Ascendance

Hmm...

I'm mulling about the idea of running a game set in the World of Darkness again. Still in the planning stages though, but I'm thinking of actually making it organized for once. As such, I'm going to try and make this little blog a sounding board for creating a campaign, beginning from the very basics, and building it up into what will hopefully be a successful game.

For starters, it's going to be a Mage: the Ascension game.

Why Mage? Because it's the most flexible in the three core World of Darkness games in terms of stories. Games can range from the level of personal struggle, to occult conspiracy to battles fought over the very nature of reality itself.

Mage has always been a game of discovery... and knowledge, and I'm thinking of putting that as the core of this campaign. The nature of disovery, the boundaries of knowledge, and the price for such knowledge. Questions I want to raise to the characters involve just how much they plan to risk to gain the knowledge they want... or even need. Where is the line drawn between how much you know, and how much you should know? And when can you tell if the knowledge you have is the right kind, or if its just eating you up in the inside?

At the same time, I want to play up the wonder of discovery, reaching out to find the beautiful among the ruins, to sow hope with the knowledge gained and used properly. Mage is a cerebral game of concepts, bizzare circumstances and lateral thinking, and I want to reward creative thinking in my players, and to encourage their characters to seek what it truly means to Ascend.

I'm sure that these are lofty ideals, and most likely, my rather jovial approach to GMing might not match this at first, but I've got to take the time to settle in and build the mood, working on the fact that this is meant to be the the World of Darkness, and only the characters can truly build a haven of hope for those who need it.

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Things I plan to incorporate into the game:

Cinematic Storytelling

One of my strengths in GMing RPGs has been the ability to pull off holding very cinematic games. I can build vivid scenes and detailed locations, taking the time to make establishing shots, and basically add life to combat and chase scenes. I'm not sure if my Anime/HK Cinema take on things will work as well here as it did in Legend of the Five Rings or Exalted but I'm sure that I can work something out eventually.

A Cast of Thousands

This, I have to work on. I'm not a genius when it comes to making NPCs like Nicco, so I've got to really sit down and start putting some life into the setting. I need to work on finding the right mix of usefulness and interaction that will make my players feel that they're not the only ones running around in the World of Darkness... and their lives aren't the only ones that matter.

A Worthy Challenge

I'm guilty of being too soft on my players. So far in all my gaming life, I've never really thrown a solid "balls-to-the-wall" challenge to my players when it comes to combat. Sure I've had one or two powerful beings running around, but nothing that was truly nerve wracking for the players. An additional note to this is the fact that I need to start making some pretty good antagonists.

Organization

Now this is something I've got to work on. I'll be using a blog as part of an effort to keep my notes clean and organized for this game. Once I've got a campaign blog set up, I'll be posting a link here for it.

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Now that I've written this, I've just begun to realize the scope of a project like this. Thankfully, my day job is about to begin, and hopefully that means I've got more time to plan something that isn't from the mind of a sleep deprived zombie.

Poll time: If you guys were to play in a game of Mage, what do you guys want to see?

The Avatar

By far one of my favorite protagonists in CRPG history is the Avatar. Born in the 4th installment of the venerable Ultima series, the Avatar is the embodiment of the 8 virtues of the land of Britannia:

Compassion

Compassion is the ability to be sympathetic to the feelings and sufferings of others. To share their pain, and, to do what thou can to ease their misery. Show compassion in all thy dealings, lest they heart grow hard and cold.

Honesty

Thou shalt not steal or lie, but more than this, seek the truth in all things. Strive to be honest in all thy actions. Look deep into thyself, for only by knowing yourself can thou know truth.

Valor

Valor is more than just courage in battle, or in the face of great danger. True valor is the courage to stand by thy convictions and, to act in defence of them. Courage also, to look at thy failings and, bravely, take action to rectify them.

Humility

True humility is the opposite of pride, without humility the path of the Avatar will be a rocky one. For, if thy spirit is filled with pride then how cans't thou learn? Thus shed thy pride, that thou may humbly follow the virtues of the Avatar.

Sacrifice

Sacrifice is to love thy fellow creatures enough, that thou art bravely able to give of thyself. To give without thought of reward or gain. To sacrifice that which thou dos't need to aid those that are in need. Delve deep into thy heart and soul that thou may find true generosity of spirit.

Honor

When thou givest thy word thou art bound by it. Whatever the perils thy word is thy bond. But, true honour is more than this, thus the Paladin, who values honesty and valour, for from them cometh true honour. A pure heart is an honourable heart.

Justice

Do not be hasty in thy judgements, but take time to learn the truth. Search thy heart also, and find love where thou cans't. Thus thy judgements will be tempered with mercy.

Spirituality

Spirituality is the ability to be at peace with thyself and the world. Thus the Ranger, who finds joy and calmness in closeness to nature. To seek also, the true nature of thy inner self. To strive to follow the three principles of truth, love and courage in all thy dealings, both with thyself and, with all things that live. To find true spirituality is to be blessed indeed, for tis but the first step on a path that will lead to great wisdom and true peace.

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Not a bad set of Virtues, if you think about it. It shows you how much thought people put into the older CRPGs...

And the world changes once again...

Hey,

I'm not sure if this will be the last post I will make from the cold and dark confines of this break room. I've just received word from the company that I've applied in that I've been accepted, and they want me to start by next week.

Am I happy? I suppose. It's a new job, albeit really far from where I live. It's going to be a junior management position that will pretty much suit the course I took up in college. Finally, it's going to be a day job, regular hours where the night is reserved for sleeping.

Am I worried about the future? Even more so. I'm not getting any younger (God, I never thought I'd actually write that) and finding a job where I can establish a true career is on the top of my list. I'm sure that I've got a lot of peers of my age which think I'm over-reacting, but the truth of the matter is, my family isn't really in any financial position to afford me the luxury of actually bumming around.

Times have changed. The two restaurants we've had are closed and the family is still working off a debt incurred to pay for them. My dad is stationed in China now just so he can earn a monthly wage to payoff the debt. Part of my income is dedicated to helping in that effort as well.

Hopefully this move will be a good one. With any luck, I'll be able to carve a place for myself in that company, and establish a real presence, and begin working in earnest to establishing my future.

I hope that the people closest to me are proud of me. I've come a long way from the aimless, frightened bum that I used to be when I graduated college. I'm still scared at times, and also indecisive at others, but I guess it really took four years of Real Life (tm) to beat the lessons into my head. Discipline, Willpower, and the Courage to face the future are some of the toughest things to learn, but hopefully, I won't forget them.

Of course, there's also the fact that there are a lot of lessons that I have yet to learn.

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Typing out this entry, I just remembered a few things I've read before regarding my profile in various horoscope thingys. All three things I've looked into: the secret of Names, the western Zodiac and the Chinese Zodiac have all mentioned something about my particular life.

It is in my middle age that the lessons of life will begin to take root in my personality, and it is then that I will achieve true happiness and success in work.

Here's hoping that the lessons I'm still learning will keep on growing on me.

Typing in Cold, Dark Places

Here I am once again typing out a new blog entry in the relative quiet of the company break room. Things have been pretty quiet as of late, with work, sleep, and the occasional book to break things up.

All this quiet and air-conditioned, darkroom solitude has got me thinking. I'm not one to get all depressed and everything, but hearing about people who pull ahead in life leaves me disappointed in myself. Better cut this particular train of thought before it balloons into something unmanageable.

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I just noticed that when it comes to strategy games, I'm always short of brilliance due to my lack of long term planning. Whether it's Chess, Go, Legend of the Five Rings, Warhammer or even Puerto Rico, I'm prone to short term success, but not luck in the long run. Taking a step back to look over things, I think I'll do way better if I start taking my time to think things over. I'm no strategic savant, and rushing will only screw me over.

I wonder what will happen if I actually manage to come up with a good long term strategy? Who knows? I might actually start racking up some victories for once.