Nov
2
We all put effort into creating our characters. Some of them are unique, some are not. We might think about what their personality is like, and what traits they have. There’s some ideas listed in the article here, which lists believable traits. But “believeable” isn’t always unique. Read More
Oct
22
Your characters need something to do.
They might have their own personal quests, but likely at some point they’ll need soemthing else to do – which is why it’s useful to have an NPC who tells them what to do. Maybe it’s a boss, a client, someone who’s holding their loved ones captive, they’ll set out a challenge that needs completing before the story can move on. Read More
Sep
24
It’s a common problem, someone joins your game with a character that’s far too overpowered, or way too “awesome” (or so the writer says). They’re a Mary Sue (Or a Marty Stu, or whatever – there’s actually loads of names for the same thing. Click here for an article explaining the different different types). Read More
Aug
17
I linked to an article making the case that the Doctor and Sherlock are Mary Sues on our Facebook page yesterday and the reaction was mixed, so I thought it be worth sharing here to guage opinion and perhaps discuss.
I can see where the author is coming from. Both characters are awesome, perhaps too awesome that they’re bordering on superheroes, and don’t have a lot of much-needed flaws. Read More
Jul
19
The Xanadu Report
If you’re in the Role Playing community, chances are that you’ve encountered expanded universe content before. 
Be if from your favorite TV show, a movie that you’ve loved your whole life, or a novel you’ve read a few thousand times. In fact, fandom games are part of a franchise’s expanded universe. As a writer, I tend to be obsessed with detail, so much so that for every post I’ve ever written there’s at least a few paragraphs of detail that got left out just to keep it within a sane amount of words (I say sane because my first Blue Dwarf post’s word count would have been up in the tens of thousands if I hadn’t regained my sanity and decided “maybe a novella doesn’t make a good post”, telling an entire life’s story doesn’t really work well). Read More
May
13
I replayed XCOM: Enemy Unknown recently, where you recruit lifeless characters and equip them to fight aliens in a pseudo-realistic game of chess. In the game, characters are nothing more than lifeless puppets that you dress up in armour, then toss a dangerous weapon in their arms, and send them out into the battlefield. Read More
May
7
This was originally posted by Steven Savage on his blog, but has allowed me to republish it here as I think it’s useful for roleplayers! This is part of Steven’s Way With Worlds series of articles. -David
Have you ever read a story and things just seemed to work . . . wrong? Read More
Apr
30
This was originally posted by Steven Savage on his blog, but has allowed me to republish it here as I think it’s useful for roleplayers! This is part of Steven’s Way With Worlds series of articles. -David
You have built a world. You know it’s origins and its ecology, you know it’s people and their religion, you know technology or sorcery (or both) that they use. You have a world that is a living-breathing creation, all in your head, and your documents, and your stories.
It’s time to populate it with characters. Read More
Apr
18
I saw this Cyanide & Happiness cartoon and thought it was a great lesson for us roleplayers (and all writers everywhere actually). Characters without limitations are just boring (see our article about God-man and all our articles about god-modding). Read More
Mar
8
Captain Dick Sprague, Commanding Officer of the USS Chuck Norris
That’s a question I get a lot when people read or hear about my game, the USS Chuck Norris, as it’s quite different from most other sims out there. But before I answer that question, I should first explain what the Chuck Norris is to set up the proper context.
The USS Chuck Norris is a play-by-email sim, but we use the NOVA system from Anodyne Productions that came out a few years ago. Play-by-post seems to be the most popular term today for this type of game. We launched on January 2nd, 2012, and are a member of Independence Fleet. There are currently 16 active players on the Chuck Norris, and many have been with us for more than a year. Although, we also have quite a few players that have been simming for less than six months.
With that out of the way, I’ll finally answer the question! Read More
