my big wish: writing a book called ‘on role-playing’
Kind of crazy, but my biggest, most audacious wish is to create a book on my life’s greatest passion; the pursuit of role-playing, about the design and production of role-playing games, and the pursuit of excellence in the practice of role-playing and Game Mastering. If all goes well, the result will be a thick volume titled, “On Role-Playing.”
Success, if I can achieve it, requires that I make a wish, and a pretty big wish. A wish that can only be granted by many of you reading this blog.
You see, a huge portion of the book will be the description of many of the experiments I’ve conducted in role-playing. Far from finished or completed role-playing games, or even completed role-playing systems, my experiments have been just that; wacky experiments. The gathering of friends, or strangers, and the playing through of my of my little ‘notions’ of one odd role-playing scenario or another, often in direct violation with the accepted wisdom of what constitutes role-playing, or at very least interesting twists on the role-playing possibility space.
Those who have participated are the ones I need to find because the biggest thing I need is their participation in the creation of the book. Bottom line, if you’ve ever participated in one of my experimental gaming events, I’m soliciting your help.
What kind of help?
I need player-level descriptions of the characters, events, backgrounds and experiences from my various role-playing experiments. They can take the form of character diaries or logs, of player recollections or reflections, or plain old essays on what happened in the course of a bunch of people getting together to role-play one of my strange ideas.
The first step is getting in touch. So, if you are someone who has played in one (or more!) of my experiments, or if you know of someone who has played, please e-mail me and get in touch. The more people I can contact, and the more background notes, recollections and memories I can collect, the closer I’ll be to fulfilling my fondest wish.
Thanks!
Erick (San Rafael, California)
January 15th, 2008 at 6:55 pm
Sign me up! I played in a lot of those experiments although I’ll have to see how much I can remember… I remember some crazy things about Aliens Among Us, not-so-much about Zelaforms(?), and assorted stuff from games I don’t have names for.
Eric, I’m going to be posting a list of all the things I can remember, and I’ll be open to suggestions for more. Hopefully you’ll remember which ones stand out for you. I sure remember how you played the U.S. President in one memorable episode of the Pi role-playing experiment. Erick
January 16th, 2008 at 8:24 am
I’m in, of course. I don’t know what you call experimental, but I’ve been in a Zellaforms game, Seeds of Destruction, Quantum Time (mostly as an observer), Gamemaster Egomaniacal, that spooky thing you ran one Halloween where we were all members of different Federal agencies, 47, and the Millenium game. You also described to me your Pi game, but I never played in it, and I heard about your Crows experiment (which I still think was a beta for 47). I’ll try to pull together some brief notes over the next few days.
January 16th, 2008 at 11:37 am
I have some notes and character sheets from Aliens Among Us - remember Sister Mary Margaret? Testplaying Aliens is where I met my husband, as I know you remember. I’ll ask John to look through his stuff too, and we’ll contact Kurt. I’ll rite up what I remember & send it on.
I have a lot of notes from our Thursday night Dragonwright game - Trudy the Red. But more importantly, I have a bound copy of Todd’s notes covering his first game in 1981 to 1985.
Erick, could you let me know what your plans are for Detroit, I’d like to clear my calendar. Also, Adwyn wants to know so he can come in from Colorado. What are your birthday plans? Can we celebrate together, that would be fun.
My 57th birthday is January 26th, and I’m putting together plans for a big birthday party. Hopefully you’ll be there!
January 16th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
I can think of two that definitely qualify as experiments.
In one, the players were a bunch of researchers dealing with the discovery/invention of a computer program created by using pi as machine code. We succeeded in not destroying the planet.
In another, the players were post-post-modern humans, with unthinkable technology at our fingers. I, for example, was a universally renowned nova artist, blowing up stars for the amusement of spectators.
Erick, do you have any interest in (unpublished) RPG designs that have nothing to do with you?
Joe, good to hear from you!
Yes, both Pi, and the other thing you described are definitely among my role-playing experiments, but I suspect you’ve been in others as well.
I’d love to hear more about your experiences in the post-post-modern human game, since I’ll admit I don’t remember it very well at all, and I’m sure that was the one and only time I ran that particular experiment (unlike Pi, which I ran at least a half dozen different times with wildly different groups).
Sure, I’d be willing to look at other, unpublished RPG designs.
Erick
January 16th, 2008 at 11:45 pm
Hi Erick!
I first played with you in a game you ran in England at Gamesfair, Reading, where we played patients in group therapy with severe afflictions that were, of course, true
I also played White Hearts, Red Roses–which had a very intense way of developing characters! That one I could probably write up pretty thoroughly. I don’t know if you have any notes from that game, but if you do I would love to see them–not only to help me with the write-up, but just to have! I loved the premise of that game…
I’ve played Zelaforms, also. I will think on these…
–simone
January 17th, 2008 at 9:41 am
Hi Erick,
Unfortunately (for this project), I have played mostly in your Amber games. I did ‘fill in’ for a missing player in White Hearts, Red Roses but I was not involved in the character generation part. That game did “stick with me” though and I’ve emulated some of the setting a tone in several of my own games (a little fun with Erick goes a long way, so to speak :).
All our love and prayers are with you,
Scott
January 17th, 2008 at 10:43 am
I’d love to contribute to this. I still have the logs and diaries from my first ever Amber character (as well as a few trump images - anything for a few extra points). Even if you never use them, just rereading them again after so many years has been a blast.
-Matt
January 17th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
Hi Erick,
You met with us when you came up to Montreal in the winter of 2004 and you ran a couple of games that evening. We would love to send you a detailed recollection of it for this book. Please drop me a quick e-mail.
Andrew Bernstein
Polymancer Studios, Inc.
Andrew, thanks for the posting! I vividly remember that cold night in Montreal, warmed up so nicely by the great reception of you and your friends. Great meal, great host (thanks to whoever was so generous with their family’s home), and truly epic role-players. What great memories! Thanks! Erick
January 17th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
I’m in. I have played in your experimental stuff for about 15 years. So anything I can do to help, I will.
January 17th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
Hey Erik,
This sounds like a great idea. I was one of the players of the Entropy game at last years Open House. I have some notes from the game somewhere around my apartment and once I did those out I’ll compile them into an email for you.
Glad to hear that you are surviving the chemo. Keep fighting
_Matt
January 19th, 2008 at 10:15 am
I have an account of a an adventure from the Entropy Campaign at the Detroit Gaming Center in 1981. That’s going on thirty years ago, and I still recall many details.
January 19th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
I played in a couple, very early on… Dream Sequence and, a number of years later, a one-shot Amber experiment using child versions of the book characters.
January 19th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
Erick, the only experimental game we ever did together was the Amber playtesting. However, as a packrat, I have a lot of that early material.
January 22nd, 2008 at 6:43 am
I know I did some Entropy with you and Haunted Space Ship. I have…ahem…pretty good records of the Amber stuff. I don’t know what I have written down, but possibly some stuff for the experimetal games. I look through my old files.
Carol, you were always my very best role-playing scribe. Anything you could contribute would be great! Thanks! Erick
January 22nd, 2008 at 11:24 pm
I never had the pleasure of being in a game GM by you so I can’t help you there. I would love to buy the book and look forward to seeing it.
January 25th, 2008 at 11:07 am
This sounds very interesting. One thing that deserves mention, I think, is more about online role playing. I can’t say I really read lots of forums about RPing, but it seems like there’s not as much synergy between the face-to-facers and the onliners.
MUSH/MUXes in particular are often “diceless”, and usually GM-less, in the sense that the players usually take turns at running plots, called TPs (tinyplots). These same games may also have more typical GM’ed events, run by staff.
You’ll be happy to know that Amber Diceless spawned a number of Amber MUSHes. The current active one, called The Road to Amber (roadtoamber.com and wiki.roadtoamber.com) has to be the most innovative game I’ve seen lately, from its philosophy to its game systems. Even if you don’t play MUSHes, I encourage you to check out the wiki. I’ll quote its four guiding principles:
1. All characters are awesome.
2. Conflict mandates choice, which leads to change, which creates story.
3. The currency of play is Things to Do, and Interesting Meaningful Things To Talk About.
4. Drama and play creation trumps realism.
In particular is #1. Character creation is based on coming up with a unique character, even to the point of creating your own abilities–and not even really based on a very set template (e.g. while Champions allows you to design uniqueness, it’s done using standard templates).
January 31st, 2008 at 7:47 pm
Unfortunately, for this purpose, I think it was only Amber games of yours that I played in at GenCons. The most memorable had a sort of crossover of “ordinary” folks and Amberites and we alternated play between the two. The U.S. government had gotten its hands on one or more Amberites and was conducting genetic testing on them, and cloning them. Our characters were all involved in the project, either as geneticists, computer programmers, and so on, trying to crack the code. My character was one of the computer programmers on the project; and on the other side of the coin, Caine. I recall waking up as Caine and seeing myself lying on a slab nearby and deciding I needed to make sure that doppleganger never got up. I am a unique snowflake. That was easier said than done, and I hooked up with the devil I knew to deal with the other devils I knew less well.
February 25th, 2008 at 7:59 am
I remember getting half-way through your Pi game at Necronomicon in Sydney a couple of years back. It was a fantastic game; I was given the task of reconvening the after the Con, but never got around to it due to being busy with New Baby duties. I played a divorced French mathematician (named after an actual French mathematician whose work on Noncommutative Geometry is awesome). I think I bored everyone to tears with my theorizing about possible mathematical solutions to the quandary we were posed.
Even though we never finished playing the game, it was one of the most memorable games I’ve ever played. Thanks. If there’s anything I can contribute from my brief experience with your game I’d be glad to.
February 25th, 2008 at 6:29 pm
Erick,
I ran a session of 47 after AmberCon 9. I think I still have the notes and the characters. I have a funny picture of you with Ken Alves in one of his costumes from AC 9 that I’ll upload and send as well.
George
March 6th, 2008 at 6:03 pm
It has been too long my friend. And for that I apologize. I only found out about your current situation today. And I cried off and on for nearly an hour. It was an emotional flood as I began to recall the times we spent at GenCon and AmberCon.
I remember running a throne war game at the second ambercon at the lighthouse- and you played Lloyd. I don’t remember any of the other characters, but I remember Lloyd. You took over that game from a player standpoint and turned a simple and mundane game concept into a great experience.
I remember when you were rolling out the published game and we were GMing at GenCon at you asked me… me of all people… to play Dworkin. Somewhere in the games we played, you were impressed enough to give me that opportunity and I felt honored.
I remember a late hours game when you showed up at my hotel room- Carol and Ron and I were pleasantly surprised. You were in the mood to game. You had us create characters and make them as bad-ass as possible, then you told us we would play the child versions of them. And we laughed and had a great time saving the universe as 3 kids and a wagon. Erick, that was probably one of the funnest games I have ever… ever played.
You gave me an opportunity to get my first real publishing credit in shadowknight. An honor for which I still can’t thank you enough.
I remember being invited to join the GenCon campaign and you called me on the phone to do the creation for Jayson. The process spanned a couple phone calls, and through it you were able to attach me to this character in a way I didn’t think possible. You were one of only two people ever to make me cry about a character, my connection to it, and my life being lived through that character. Over the phone… You knew what it was that motivated me and we really didn’t know each other well at that point.
You have an instinct for the things you do and love and those moments touched my heart. I could go on with other moments that have meant so much, and I’m not sure how they relate to the topic of this blog entry and your search for the experiences for your book, but it was what I felt and what I needed to say.
I hope and I pray for continued good reports and I hope that the zeal for life is not quelled by the ordeals that you face. Every moment is precious and I think you have always had an air about you that made me believe you understood this all along.
I am honored to call you my friend
jim
April 22nd, 2008 at 12:50 am
I remeber playing Aliens Among Us at Gencon either 1989 or 1990. The con was in Milwaukee at the old arena building and we played on the floor in one of the skywalks. Our “universe” was everything around us we could see. I also remember that you came up with a funny running joke about looking both ways before crossing the street. Everyone new that came into the game who failed to look (which was everyone new) was hit by a pink Cadillac. This of course was not always fatal as no matter what there was always a chance to survive. I don’t remember there being any ridgid set of rules, anything and everything that you could come up with was fair game. We played for hours on that skywalk, people floating in and out of the game. I’m not sure if this is helpful or not. I can tell you it was great fun, one of my fondest gaming memories.
May 16th, 2008 at 4:51 am
I got a chance to play in the experimental game session you ran at Gamescape in San Rafael. I cam into it not really knowing what to expect, which I suppose was good.
I remember that character creation involved creating characters who would be meeting in 1899. Each character simply needed to have two things about them that are supernatural. I remember that my character was a time-traveler who had realized that he could no longer return to his own timeline - or perhaps he only assumed so - and that as I recall his two supernatural aspects were that he could travel through time (though he required a machine to do so and it had limited energy available) and also that he had access to advanced technology compared to the setting.
One thing I really enjoyed about the game was the things that the other players came up with for their characters. I feel like we had an excellent group that really brought their best to the table. I also thought that the thread you picked to connect us, that we were all able to enter other worlds of some sort, and that these other worlds were connected, was very interesting. I was wondering at the time how we would be tied together.
I also remember that you handed me a portion of a book - the title escapes me, but it was about a mathematical model of charisma, essentially. It actually reminded me of the book on time travel from Donnie Darko in a way. At least, that was the closes connection in my mind. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see how the text would be connected to the game we were developing in the single session we had.
I liked the idea that every time we decided that we’ve done all we want to do as a group, we jump forward in time to our next meeting. It reminded me of a character from the Sandman comics by Neil Gaiman who would meet with Dream every 100 years and would be able to decide whether he wanted to be mortal again. I would have liked to play further sessions where we explored how the change in time would change the setting and situation and how we would respond.
It would be interesting to run the same scenario for different groups, to see what they come up with and how you connect them. Obviously, I don’t know all that you were thinking and had in mind for the experiment. I would be curious to see how much of what was going on was being facilitated and how much of it was our desire to be interesting and present each other with interesting ideas. How would it work, say, with inexperienced roleplayers, or with people with varying levels of buy-in?
Regardless, I’m sorry for the delay in this response. I hope you are feeling as well as possible. We are still thinking about you over at Gamescape, and we hope to see you again soon. I’ll be starting work at the store in June and so if you come in for any reason, I might be around to talk if you’d like. Until we meet again.
-Doug