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--- com_online [2025/08/12 20:34] – admin
+++ com_online [2025/08/18 23:31] (current) – admin
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 ===Game Philosophy===
-This is important. It gives you some idea of what to expect from me, as well as what I am looking for in campaign players.
+This is important. It gives you some idea of what to expect from me, as well as what I am looking for in campaign players. Please read [[rpgs:philosophy | the page linked to here.]]
-  * **Actor Stance Play**. My play-style in RPGs is heavily actor-stance, which means players should try to approach that game like a method-actor playing their character. This isn't a hard as it might sound. We all did it as children playing games where we imagined ourselves as someone else, somewhere else. And you don't have to be great at it as long as you are sincerely trying.
+===A bit about narrative RPGs===
+Narrative RPGs are fundamentally different from traditional table-top role-playing games (ttrpgs). In traditional RPGs, the mechanics of simulation are front and center.  Roleplay arises organically on a meta level.  In some (more recent) ttrpgs the story is written as part of the adventure preparation.  The players are expected to follow along a predetermined path.  In videogames, we say that the experience is "on rails." The stories arise out of how the player characters deal with those challenges.
-  * **Mature themes and actions** My games are not the place for you to work out your personal power issues. You will NEVER be the strongest thing out there, so watch where you step. We also may touch on adult topics in game. To make sure no one is left feeling uncomfortable at the table there are a number of safety rules I use which will be gone over whenever a new player or players enter the game.
+In narrative role-playing games there are no rails (much like old-school ttrpgs).  The player characters (PCs)are free to go anywhere and try anything, within reason.  Rather than being about tactical simulation, the rules are about the structure of a story. Which is to say the rules are descriptive, not prescriptive. The story itself is created by a combination of PC actions and rolls of the dice.
-  * **High IC/OOC walls** As players you will likely know more than your characters. I expect you to keep such meta information out of your play. It doesn't mean we don't sometimes discuss things before we play them (see **Being Considerate** below.) It does however mean seldom sharing of information on your character's background emotional life, and so on with other players. Dumping that stuff on them both puts additional burden on them trying to stay "in character" as well as robbing them of the drama and joy of discovery.  It is through learning about others that we learn about ourselves. Let them have that experience.
+Just like in ttrpgs, there are many different playing styles supported by the game. See the page about my [[rpgs:philosophy | Game Philosophy.]] to understand how I play such a game, and what I am expecting of the players in the games I run.
-  * **Strong descriptive abilities** Its not enough just to feel your character's feelings, to be part of the story you need to do something about them. ***DON'T*** try to tell us what is in your character's head (see above about IC/OOC) but *do* describe its effects on your character. What are the externally visible clues? I find it helps to first have the reaction, and then mentally pause to swing the camera around and ask "how do I imagine this looks/sounds." Something as simple as "Cassandra shifts her weight uneasily and frowns" can create more interesting situations and character growth then a 10 minute soliloquy.
+===Game Setting===
+<row><col 3>{{user:professork:coverimages:street.webp?200|A city street}}</col><col 6> The game is set in The City of Mist. Everyone who lives there just calls it "the city". If it ever had another name, it has long since been forgotten. The city is a mid-sized city by US standards (think Milwaukee or Indianapolis) and has an over-all midwestern feel in both society and architecture.
-  * **Game spaces are no politics, no argument zones** Politics are what I say they are and if you start to wax political, I will stop you.  You get one warning. Bring it up again and you will be uninvited from the game. I really shouldn't have to tell an adult what an argument is, but if you have any doubts, here are some warning signs:
+The city tends to be visually dreary and washed out with deep and ever-present shadows. The sort of cityscape that can make an individual feel like a meaningless cog in a giant machine. A deep fog hangs over it constantly adding a cold chill that can be felt to the bone.</col></row>
-{{ :user:professork:arguments.jpg?400 |}}
-  * __**There is no 'game story.**__ In any game I run or play in, there are N interlocked stories where N is the number of player characters (PCs). Each PC is the main character of their own story **and** a supporting character in every other PCs story. I expect players to strive to do both well. There are things to investigate and discover in my games, battles that can be won or lost, but the story is up to you, the players. Tap into your character and tell us what __they__ want to do based on their needs, wishes and goals.
+<row><col 6> The city goes on, grinding up and spitting out whoever gets too much in its way.  Gods of politics and Titans of industry vie amongst themselves for power and control. The little people are as fuel for their machines to burn up, or lubricant for its gears. Somehow, they manage to eke out their existence under the heavy ever ringing hammers of industry.</col><col 3>{{:user:professork:com:bar.jpg?200|The little people}}</col></row>
+<row><col 3>{{user:professork:com:rifts2.png?200|A city street}}</col><col 6> But where there are  humans, there are stories. And where there are stories, there is hope. Special people embody these stories. They display unusual powers and abilities and bring hope where otherwise there would be none. They are the answering force to the city's forces of destruction and despair. To those that know of them, they are known as Rifts, and they know one of the city's deepest secrets. The mist is more than just a physical phenomenon.</col></row>
+<row><col 6> If the rifts embody hope, then the mist is the embodiment of despair. It seeks to limit the effectiveness of rifts by dulling the awareness of others. Witnesses to heroic efforts explain it away or immediately forget they ever saw it. The mist also dulls awareness of anything outside of the city. People who try to travel outside the city find themselves doubling back without any memory of having tried to leave. City dwellers refer to anything outside of the city as simply "out of town" and don't think about it any further.
+Occasionally, someone resists the mist long enough to see the truth, and another rift is born. </col><col 3>{{:user:professork:com:misty_street.png?200|The mist}}</col></row>
+===Characters===
+Characters are built in session 0 by the players. I recommend, but do not require, that you use the mythos and logos tropes to help guide you in character building. Doing that lets you start with some inspirational ideas before you dive into the weeds of tags.
+At this time, I do not allow Gatekeeper PCs (from Shadows and Showdowns) for reasons.
+I recommend you start with a balanced number of mythos and logos themes, but you are only required to have at least one of each.
-  * **My games are totally cooperative** I expect PCs to be as cooperative as then can with other PCs. I expect players to be cooperative with the other players. Opposed motivations are not allowed *unless* all the parties effected agree to them.
-  * **Character Growth** Above all I am looking for interesting, flawed characters who have a lot of room to grow personally. Change is good. Change is intresting IF well motivated.
-  * **Being considerate** Respect your fellow players, their characters and the world they find themselves in. Seek to be a positive force in all three. __**When I run or play roleplaying games they are non-competitive.**__ Any player who shows lack of equal consideration for others as themselves, as either a player or a character, I will ask to leave.