Link roundups like this one make me feel like I’m behind…
• Deeper in the Game [1]: Chris Chinn has been back since July, and I didn’t find out until this week! Chris wrote the now-defunct RPG theory blog Deep in the Game, as well as the TT post Social Contracts for RPG Groups [2].
His old blog was one of my regular reads, and Chris is a very smart guy. Like a lot of theory-oriented folks, it looks like these days he’s mostly writing about his RPG-in-progress (The Emperor’s Heart), but his dips into other stuff — like three-tiered conflict webs [3] — look promising from an advice/ideas standpoint.
• Backdrop Plots: May You Live In Interesting Times [4]: Ben Robbins [5] advises GMs to use a backdrop plot to provide context, contrast and a sense of immersion for the foreground plot — the stuff that’s actually going on in your sessions. It’s an awesome idea, expressed clearly and succinctly. Why hasn’t Ben published a book of GMing advice yet?
• Now, When I SAY “Cinematic,” I Don’t Really MEAN “Cinematic” [6]: TT reader Carolina [7] emailed me about this article in J.D. Wiker’s LiveJournal [8] (thanks, Carolina!) — it’s all about the difference between perception and reality when it comes to cinematic characters in RPGs.
Poking around a bit, I also like Locations with Character [9], which resonates well with the TT post The Hub: Home Sweet Base [10]. I love the idea of assigning personality traits to HQs and treating them (somewhat) like NPCs.
Comments Disabled To "Chris Chinn, Backdrop Plots and Home Bases with Personality"
#1 Comment By John Arcadian On October 11, 2007 @ 10:01 am
I read through some of the stuff on deeper in the Game. It looks really good. So does J.D. Wiker’s LiveJournal. I liked his dissection of Cinematic vs. “Cinematic”. There are a lot of good game theory blogs out there now. That’s great, but I don’t have time to read them all!
#2 Comment By Al On October 11, 2007 @ 8:20 pm
One thought on the ‘Bases with Traits’ meme:
Shadowrun seems to be a system where having a base is begging for a major structure-endangering fire fight to happen there. Then the cops ask questions etc. etc.
We ended up always maintaining both a ‘public base’ and a private retreat. The public base would (inevitably) be a beat up warehouse somewhere that we could drop our own (disguised) crates & containerized gear into. All hell breaks loose on a regular basis – we end up the ambusher instead of the ambushee due to really surprising things being in those decrepit crates… then we load up and pick a new warehouse. (Evicting tenants as necessary 😉
#3 Comment By Martin On October 15, 2007 @ 7:30 am
I hear that, John. Finding out that Chris had been back in action since July really made me feel behind on my gaming blog reading.