House Rules/Note to Players

From Westaven

[edit] OUR PLAY STYLE: REALISM, CHOICES, & THE GRAVE

The world of The Sovereign Polities Westaven is my own invention, although no creative work arises in a vacuum. Hence, I took much from my limited readings in Roman and medieval European (especially English) history. I am also fond of Tolkien, and sometimes I feel his influence cropping up. Other than this, I am consciously following no guide.

I have generally plotted the course of this campaign from beginning to end—-that is to say, in broad, sweeping strokes. My intention is to begin in local and personal events of player characters, then shift to regional and national events, and ultimately to even greater spheres. This being said, my GMing style tends to be quite loose: players choose where they wish to go and what they wish to do. Do not think that I will funnel you into decisions. I won’t.

I tend to keep the setting and NPCs “realistic.” Some NPCs are smart and will outguess you; others, just the opposite. Some will be vastly stronger than you, some will not. Let go of the idea of “adventure levels”—-which, if like me you used to play AD&D, you will remember well. Saying “this is an 8th level adventure” is really a safety net so players can do what they want with impunity. I, however, will present you more with ideas, people, and events; you decide if you can handle ‘em. (You’ll know if you chose wrong…and maybe your next character will fare better... Mwa-ha-ha-ha----ahem...)

Speaking of this, I want to talk about character death. It struck me as odd the first time I was informed (by a player whose character was on death’s porch) that PCs shouldn’t die unless, basically, they kill themselves through their own hubris or stupidity. Now I see that many people play this way. The GURPS Campaigns book even seems to tend that way.

I reject these notions.

So, be warned: you not only may lose a PC in my game, but the odds are in favor of you losing a PC! You are in a dangerous occupation: adventuring. The fun in my world, I hope, arises from the roleplaying and the realism, not in conquering, hack-and-slashing, dungeon crawling, or deciding the world needs to tilt the other direction and making it magically happen.

My goal is for all of us to be social, fun, adventurous, full of wonder, and serious about striving in the world of my—and, likewise, your—creation (for this reflects upon how we strive in the world outside the game).

[edit] THE WORLD: WESTAVEN

Westaven is mainly human, and is “low fantasy,” meaning having very little magic and few “monsters.” Both exist, but they are rare. If you find a +1 sword you will be an amazingly fortunate individual. If you whip out some magic, be prepared to be an object of wonderment, scorn, suspicion, or fear. Mostly you will be struggling with and against men, especially early in the campaign, with a few wild animals—both common to our world and otherwise--thrown in.

Also I should say something about ethics. I view my task as GM much as I view novel writing: create a world with problems and real evil as well as good. Now, most GMs may say this same thing, but I have noticed some players are inadvertently confused (or even scandalized) by what I show. For example, in my world slavery exists and is an accepted social reality. In fact, “pleasure slaves” exist---women slaves in mandatory lifetime prostitution. I must be clear that I personally do not agree with slavery, prostitution, murder, greed, savagery, or any other such immorality. I will, however, put them in my world—sometimes as major elements, depending upon the circumstance. I think most literary authors of merit do the same. What you, the players, do with these is up to you. (I say that tongue-in-cheek, though, for while I encourage roleplaying, if a player had their PC regularly, whole heartedly participate in such immorality…I’m not sure I would care to be in their company for long…)

I feel especially strong about the above comments with regards to religion, for I am a practicing Orthodox Christian (albeit a “first among sinners”). Hence the existence of spiritual powers and the appearance of pantheistic gods in Westaven in no way reflects my personal belief. (Again, the wonderfully Roman Catholic Tolkien’s views influenced my thinking here, as did the Anglican apologist/novelist C.S. Lewis.) In fact, the sad moral state of Westaven arises in large part from what it lacks, rather than what it possesses.

[edit] OPEN RPG: OUR GAMING WEAPON OF CHOICE

The Westaven Campaign is played on a weekly basis using the OpenRPG computer program, which allows players from all over the world to gather together for role-playing games (and it's 100% free!). Over time, we have developed a style of play that suits us, and anyone can glean that style from reading our past transcripts (found on our Calendar pages). The conventions of our style tend to be evoked while actually playing. Still, a couple notes need highlighting:

First, any text-based online play has the ultimate advantage of being “literary” verses “dramatic,” the latter being what comprises a good table-top, “live” game. For many, including myself, the best part of our OpenRPG's “literary” type of play is the feeling we are collectively writing a novel. Thus, slow typists and “poor” writers (though I’ve not met many gamers who are) should not create characters who are lecturers, professional speakers, yarn-spinners, and such. Instead choose straightforward PCs who speak in the manner you will be able to write quickly and believably. Conversely, fluent writers can feel free to run the gamut of verbosity!

Side comments within the game are some of the best parts—and undeniably the funniest parts—of our social time together. If you do have a witticism, joke, prod, wink, or some such to say, please put these comments within parentheses ((or, preferably, double parentheses)) to delineate what is said “in game” and “out of game.”

We have the ability to “whisper” in the game—meaning send private messages to other players or the GM. Go ahead and use this wonderful function, both for in game and out-of-game comments. I myself will use it to feed players private information, carry out brief side plots, and such. But please do not stray too far from believability by coordinating combat while the combat is transpiring, etc.

Feel free to email me outside the game (djembeck@invisalink.net) if you have any questions, comments, problems, issues, suggestions, or errata!