:: Zelazny :: [polish] :: sparks that fly from the ironsmith's hammer ::
::. Friday, June 20 .::
Perverse Access Memory:
WISH 52: Law Abiding (Your Robin Laws Type) Robin Laws identifies several types of gamer in his book of GM tips: The Power Gamer, the Butt-Kicker, the Tactician, the Specialist (plays one type only), the Method Actor, the Storyteller (plot and pacing fan), and the Casual Gamer. Which of these types do you think you are, and why? Most people aren’t pure types, so multiple choices are OK.
"His first law for gamemasters is that a GM’s goal is to make games as entertaining as possible for all participants. With that in mind, Laws lays out a method for identifying seven types of players: the Power Gamers, the Butt-Kicker, the Tactician, the Specialist, the Method Actor, the Storyteller, and the Casual Gamer. Each type of player seeks their own goal or emotional kick from gaming. Power Gamers seek a sense of reward. Butt Kickers are out for the thrill of martial victory. Tacticians want to feel clever. Specialists want to play out their characters’ distinctive and defining traits whether it is a ninja’s sneakiness, a druid’s nature worship, or a decker’s mastery of computers. Method actors want to play out their characters’ motivations. Storytellers seek a narrative storyline within the game. Casual gamers are primarily in the game to socialize, often having been brought there by another player."
My own gaming style has changed over time. I've always been a gamer, but the category you don't see above is "too curious". I started rpg gaming because it seemed utterly fascinating. That sorta makes me a Casual Gamer.
Today, I'm multi-faceted. Since I GM so often, I'm much more a Storyteller, providing entertaining elements for others and being intrigued by where the game will go. I don't make up endings to my games, and generally hope to recognize them when those endings come along. As a GM, I'm much about Method Actor. When I'm in character, I'm showing you what these people say and feel. I like the complexity of that.
And then, from purely a gamer side, I really like a nice bit of Tactician and Butt-Kicking in equal parts (except the thrill is not only victory.) Just participating in these two can give me a buzz.
The only roles really distant to my thinking are Specialist and Power Gamer. The first limits my thinking, which I don't usually relish, the second divorces me from the material of the world. Not good either.
The visual designer in me loves to understand how most people are looking at this blog. Fifty percent of users are on screens 1024x768 (which is how I designed the page, my own setting.) Another twenty percent are at 800x600 (which is how I check the page for clarity and fit.) Those with mightier vid cards can probably make do.
MB&LK's Amber Bits: The Spy Reports:
"The Amber Family (C. Addams) - in the traditional style of the unauthorized biography, this book focuses upon scandals and rumors, and gives little reason to suspect its veracity. However, some of the rumors listed within it bore out."
Hey, Jvstin! Give this idea a look. Seems like a natural for an IMC entry.
Back from NYC (light rain, rather humid) and glad that I don't have to travel every month. The whole airline thing is not fun anymore (if it ever was for business travel.) Hey, I got the job done and that's what counts.
Blog, Jvstin Style: Regency:
"Now, though, now that people have got me to think about it--just who is Regent in Random's absence. A jazz, fun loving King, I can't see Random remaining in the Castle 24/7/365."
Follow-up:
Yeah, this item has come up several times as a political "football" IMC. Who stands in for Random? Who has the power of the Regent?
Random thought Gerard would be fine, since Oberon himself appointed him. Gerard turned it down for reasons which remain mysterious. Martin was the obvious choice at that point, but was already heir to Rebma and not too keen on Random and largely off in Shadow. So Random left the matter open--naming no one in effect. Benedict didn't approve of that, and later found a way to point out to Random that Oberon tried "naming no one", and how well did that work? So Random elected Benedict, who turned it down flat. Reasons: mysterious.
Random tried Corwin. Turned down. Reason: got a pattern to look after. Random wouldn't go to Bleys, no way. Offered it to Caine, who considered the matter for a time---then Caine was assassinated by Rinaldo.
Random turned to Vialle, who had a proven degree of trust with the King at this point. Vialle turned it down. Reasons: mysterious.
Random didn't seriously consider Fiona or Llewella or Florimel. Or his sister, Mirelle. Or Julian. Reasons: "bitches all."
Starting to get a bit "friggin' frustrated" with this whole Regent thing, Random realized he had really run out of choices... and that wasn't a good thing either. One long weekend conversation with Benedict later: Julian became Regent of Amber. Reasons? Mysterious.
The internet is amazing. Want to know the tallest building in NYC in 1923? The Woolworth Building at 57 floors built in 1913.
Tallest structure in the world? The Eiffel Tower, of course.
Diagrams - SkyscraperPage.com
Coveting Amber If the royals, with their increased will, ego and experience have a love/covet relationship with Amber; how much might other folk be affected by visiting the Eternal Realm? Is that increased by drinking the water and eating the food? By experiencing the sunsets or the clarity of a winter morning?
Does Amber invade the senses? Or do royal senses run richer, see more clearly, feel more deeply? Or are both and all true?
IMC :: In My Campaign
(see Blog, Jvstin Style: Tir, The City in the Sky for sample meme)
While the Chaosians have no fervor for Amber's delights (in fact, have found it a painful place to wage war or partake of simple guesting), and the scions of Darrheabarr, the Empire of the Gleaming Banner, seem immune to the draw of Amber, the land is not without its attractions. There is a long history to Amber --- and many forms of coveting its precincts and power.
Amber was not freely won from its first day of existence. The Lords of the Living Void contested and railed at its creation. What power or change did they seek to stop Dworkin from fulfilling?
And as Amber became more an environ and less a sudden island in the sea of night, there were others who came to its shores. Beings of Power who were intrigued by this anomaly. At a time when Oberon and Dworkin were hard-pressed to pitch a tent and find daily needs, there were already Things creeping in out of Shadow. Amber has dealt with that aspect ever since.
All roads lead to Amber. Paths of Air, Water, and rough Earth. Even Fire has been mentioned before as a hidden path into my Amber. How does such a small family protect it? How do those largely arrogant of a greater universe (as we find our royal cast when Corwin is returning to Amber in his story) watch and ward themselves against fantastic Things From Beyond?
Well, they don't do it all at once. Someone lays the foundation. Blood must be added to the mortar. Someone else pays the price. Then pays again. And again. Until as a 'modern' Amber, folks live in abundance with easy confidence in the ability of the royals to look after the Land.
Oberon: father to forty-something children.
Amber: created of lightning, blood, and lyre.
The Unicorn brought the Lightning. Dworkin brought the Blood. Oberon brought the Lyre.
The mortgage has ever been paid by the scions of Amber now long past and forgotten.
Those Born of Amber--fed by its fertile ground that is enriched by the blood of many sons and daughters of the Pattern--are bound to it. And those Things Out of Shadow who treasure its beauty or power... bind themselves as a mythic dragon to its hoard.
I use this meme whenever a Character returns to Amber (realizing how nothing quite compares to being back) and when certain Others see it for the first time. By contrast, many elite of the Golden Circle are sometimes quite un-impressed when they see Amber for themselves. It is a fact IMC that some of the Golden Circle states are much more splendid to either look at or in their 'modern' sophistication of culture/science.
Roll the Bones :: View topic - Getting Into Character "So now I hear these kids talking about 'troupe-style' and how clever they're being with playing different characters in the same game. Bah. Why, in my day, we'd play whole armies, for ten miles, in the snow, uphill, both ways... "
---Iron Llama
Game Weekly Idea Sharing HegemonyJust got through surfing the WISH blogs. When I started blogging (or doing HTML for that matter) I did the "specify text size" thing, too. But bloggers of the world unite! Don't use pixel size for text. Use 'large', 'small', 'x-small', etc. This allows fast resizing of blogtext across browser platforms to suit user eyes.
Thanks. Carry on.
