A Story-Telling Character-Driven Game

I really enjoy pen and paper RPG's, so I'm arguably biased.  That being said, I think more people could enjoy them and potentially would, if it weren't for a few different things.  The aspect I'd like to touch on today is the approachability of the Tabletop RPG's as a story-telling group game.

The systems involved in playing many of these games are very... complex.  The reason the systems are there is to help create a structure for storytelling which actually helps in writing the story that the players and DM/GM/ZM will be writing together.  This doesn't come from them always being poorly developed, but more so because creating such rich and detailed stories with so many potential aspects to manage simply requires so much depth.  The core concepts of these games aren't difficult though.

Here's an attempt to simplify -

When attempting to perform an action or task, the player of the character rolls a dice(or die), representing their chance to succeed or fail at that attempt.  The required result is higher or lower based on the difficulty of the task.  The character has stats and skills which add to the result of the roll, increasing chances of success, where as things which make an attempt more difficult can either be given as penalties or added to the difficulty "check"(that number you need to get to succeed).

Just about EVERYTHING in pen and paper RPG systems is set-up to allow this testing method to "accurately"* model and predict outcomes of events based on skill, talent, and circumstance.  Oh, and the DM's temperament.

Trot On Everypony,
Alturiigo

*I put quotes because accuracy is more about working storytelling models than aiming for perfect realism

How We See Ourselves

Life can be a bit of a struggle sometimes, about how we see ourselves against how we see ourselves through others.  I consider this a tempering factor mostly, from the idea that I am inherently biased towards myself.  What I'd like to look at and talk about briefly though is understanding yourself complexly and even non-negative social assignments can be... troubling.

I have always found EVERYTHING to be fascinating.  They way the world is, and expresses itself, it's just... wow.  I have also always enjoyed learning new things, and took to science and other academics quite naturally.  This soon became a dominant facet of how I saw myself, and how I saw myself through others.  I didn't take art classes because I wasn't artsy.  I didn't take choir or try out for a play because I was socially awkward and anxious.  Through out growing up, it seemed a natural assumption that I would grow up to go to college and become a scientist, or a computer engineer, or doctor, or bartender... wait, what?!

Yeah.  It always seemed like my oddball dream, but since I was even 11 or 12, I remember wanting to be a bartender.  Which has always seemed kinda odd, since I've thought for most of my life that I'm not a people person.  When I finally started to look at myself more complexly, sometime shortly after graduating high school, I found many new interests I didn't expect myself to have.  I love fashion design, I draw and doodle a lot, I spend a lot of time singing to myself(whether I'm alone or not), and I'm not actually a total awkward doof.

Don't be afraid to explore yourself, you'll probably be surprised how complex you are.

Trot On Everypony,
Alturiigo

A Thought

The thought that I've grown more so than I've changed, and that I still struggle with the lonely little boy who wishes people liked him.  Against the person I am, who wishes I could accept that people like me.

The Ebb And Flow of Emotion

I'd generally agree with someone who quoted the advice that "You shouldn't rely on the opinions and support of others in how you look at yourself".  How you feel about yourself should come from you, though I've always been one to shy away from absolutes in statements and ideas.  I can't help but notice the fact that we can't always see ourselves perfectly, and in fact that's probably where most people actually run into trouble when trying to follow this advice.

What I actually wanted to touch on about this though, is that it can be dangerous to take this idea and run with it, because either A: You ignore cues from your surroundings(other people), and B: You may feel like needing help or support from other people makes you weak, which may in turn cause you to feel even weaker about yourself...

So, yeah.  I don't think a person should be thought of as weak for sometimes needing the support of others, people who want to bring positivity into their life.  It seems as though many people I see on a general basis tend to find me positive and outgoing, and it turns out I'm a bit of a people person(my schoolmates never saw that coming).  I expel a lot of positive energy at those around me, it's kind of just a part of who I am.  Consequently, I spend most of my good feelings on other people, with not the greatest of return on the upliftiness.

To be honest, I don't do what I do to feel better about myself, or to make people like me.  It's just... what I'm supposed to do.  Or maybe more specifically, what I do just naturally.

Positive Energy: Depleted
Reserve Tanks: Empty

Trot On Everypony,
Alturiigo

Progression Over Time

Growing up, I've always been a bit of a nerd, and have found myself fascinated with science and learning.  It's amazing to find out new things about the complex and wondrous world we live in.  Since science seemed like my jam, I never really took to art classes too much going through the education system.  So when I started having ideas for characters and stories, I found myself wishing I could draw.

I suppose I didn't let that stop me though, I just drew... not so good of pictures.  I kept going though, starting with giving my stick figures hair, then hands(ish), and feet(again, ish).  When I started to play Dungeons and Dragons, I found myself wanting to draw my characters.  So instead of stick figures, they started to resemble block figures, and in trying to decide what kind of clothes to draw them in, I ended up discovering an interest in fashion design.

Nowadays, people will sometimes look at something I've drawn and comment the likes of "I wish I could draw", as though what I drew was of some merit.  It's getting harder to argue that I'm bad at drawing anymore, because when I look at something I doodled up even a year or two ago, and compare it to something more recent, I can see the drastic difference.  There was no point where suddenly I could draw, and I still don't think I can draw all that well.  I just keep doing it anyways.

Alturiigo