May
22
This article was written by Johnn Four and published on his Roleplaying Tips blog, and republished here with permission. Johnn writes advice for GMs running tabletop roleplays, but this article applies to the process of creating story arcs in play-by-post games too which is why I asked to share it here.
A friend once told me his philosophy on work and projects: “Begin as you would end.” Read More
May
18
This is a screen shot from the game. I posted it because it’s like one of the many nights we’ve all had with the dreaded blank computer screen when trying to post with writer’s block
I have just recently played a demo for a very interesting game created last year by Galactic Cafe and released on the Source Engine. The game was called the Stanley Parable. The Stanley Parable is completely based off of choice and decision where you only have a few controls. WASD to move, mouse to look around, and the mouse 1 button to press buttons or open the occasional door. The game features three main factors. Stanley, the silent protagonist of the game. The Narrator, the faceless man with the British accent that narrates the story and Stanley’s actions. Read More
May
15
Sorry for the misleading title, because it’s actually a misleading question. There should only be one main character in your game and that’s… 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
28
Sometimes sites pop up here and there that can’t ever do very well. They can’t achieve reasonable, realistic growth expectations, and slowly decay over time, unable to grow. Read More
Apr
27
This is a segment of an article written by Steven Savage from his blog. Character creation is obviously important to us roleplayers, but obviously they should fit hand-in-hand with the setting of your game – the world that you’ve built. In this article Steven refers to a “character sheet” which is more of a tabletop roleplay concept, here on OngoingWorlds, you have a character bio. Same thing really, it’s somewhere to store & present important info about your character.
Characters are your setting come to visible, relatable life. Or at least should be.
The problem in discussing “how to create” characters is the process itself is also unpredictable, personal, and unique for everyone – just as characters are unique. So I can’t give you a system or even a list of questions that’ll “do it for you.” In fact, I shouldn’t because we all do this differently. Read More
Apr
24
This article was written for us by Kyle Richardson, an avid gamer and writer who enjoys finding ways to mix those passions with his latest love: mobile tech.
How do we make a leaner, greener, collaborative-friendly environment for creative writers? Let’s see how the text-based adventure does it with nonlinearity. Read More
Apr
21
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
We’ve all heard the saying that goes “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” made by the incomparable Sir Arthur C. Clarke.
I would ad a corollary, especially in the worlds of world building (and perhaps in an age of mind hacking and psychological techniques, our own). “Any sufficiently organized magic is indistinguishable from technology.” 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
