2015-06-12 An Expression of my Convictions as a Game Master
I just read an interesting blog post called Thoughts on Philosophical GameMastering by Vb Wyrde. He says: “I would argue, […] that whether they know it consciously or or not, every World is an expression of the innermost convictions of it’s GameMaster.” He illustrates the point by referring to a friend who felt “that the Universe is really just a gigantic eating machine”. And the campaign he ran illustrated the point.
Thoughts on Philosophical GameMastering
Now I’m wondering which of my personal convictions players will find in my *Five Winds* campaign.
- The world is ludicrous *and* deadly. I often illustrate this by talking about murder clowns. Basically, everything is deadly, we will all die, and yet, we can create meaning in this absurdity, we can find joy in the freedom this limited existence grants us. Albert Camus rocks.
- I strive for a an equal representation of the old and the young, men and women. I find that I have a natural tendency to have all the leaders both good and bad be middle age men. So now I try to roll a d6. 1–2 is young, 5–6 is old, even is a woman and odd is a man. This has led to many a general and high priest being a woman instead of a man and I like it.
- All the good non-player characters are honest and all the evil non-player characters are bad liars. I role-play their lying and make it obvious enough for my players to recognize it. Keeping things in the dark and tricking them at the table for multiple sessions doesn’t happen. Thus, where as many people are liars, all the lies are easy to spot.
- I try to make sure that evil and cruel decisions are easy to make. Sometimes situations arise where no easy solutions are possible. Stay with your fallen retainer and fight to the death or abandon your fallen retainer and run? I like to highlight the choice made with a sentence or two. The retainer will cry out, maybe begging not to be left behind, or begging to be killed swiftly, or heroically offering to buy more time for the party. I guess I just like a little heart break at the table. It’s easy to invoke fear of death, hate of cruel enemies, or greed for riches. Heart break is hard, and romance is even harder.
Albert Camus
I need to think about this some more!
To be sure, I don’t really care that much about in in-game philosophies. I like *Planescape* and therefore there are factions in my campaign following doctrines inspired by schools of philosophy. What I care about is reflections of my own opinions and prejudices in my game world.
Discussion on Google+, if you want.
Discussion on Google+
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