Purdue Games

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.

• 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.

• 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 seldomly sharing information about your character's background, emotional life, and so on directly with other players. Any sharing should grow out of the natural process of 2 PCs getting to know one another and happen in-character. Remember though, that umping all that stuff on them IC without prompting from the other character isn't good method acting. Very few people lead off a relationship by dumping all their personal crap on someone else. Those that do, need more counseling than the receiver is in a place to give them.

• Play, don't negotiate Some narrative game groups think of themselves as a group of writers discussing the creation of a story. They spend a good majority of play-time on the meta-level discussing what the story should be. This is not what I want my players doing. Instead, just try to do what your character would do and let the chips fall where they may. There are only 2 times during play you should rise to the meta-level. The first is to confirm that another player is okay with you doing something that would affect their PC in a significant way. The second is to talk with the gamemaster about game mechanics.

• Embrace miscommunication and the loss of control. Pretty much all interesting human drama, arises out of miscommunication. We are telling a story, and miscommunication is the bread and butter of story-telling. Every Shakespear comedy, and many of his tragedies, have human miscommunicationn at their center. Some people feel very uncomfortable not knowing things that other players do. To not know something is to be unable to control it. Those kinds of people cannot handle any loss of control. If this sounds like you, you shouldn't play in my games.

• 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.

• There is no one '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.

• The goal of the game is not to achieve power or wealth. In traditional RPGs characters go on adventures to acquire wealth and become more powerful. Dungeons and Dragons measures these by “level” and “gold.”. Narrative games are very different. The goal is purely to live out a character's story. Characters should change in reponse to their experiences and their are mechanisms for such change, but it is mostly lateral change. If your goals are to “get rich” or become very powerful, these aren't the games for you.

I expect my players to act like mature adults. Some details on what that means are below:

• Be 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 affected agree to them. My games expect the players to cooperate with each other and with me.

• Be 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. Some of the points above really, in the end, come down to this. If your character wnats to do something that will directly affect another player character, ask the player first if they are okay with it. (This may seem to be in conflict with “play don't megotiate” but if it is necessary to be considerate, then do it.)

• Fully inhabit your character . What do I mean by this. To put it simply don't tell us what your character would do in the current situation, just say you are doing it. Roleplay in my games should be done in the first-person limited point of view. You can pull back far enough to describe what “you” are doing but, for the most part, keep it first person. Which is to say speak in the “I” mode not the, he/she/they mode. If this makes you uncomfortable, Id suggest you try it on for a bit and see if it becomes easier for you. If you just can't or won't do that, you are at the wrong table.

• Victimization on the part of the PCs will not be tolerated. Karma is very real in my games. If you do someone dirt, it will come back around and hit you harder. * My 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:

Right now there are people out there who desperately want to debate the merits of AI assisted art. That will not happen here. In general I will not put up with *any* proselytization of any kind at my games or in my game spaces. As an artist, with an MFA to prove it. I have my own feelings about this topic. If you are curious you can read them here. But I will not debate or even discuss them in this setting. Nor will I put up with others doing so.