From the article archive
Writing Practice, Jan. 4 2002
I have a question for all the players out there. To be a bit more accurate, I have a question for your PCs. How many of you have friends outside the group? How many have companions, allies, or contacts in the wider world?
Man is a social animal, we need company. Without it people can get rather strange. Convicts kept in solitary confinement for long periods of time are known to develop a form of isolation psychosis. We need people.
In the real world you can't avoid people, unless you work at it. We have daily contact with people we know, and people we don't. Our relations with the people we know change all the time, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worst. On occasion we meet somebody we didn't know, and get to know them. We have friends, we have enemies, and we know people we have no feelings about one way or another. What about our games?
Yes, there is the group. But that is not the whole game world. (At least I hope it isn't.) Who do the PCs know outside the group. Who are their friends, who their enemies? What contacts do they have in the larger world?
About the only RPG I can think of that includes contacts as part of a PC's background is Mythus, and they are not necessarily friends. How many of you include friends, allies, and contacts in a PC's background? How many of you use such to spark adventures, get the party into/out of trouble, or as a source of assistance, irritation, and/or befuddlement?
Besides friends, what of the people the PC knows in his daily life? Wouldn't the party wizard have contacts in the arcane community? Shouldn't the bard know other entertainers? Who does the cleric report to when he's not out on adventure?
On a related note, where are the families? In a game such as Paranoia the PC is often decanted rather than born, but that is not the case in other games. What sort of family does the PC have? How close is he to his family? How important is family in the society? To what degree do his actions reflect on his family? To what degree do his family's actions reflect on him?
Who a person knows, who his family is can affect how he is treated by others. It can also affect his availability for adventures and the like. You ever try going dragon slaying when mom had you watching the brat?
Think about all the things your real life friends and family have gotten you involved in. Now think about those same things happening in the game.
Spreading stories about your exploits (some of them actually true).
Dropping in for an unexpected visit.
Coming to stay for the holidays (maybe longer).
Moving in next door so they can be close to the grandkids. (And when are you getting married anyway?)
Asking for "favors" and small "considerations". Nothing major you understand. But things do have a habit of growing on you.
Boasting about your fabulous treasure to the taxman.
That should get your imaginations working.
Adding friends et. al could widen the scope of the game world, and add a lot to the stories told and adventures undertaken. A friend can also make such adventures easier to complete. If not for Spam Gangreen Frito Bugger would've had to actually find the Zazu Pitts of Fordor to dump Sorehead's ring in. Though Goddam kinda helped.
Widen the scope of your world, include friends, allies, and relatives. If nothing else, getting away from those leeches and grifters will give the party the push it needs to go on that adventure you've been trying to get them into for the last year or so.
*****
Coming up.
I haven't the foggiest right now (9:49 PM Pacific Standard Time U.S. on January 4 2002), but I'll think of something. Till then.
Alan
Man is a social animal, we need company. Without it people can get rather strange. Convicts kept in solitary confinement for long periods of time are known to develop a form of isolation psychosis. We need people.
In the real world you can't avoid people, unless you work at it. We have daily contact with people we know, and people we don't. Our relations with the people we know change all the time, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worst. On occasion we meet somebody we didn't know, and get to know them. We have friends, we have enemies, and we know people we have no feelings about one way or another. What about our games?
Yes, there is the group. But that is not the whole game world. (At least I hope it isn't.) Who do the PCs know outside the group. Who are their friends, who their enemies? What contacts do they have in the larger world?
About the only RPG I can think of that includes contacts as part of a PC's background is Mythus, and they are not necessarily friends. How many of you include friends, allies, and contacts in a PC's background? How many of you use such to spark adventures, get the party into/out of trouble, or as a source of assistance, irritation, and/or befuddlement?
Besides friends, what of the people the PC knows in his daily life? Wouldn't the party wizard have contacts in the arcane community? Shouldn't the bard know other entertainers? Who does the cleric report to when he's not out on adventure?
On a related note, where are the families? In a game such as Paranoia the PC is often decanted rather than born, but that is not the case in other games. What sort of family does the PC have? How close is he to his family? How important is family in the society? To what degree do his actions reflect on his family? To what degree do his family's actions reflect on him?
Who a person knows, who his family is can affect how he is treated by others. It can also affect his availability for adventures and the like. You ever try going dragon slaying when mom had you watching the brat?
Think about all the things your real life friends and family have gotten you involved in. Now think about those same things happening in the game.
Spreading stories about your exploits (some of them actually true).
Dropping in for an unexpected visit.
Coming to stay for the holidays (maybe longer).
Moving in next door so they can be close to the grandkids. (And when are you getting married anyway?)
Asking for "favors" and small "considerations". Nothing major you understand. But things do have a habit of growing on you.
Boasting about your fabulous treasure to the taxman.
That should get your imaginations working.
Adding friends et. al could widen the scope of the game world, and add a lot to the stories told and adventures undertaken. A friend can also make such adventures easier to complete. If not for Spam Gangreen Frito Bugger would've had to actually find the Zazu Pitts of Fordor to dump Sorehead's ring in. Though Goddam kinda helped.
Widen the scope of your world, include friends, allies, and relatives. If nothing else, getting away from those leeches and grifters will give the party the push it needs to go on that adventure you've been trying to get them into for the last year or so.
*****
Coming up.
I haven't the foggiest right now (9:49 PM Pacific Standard Time U.S. on January 4 2002), but I'll think of something. Till then.
Alan
Recovered from the Gaming Outpost database backup. Original wording is preserved; damaged punctuation and presentation markup have been repaired. Historical links without a local match point to the Internet Archive.