offer does not apply to Cartel Coin purchases made using the website.

Talking about Death and Dying

A lot of times, players and GM’s are afriad of killing a character in a RPG. Don’t be…it can be a great story telling element (and besides, sometimes players need to be reminded that winning is not a foregone conclusion).

Many times death of a character can mean some of the most motivating factors for other characters. George R.R Martin kills lots of characters in the Song of Ice and Fire. som of these deaths are almost meaningless, but they all seem to weave together to tell a compelling story.

;

Star Wars has many meaingful deaths as well. Ben Kenobi dies and transends reality to help Luke and to give Luke a solidifying motivation to join the Rebellion and fight the evil. Vader dies and brings closer to Luke and Anikin’s stories.

Firefly was a sunning show, and the fear of, and presence of death throught the 14 original episodes was very real, even though none of the main chracters died. Serenity on the other hand put death right in the faces fo the characters and made you question everything (including Joss’s commitment to quality storytelling).


Final Thoughts

Death is an improtant part of life. You should not rush headlong into it, but neither should you fear it. Character’s should fear death, but the players and GM’s should be ready and willing to tell that part of a characters story.

 

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S1E7: The Quest -Conflict Changes Characters

Published on by Jeff

The Quest for News

From: EscapistMagazine.com

Minecraft has been a work in progress for its entire existence.  In the current version, the many different terrain biomes are often placed awkwardly next to each other, with deserts randomly juxtaposed against arctic tundra. Meanwhile, massive oceans interrupt the typical brick-breaking gameplay and force players to either avoid them or slowly sail through. In a blog update, lead developer Jens Bergensten  mentioned three specific issues that he intends to address: oceans being too large, uneven biome placement, and lack of variation. To fix that, Mojang’s overhauling the code that generates the maps. Future Minecraft worlds should have far less oceans, logical biome placement, and alternate configurations of those biomes for variety.  Along with the new terrain maps, players can also expect new biomes, new rare and uncommon biome variations, and new flowers and trees to look at/harvest along the way.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/127304-Minecraft-to-Overhaul-the-World-with-1-7-Update

From: Geek.com

Few game franchises have been as consistently loved over the years as DOOM. Even with years in between installments, fans still can’t wait to get their paws on a new DOOM game. in typical fashion, DOOM 4 has been in development for a long, long time, but you can tide yourself over with these nifty pewter miniatures of all your favorite DOOM monsters from Bethesda. The first run is already gone, but you can sign up for email notifications. Even at $200 these miniatures are hot.

There are 15 miniatures including all the classics — the cyberdemon, Arch-vile, Hell Knight, our anonymous protagonist, and all the rest. These miniatures are re-castings of a set originally sold by Reaper Miniatures in the late 90’s.

http://www.geek.com/games/bethesda-is-offering-a-doom-pewter-miniatures-set-for-200-1569092/

From: GameSkinny.com

Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, set for release on August 27, has received quite a few inquiries from players in the MMORPG community about the possibility of marriage.

Same-sex marriage, in particular, is causing quite the stir. Recent developments within the LGBTQ community and their fight for marriage equality, such as the repeal of Prop 8 and DOMA, have definitely softened the taboo for some of these issues to be discussed within certain industries, and in this case, the gaming industry.

The folks on the development team, when asked about marriage in the game, stated:

“As for same-sex marriage, this is an extremely controversial topic that has been under discussion in the MMO world for the past few years. First we would like to start out with opposite-sex marriage, and then consider the feedback from our players in order to make a careful decision.”

Although I do respect them for at least considering the idea of equality, I can’t help but think of the other games out there that already allow for same-sex relations. Mass Effect and Fable 3, for example, did just fine despite having this option.

http://www.gameskinny.com/x59ao/final-fantasy-xiv-a-realm-reborn-to-allow-same-sex-marriage

Conflict Changes Characters

Games within Games

Many games give you opportunities to play, well, games inside of the. A prime example is Star Wars: Knights of te Old Republic’s Pazzak or Legend of the Five Rings Go. These games can be mundane and menial, but they can also be great opportunities for growth as a character and story advancement.

How, you ask?

Easy, the strategy a GM uses for in-game games is often to give subtle clues, hints, or opportunities to their players through the interactions of the NPC during the game. Now, this is not always the case. Sometimes a game of Poker is just a game of poker, but generally, if your GM takes the time to include a game within their game, you may want to pay close attention to details.

Narrative Combat

There are 3 types of role-playing game (more or less): Mechanical, Narrative, and Cooperative. Most “Pen & Paper” games are cooperative or mechanical, but sometimes you come across Narrative games or highly narrative GM’s.

These types of games can be enormous amounts of fun, as the GM describes the actions of the NPC, the PC’s describe their actions, and the GM describes the consequences for those actions.

Personally, I use this fairly limited in my campaigns as I prefer to have that mechanical variation that makes a narrative game cooperative. While a narrative game can have a very “cinematic” feel, and can lead to some outstanding RP, I personally have always felt that the dice add a certain element of chance and make, not only the players, but the GM’s storytelling more dynamic.

The notable exception this is LARP, where there are (in most cases) no dice or random factors. If you can succeed at something, then you succeed.

It takes a really quick and resourceful GM to tell great narrative combats in table-top, but it only takes a passionate with an idea of where they want the story to go and a will to let he players and dice take them their.

Investigative Games

Investigations are conflicts! It is your character, and your wit, against the GM’s devious and cunning plots and machinations. Sherlock Holmes grew as a character in (some) of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories. This can be true of your character as well.

Some of the best storytelling you can have in a game is finding clues, piecing together hints and following trials to their inevitable ends…and then finding out months later your where duped!

Investigation style games tend to be slow burning fuses that will lead to epic RP through subtle growth.

Is Violence in RPG’s Even Needed?

The short answer is no, but conflict is.

I personally don’t think I have ever run a game that didn’t have violence in it, but you can minimize that violence through cunning and guile. If you are looking to run a purely passive have, I wish you the very best of luck, and am very curious to know how it goes.

Personally, I think violence is just another type of conflict for characters, and it can be a great enhancement if used properly, and a great detractor if over done. This is the crux of my main issue with may games like D&D. They are almost mindlessly violent.

Sure, you are reusing the princes from the dragon (who inevitably hides her in a different castle), and that can be a lot of fun, but making choices that alter the very fabric of a story is so much more rewarding.

So…I guess the long answer is, if the violence is used in the same vein as other types of conflict, to tell a meaningful story and provide opportunities for character growth, then use it. But if you can achieve those same goals with out it, then don’t use it.

Final Thoughts

I am a horrible slacker…but that aside:

Conflict in RPG’s is a tool that provides players with the opportunities to change their characters and to grow them into living fantasies.

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S1E6: The Quest – PhysReps and Gaming Aids

Published on by Jeff

Physical Representations & Gaming Aids

While I don’t normally use minis in games I run, they can certainly have an enhancing effect for many players. Don’t let them become the focus though. Minis are intended to make the game more fun, not to become the game.

If you hvae ever seen it, take a look at HeroQuest! Fun game, although a littly pricy now-a-days.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1311.R1.TR8.TRC1.A0.XHeroQuest&_nkw=heroquest&_sacat=0&_from=R40

Using a Virtual Table to play a game has been a fun experiance, something relitivly new to any of my groups. The only real drawback has been getting everyone’s technical issues sorted.

Live Action

Costuming is king in a LARP. It is the ultimate gaming aid, and you need to invest a conciderable amount of though, if not money, into your costume, weapons and armor. It really can make or break your gaming experiance.

I recomment The Ren Store, or your local Ren Fair for starting out.

http://stores.renstore.com/StoreFront.bok

CosPlay

The devil is in the details…CosPlay is often less about the RP and more about the costumeing. Its like LARP Lite on Steroids.

Some judges will rob you of points for store bought items, so know your CosPlay judges and what is expected. If you are just doing it for the fun of a little lite RP at a con, go with what works and don’t worry so much about handcrafting every little bit.

BUT…never underestimate how much more awesome it is to be the person that shows up in a handmade, articulated Iron Man outfit!

Virtual

Die rollers can be convinent, but nothing beats the sweet, sweet sound of a die bouncing off the table and the collective death rattle of your players when they score a critical faliure!

Fillable character sheets can be nice…but it can lead to deforstiation. Save the planet!

Character Generators do make life a little easier. Here are some links to CG’s we mentioned in the show:

AD&D Core Rules – http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=heroquest&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.XAD%26D+core+rules+program&_nkw=AD%26D+core+rules+program&_sacat=0

L5R CM – https://code.google.com/p/l5rcm/

And…while not a “CG” as such, HeroMachine is still cool – http://www.heromachine.com/heromachine-3-lab/

Other ideas

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Final Thought

Using physreps can add a lot to your game, but they can also make it feel more mechanical and limit your imagination. Before you get too carried away, take stock of what you actually need and how much those physreps can really bring to your game.

You can end up spending a lot of money on physreps, make sure they are things you are actually gonna use. There is nothng like having thousands of dollers worth of gaming equipment you are never gonna use again. Your imagination can be one of the greatest assets you have in gaming, don’t waste a lot of money suppressing it.

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S1E4: The Quest – Gaming Systems

Published on by Jeff

We found some nice treasure while Questing for the latest RPG related news:

Here is some quick RPG News!

CCP Games

CCP Games, creators of the successful space MMORPG EVE Online, have announced they will be harvesting stories from within the game to create comic books, a TV series, and possibly even films set in the EVE universe. EVE has never set records for the size of its userbase, but it’s long been known as a game that generates some of the best emergent gameplay in the industry. From battles involving thousands of players to in-game confidence schemes involving currency worth tens of thousands of real dollars, it’s likely you’ve heard about players’ exploits even if you haven’t played the game. CCP is now looking to bring the EVE universe to a wider audience, and rather than having a group of writers dictate all of the lore, they’re letting the players take part. They’ve set up a site where users can share their tales and vote on those of others. CCP has partnered with Dark Horse Comics to make a comic book out of the stories, and with a production company to make a live-action TV show.

SWOTR:

http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/07/16/bioware-teases-swtors-2-4-pve-and-pvp-content/

WIZARDS OF THE COAST:

http://company.wizards.com/content/magic-2014-core-set-launches-today

The Nature of Attributes

Your attributes are how your character’s make-up is defined. The gifts you where born with, your physical and metal charactirisitcs.

There is a sweet spot for attrubutes though, nobody wants to be the guy who is stupid, ugly and physically impared. By the same token, playing Adonis isn’t as much fin as one might think either, and its not fun to run games for.

You can play any attributes scores, but you may have to change your core concept.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alignment_(role-playing_games)

Do you need skills in an RPG?

Generally speaking, skills are needed in most RPG’s. These are how you, as a character seperates themselves from the pack. What you can do in the real world help define your role in sociaty, and skills in an RPG are no different.

Don’t let skills dictate the role-palying though. They are there to enhance your experiance, not define it.Skills should be used as a way to help tell the story but if you if can out RP the NPC, then good on you!

Don’t get carried away either. Some games can have to many skills. As a GM you don’t want to spread out the need for skills to much because it will overly complicate not only your storytelling and slow down your characters effectivness.

Combat

While not every game NEEDS combat, conflict is almost always inevitable in some stories. After all, how do we grow without overcoming adversity?

Comabt can become a problem though. It slows down te flow of games and can become overly mechanical. You need to keep the players engaged in the story. You can do this through narration or just speedy combat systems like the New World of Darkness system.

As a player or GM, you should always strive to make combats fun for everyone and keep peoples attention. Don’t let the mechanics limit your creativity.

If your characters find themselves in a huge mass battle, you may find it tough to feel like you are making a difference. You are the heroes of the setting, and your charaters should almost always have some way to affect the tides of battle. Be it through heroic oppertuinits like L5R or small raids away from the fighting that can stall the enemy just long enough to give your side the edge, Mass Combat can be a solid tool for epic storytelling.

House Rules – the Good, the Bad & the Ugly

Sometimes the rules just don’t fit the style of story you want to tell, but you can make it happen with a couple fo tweeks. Thats what house rules are for.Sometimes you can just make a couple of small tweeks like changing how inititive works, to adding in entire new rules systems for doing things.

Personally, our groups almost always ad things like hero points and drama dice as a way to allow the players to help tell the story!

The sky is the limit for house rules though. If a rule gets in the way, change it!

Does System Even Matter?

Well, the answer is maybe. While the players really do make the difference, sometimes the system can hinder the storytelling styles of both the GM and the players. The system is how your characters interact with the world around them, and some systems do not work well for some worlds.

If you want a Pirates of the Carrabian or Princess Bride style game, you may not want to strugle with the mechanical nature of d20 when the swashbukling system for 7th sea is already built for that.

Systems can also become so much a part of the setting that the setting itself does not work outside of its original shell. 7th Sea and Legend of the Five Rings became Swashbukling and Oriential Adventures in d20 3/3.5, but lost almost all of their charm and wonder.

Choosing Your System

A lot goes into choosing a system, but in theend it comes down to knowing your style of play and the story you want to run. Choose a system that meets your needs, and allows you to tell the type of story you really want to tell.

Final Thoughts

Every system has its pros and cons, and all that really matters is you have fun. If something doesn’t work, change it!

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S1E1 – The Quest: Character Creation

Published on by Jeff

Building Your Concept

Ego Types

The Innocent

Motto: Free to be you and me
Core desire: to get to paradise
Goal: to be happy
Greatest fear: to be punished for doing something bad or wrong
Strategy: to do things right
Weakness: boring for all their naive innocence
Talent: faith and optimism
The Innocent is also known as: Utopian, traditionalist, naive, mystic, saint, romantic, dreamer.

The Orphan/Regular Guy or Gal

Motto: All men and women are created equal
Core Desire: connecting with others
Goal: to belong
Greatest fear: to be left out or to stand out from the crowd
Strategy: develop ordinary solid virtues, be down to earth, the common touch
Weakness: losing one’s own self in an effort to blend in or for the sake of superficial relationships
Talent: realism, empathy, lack of pretense
The Regular Person is also known as: The good old boy, everyman, the person next door, the realist, the working stiff, the solid citizen, the good neighbor, the silent majority.

The Hero

Motto: Where there’s a will, there’s a way
Core desire: to prove one’s worth through courageous acts
Goal: expert mastery in a way that improves the world
Greatest fear: weakness, vulnerability, being a “chicken”
Strategy: to be as strong and competent as possible
Weakness: arrogance, always needing another battle to fight
Talent: competence and courage
The Hero is also known as: The warrior, crusader, rescuer, superhero, the soldier, dragon slayer, the winner and the team player.

The Caregiver

Motto: Love your neighbour as yourself
Core desire: to protect and care for others
Goal: to help others
Greatest fear: selfishness and ingratitude
Strategy: doing things for others
Weakness: martyrdom and being exploited
Talent: compassion, generosity
The Caregiver is also known as: The saint, altruist, parent, helper, supporter.

The Soul Types

The Explorer

Motto: Don’t fence me in
Core desire: the freedom to find out who you are through exploring the world
Goal: to experience a better, more authentic, more fulfilling life
Biggest fear: getting trapped, conformity, and inner emptiness
Strategy: journey, seeking out and experiencing new things, escape from boredom
Weakness: aimless wandering, becoming a misfit
Talent: autonomy, ambition, being true to one’s soul
The explorer is also known as: The seeker, iconoclast, wanderer, individualist, pilgrim.

The Rebel

Motto: Rules are made to be broken
Core desire: revenge or revolution
Goal: to overturn what isn’t working
Greatest fear: to be powerless or ineffectual
Strategy: disrupt, destroy, or shock
Weakness: crossing over to the dark side, crime
Talent: outrageousness, radical freedom
The Outlaw is also known as: The rebel, revolutionary, wild man, the misfit, or iconoclast.

The Lover

Motto: You’re the only one
Core desire: intimacy and experience
Goal: being in a relationship with the people, work and surroundings they love
Greatest fear: being alone, a wallflower, unwanted, unloved
Strategy: to become more and more physically and emotionally attractive
Weakness: outward-directed desire to please others at risk of losing own identity
Talent: passion, gratitude, appreciation, and commitment
The Lover is also known as: The partner, friend, intimate, enthusiast, sensualist, spouse, team-builder.

The Creator

Motto: If you can imagine it, it can be done
Core desire: to create things of enduring value
Goal: to realize a vision
Greatest fear: mediocre vision or execution
Strategy: develop artistic control and skill
Task: to create culture, express own vision
Weakness: perfectionism, bad solutions
Talent: creativity and imagination
The Creator is also known as: The artist, inventor, innovator, musician, writer or dreamer.

The Self Types

The Jester

Motto: You only live once
Core desire: to live in the moment with full enjoyment
Goal: to have a great time and lighten up the world
Greatest fear: being bored or boring others
Strategy: play, make jokes, be funny
Weakness: frivolity, wasting time
Talent: joy
The Jester is also known as: The fool, trickster, joker, practical joker or comedian.

The Sage

Motto: The truth will set you free
Core desire: to find the truth.
Goal: to use intelligence and analysis to understand the world.
Biggest fear: being duped, misled—or ignorance.
Strategy: seeking out information and knowledge; self-reflection and understanding thought processes.
Weakness: can study details forever and never act.
Talent: wisdom, intelligence.
The Sage is also known as: The expert, scholar, detective, advisor, thinker, philosopher, academic, researcher, thinker, planner, professional, mentor, teacher, contemplative.

The Magician

Motto: I make things happen.
Core desire: understanding the fundamental laws of the universe
Goal: to make dreams come true
Greatest fear: unintended negative consequences
Strategy: develop a vision and live by it
Weakness: becoming manipulative
Talent: finding win-win solutions
The Magician is also known as:The visionary, catalyst, inventor, charismatic leader, shaman, healer, medicine man.

The Ruler

Motto: Power isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.
Core desire: control
Goal: create a prosperous, successful family or community
Strategy: exercise power
Greatest fear: chaos, being overthrown
Weakness: being authoritarian, unable to delegate
Talent: responsibility, leadership
The Ruler is also known as: The boss, leader, aristocrat, king, queen, politician, role model, manager or administrator.

Fantasy

Fighter – focused on combat abilities, but almost entirely lacking in magical abilities
Rogue – focused on stealth and social skills, and capable of high-damage special attacks balanced by sub-par resistance to injury
Wizard – featuring powerful magical abilities, but physically weak
Cleric – specializing in healing and supportive magical abilities

Other Notes

Remember, when you are designing your character, be sure to understand your GM’s vision for the campaign. The one thing always will ruin your fun, and the fun of others in your group, than having a character that breaks immersion at every turn.

Another good trick when making your character is to ensure you are playing something that is compatible with, or even compliments, the other characters in the party. Be sure to talk to the other players to get ideas. Creative storytelling is what Role-Playing is all about, and you have at least 1 other person you can bounce ideas off of when making your character. Use them.

It often helps the GM, and the other players, if everyone agrees to a predetermined “connection” to the other characters. This can simplify writing a back story and can make it easier to get started quickly. Also, a particularly harsh GM can always manipulate that connection for a better story.

Character History

Never limit yourself to the basic information under your “class”. There are always ways to expand, and deepen, your character.

7th Sea’s “20 Questions” is a great place to start. I could not find an actual copy of these (without Piratingstuff, don’t do that!), bvut I did find a link to a form where they listed them: http://vaelis.forumotion.com/t79-seventh-seas-twenty-questions

Another great resource for both players and GM’s, when making characters, is http://www.obsidianportal.com/

Alternative Methods

Advancement/Development

  1. Don’t be afraid to change something that’s not working
  2. Roleplaying beyond your character sheet
  3. Grow your personality based on what happens to your character
  4. Set goals for your character

Specific Types of games

LARPing

When creating a LARP character, please keep in mind the physical considerations such as,
Racial features – i.e. height & weight. Its ok to be short or tall as an Elf, but long beards and obisity are not really Elven triats.
How you look is how you look, you don’t get to look like the dashing hero if you look like Michael Cera, but that doesn’t meen you cannot ACT like the dashing hero.

Tabletop

You can do anything, be anyone. You are a butterfly in the sky! Fly twice as high; but keep in mind your roleplaying limitations. While there are skills you can get in games to help make up for your own shortcomings, try to play a character that you can actually achive. If you are not good at solving puzzels, maybe you should play Wattson and not Holmes.

Final Thoughts

Never be afraid to reach, but remember that Role-Playing is supposed to be fun for everyone. Its a colaberitive art form, and you get to be a part of the epic storytelling you and your friends can dream up. Role-Playing is about telling a story and sharing in a “choose-your-own-adventure” story where you and your friends get to be the kick-ass heroes that save the day! Your imagination is your only limit, and with a little tender loving care, even Scrouge can expand his thinking and imagine greater!

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