Articles from October 2010
Posted by Ravyn on October 21, 2010
A picture paints a thousand words; a picture with context can say a lot about a game; but explanations of the random sketches of an artist-gamer can say the most of all. In this series, I look at the just-had-to-draw-them images distilled from my games: what they are, what they mean, why they demanded drawing, [...]
Categories: Tales from the Sketchbook |
Tags: Crescent, Realm game, Tales from the Sketchbook, unfinished pieces | 
No Comments »
Posted by Ravyn on October 20, 2010
I spent yesterday’s post talking about things that make a monster or equivalent thereof lose my respect. Since it’s my rule to try not to post don’ts without corresponding dos, here are some things that get that respect in the first place.
Intelligence. Sure, this is an alien sort of creature, and I’m not sure I [...]
Categories: Biology, Character image, Characterization, Description, For Roleplayers, For Writers, GM Advice, Mood, Nonhuman characters, Technique, Voice and Style, World-building |
Tags: monsters, mood, respect, roleplaying, writing | No Comments »
Posted by Ravyn on October 19, 2010
The fun thing about fantasy worlds is that we aren’t limited to mundane opponents. The huge, the nasty, the impossible—they’re all fair game, and when they take the field, they’re bound to strike fear into all who see them. Fear… just like…. Why are you laughing?
The problem with creating new and intimidating creatures is that [...]
Categories: Biology, Characterization, Concepts, Description, For Roleplayers, For Writers, GM Advice, Mood, Nonhuman characters, Technique, Voice and Style, World-building |
Tags: intimidation, mistakes, monsters, mood, roleplaying, writing | 5 Comments »
Posted by Ravyn on October 18, 2010
So the character’s just waking up, and is in that foggy haze between the dreaming and waking world—awake enough to be audible, asleep enough to not quite reach the point of lucidity. For her, it might be a good time to either pull the covers tighter and go back to sleep, or to get up [...]
Categories: Characterization, Dialogue, Exercises, Exposition, For Roleplayers, For Writers, GM Advice, Player Advice, Technique |
Tags: Characterization, dreams, roleplaying, sleeptalking, waking up, writing | 4 Comments »
Posted by Ravyn on October 17, 2010
Belial asks:
“I have heard recently that a group of people are 3 missed meals from revolting. Is that still applicable when one is running their country using more ‘villainous’ methods (fear, severe punishment, etc.), or is this a problem only ‘good guy’ leaders face? Short of providing your people with basic necessities across the board, [...]
Categories: Ask GV, For Roleplayers, For Writers, Generic Villain |
Tags: advice for antagonists, Ask GV, Generic Villain, ruling, tough times | 1 Comment »
Posted by Ravyn on October 16, 2010
Ever since my style settled, I’ve known I was a character-driven GM. Plot I do, setting I love doing, but it’s in the interactions of characters that I really start having a field day. When one of my recruits ended up with a rather tabula rasa-ish character who isn’t really much for making new connections, [...]
Categories: For Roleplayers, Impractical Applications |
Tags: connections, impractical applications, Lirit, Samar | 1 Comment »
Posted by Ravyn on October 15, 2010
A picture paints a thousand words; a picture with context can say a lot about a game; but explanations of the random sketches of an artist-gamer can say the most of all. In this series, I look at the just-had-to-draw-them images distilled from my games: what they are, what they mean, why they demanded drawing, [...]
Categories: For Roleplayers, Tales from the Sketchbook |
Tags: loose threads, Ruri, Tales from the Sketchbook | 2 Comments »
Posted by Ravyn on October 14, 2010
Yesterday, I asked, “How does the character view the world?” The logical converse to that, of course, is “How does the world view this character?” But when that question last got put in front of me, I started getting nervous. “How does the world view this character?” seems to me to be a rather fraught [...]
Categories: Character image, Characterization, Characters in the world, For Roleplayers, For Writers, GM Advice, Player Advice |
Tags: Characterization, impressions, meta, roleplaying, writing | No Comments »
Posted by Ravyn on October 13, 2010
There are many ways to differentiate characters, but I think the biggest one is through general outlook; two characters can have identical stats, similar backstories, even be from the same family, but if they look at the world in two different ways, that should be enough to distinguish them.
The nice thing about the question (or [...]
Categories: Characterization, Characters in the world, Concepts, For Roleplayers, For Writers, GM Advice, Player Advice, Technique |
Tags: Characterization, roleplaying, worldview, writing | 1 Comment »
Posted by Ravyn on October 12, 2010
“…tell me, do you think you might ever have met this person?”
In a game where character connections are important and the cast could fill a few pages of a phone book, it can be really difficult for a new character on entry. “Who do you know? How do you know them?” “How should I know?” [...]
Categories: Character dynamics, Characterization, For Roleplayers, GM Advice |
Tags: character connections, integrating new players, roleplaying | 3 Comments »