ONLINE GAMING
(Posted 2007-10-16 12:28:40 by ArchPaladin)

Before we get to the post's actual comment - a diversion that people might
find interesting.  The interdisciplinary laboratory Citizen Lab has
released a public document on how to bypass online censorship [
http://citizenlab.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1319
] [citizenlab.org].  Notably, this is not really a problem in the United
States, but passing around information is always a good thing, and it might
come in handy some day.  OK, on to the real post.  This post is directed
primarily at my gaming group, so if I use 'we', 'our', or other such
inclusive pronouns, that's the group I'm referring.

I have finished reading through the Amber RPG corebook, and have moved on
to Sorcerer (I have talked about both of these previously).  Amber seems
rather promising as a system - I am rather interested to run a campaign and
see what happens.  Notably, the system encourages their GMs to throw out as
many rules as possible, and to run the system in as much a free-floating
manner as the gaming group can tolerate.  This includes throwing out the
character creation process, the magic system, and even the GM, and running
things spontaneously.  (If you're wondering how you can throw out the GM
and still have a campaign, the idea is that the GM takes the role of a set
of NPCs that plot things to help goad the characters into action.  The
players themselves take on the role of judging personal abilities and
encounters with the world around them, and thus are actively involved in
world-building.)  As the system is already diceless, and as the nature of
the Amber world is somewhat fluid, this is actually possible if you have a
strong group of players (and that is a rather large if).  However, I think
the first campaign that we run will be close to the book, as people
involved don't know the world at all.  Future campaigns, maybe not.

I am not heavily into Sorcerer yet, but it appears very heavily
narrative-based and focuses on individual plotlines.  I am not sure how
much interaction characters would have with each other, and the idea of
uniting the players under a common goal seems right out.  This may not
actually be the case, but until I read more I won't be sure.

I do want to try both of these systems but we have limited gaming time.  In
my attempts to try and find a way around this, I have come up with an idea.
 I can expand my website to include a forum  and chat system that would
allow a group to run campaigns online.  Certainly this is not as good as
actually meeting in person, and I don't think it's really workable for
campaigns that rely heavily on group involvement, but with gaming systems
that are more individual-oriented or lacking definitive structure an online
setting could work.  Think about it this way: we meet for Sorcerer, but no
one is involved in anyone else's story, and for the bulk of the session
people just sit listening to someone else play.  Instead, everyone could
have their own forum thread and play out their individual stories when they
have the time, and could jump in and read someone else's story if they want
to follow along.

Like I said, I don't think it would fly for something like V:tM -
particularly not the way we play it - but for Amber or Sorcerer I think it
could be fine.  If any of my gaming group is reading this, do you have any
input here?  Would this be something you guys would be willing to try?

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