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𝑅𝑒𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑆𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 (1970s Crime Drama)

"𝙰 𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚜: 𝚊 𝚠𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚙𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚜."

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......... 𝙰𝚗𝚍𝚛𝚎 𝙼𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚊𝚞𝚡, 𝙻𝚎𝚜 𝙽𝚘𝚢𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚍𝚎 𝚕'𝙰𝚕𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚐

Book Quotes

This is the last age of the world, for we are come as far more as we may along our path from what is natural. We herd and pen the beast that's born to roam. In huts we cling like snailshells to the fenland that it is in our great-fathers' way to stride across and then pass by. We cook the blood from out the earth and let it scab to crowns and daggers; pound our straight track through the crooked fields and trade with black-skins. Soon, the oceans rise and take us. Soon, the crashing of the stars.

— Alan Moore, "The Cremation Fields, 2500 B.C."

Book Quotes

Chigurh smiled. We have a lot to talk about, he said. We'll be dealing with new people now. There wont be any more problems.

What happened to the old people?

They've moved on to other things. Not everyone is suited to this line of work. The prospect of outsized profits leads people to exaggerate their own capabilities. In their minds. They pretend to themselves that they are in control of events where perhaps they are not. And it is always one's stance upon uncertain ground that invites the attentions of one's enemies. Or discourages it.

And you? What about your enemies?

I have no enemies. I dont permit such a thing.

[sic]

— Cormac McCarthy, No Country for Old Men

Advice on DMing

Like writing a book, the only way to get good at it is to acknowledge that your first is going to suck, but to write it (run it) anyway. It's "like jumping off a cliff and building your wings on the way down," as hbomberguy puts it. The only way to learn——to truly learn——is to do. No amount of advice you receive here will ever even remotely prepare you for the real thing.

picture big :(

That said, a few tidbits of woefully inadequate, disjointed, but not entirely unsound advice which come to mind:

• Per Warren Spector (Deus Ex): "Players do the cool stuff. NPCs watch players do the cool stuff." Don't give any epic, exciting moment to yourself which could go to a player instead. DMPCs are——without a very deft hand——a trap.
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• Sandbox stories seem like the best of both worlds: you lessen your own workload while also offering the players greater control over the shape of the plot. But this only works with a confident group, willing to take risks and seize their own agency...a familiar and trusting friend group, in other words. Whereas in my experience, roleplayers in general, but especially P.U.G.s, would rather wait for others to post first to see what happens, test the waters, and make absolutely certain they won't upset anyone or disrupt anything; they gripe that they "don't know what to post"; they second-guess, hesitate, and generally fret about ruining someone else's plans. Mount this atop the general stresses of writing, editing, and proofreading The Perfect Post and it leads to collapse more oft than not. Sandbox games are a first-time GMing death sentence. Please just create a real plot.
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• Constraint breeds creativity. A "you can be anyone and do anything" design ethos sounds nice, but results in characters built to be baseline-competent at most things, useful in most situations, pertinent to most plots; thus, milquetoast. Players sacrifice some real texture in their writing when they're tasked with making a character who won't be left behind or rendered redundant or outright useless no matter the direction in which the story travels.
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• If you're unsure about an application, the sooner you address it the better. Know when to say "no" to someone who didn't understand the assignment. If (say) you know you want a dark, sinister tone for a setting filled with very real threats, being willing to say "no" to the lovable rogue joke character is absolutely critical. Letting that character into the cast will only lead to resentment when he seems like he's purposely "sabotaging" the tone/mood/atmosphere you're aiming for. Boundaries are good. Knowing what your game is, and what it isn't, and communicating that sooner than late to filter out the bad fits, is even better.
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• Have a target audience narrower than "literally all rpers on RPGuild." You want to alienate some people. The product that tries to appeal to everyone is inoffensive but ultimately flavorless.
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• Nobody wants to do homework, study, and take an entrance exam to join an RP. Save the epic lore for optional OOC hiders, or better yet, sprinkle it into your posts through tasteful, naturalistic exposition.
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• If you don't already, start reading. Read, read, read. And watch, and play, and read some more. The wider your literary/artistic exposure the more original and unique your own stories will turn out.
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• Don't trust anyone who says they've been "craving" what your thread is offering. Cravings are fleeting and momentary. Cravings are outgrown and lead to ghosting.
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• You're allowed to copy Matt Mercer until you discover your own style.
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• If you have stage fright IRL, GMing triggers the exact same neural pathways. It's terrifying putting yourself out there like that, especially for the first time. It's also electrifying, validating, vindicating, and utterly addictive.
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• If it turns out you're pretty good at this whole GMing thing, expect to become the Forever GM in your friend group when no one else wants to step up. There is no escape from this. Welcome to hell.

Book Quotes

An English professor in University said never to marry a woman who is obsessed with Jane Austen, and I never looked back. For better or for worse or until I finally decide to read her.

@Mole

I suppose from a certain perspective it's a little bit like saying your favorite TV show is 90 Day Fiancé. Nothing wrong with consuming garbage every now and then in much the same way that there's nothing wrong with indulging on the occasional junk food, but if it's your principal consumption, if it's your favorite, that speaks to a narrow palatal purview indeed. I could see how, ignoring or devaluating the literary merits, not to mention the book's contributions to Western canon, ranking it above all other literature in one's esteem would reflect to some others as a defect in moral or intellectual character.

I for one thus far have greatly enjoyed the witty dialogue, believable cast, utterly charming main character, and (relative to its contemporaries) feminist themes, but yes: at the end of it all, and after no small amount of reduction, the book is about snooty rich people marrying each other for convenience and then gossiping about it.

Book Quotes

There are few people whom I really love, and still fewer of whom I think well. The more I see of the world, the more am I dissatisfied with it; and every day confirms my belief of the inconsistency of all human characters, and of the little dependence that can be placed on the appearance of merit or sense.

— Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

Lamplight

Mine-ish. Thankfully Hell Week is over. I'm not out of the woods yet but will hopefully at least get one post out properly before I'm in the clear post-New Year's. 😄

Lamplight

@PatientBean Sorry to disappoint.

@Antarctica Your reply to Marion's last post has me stumped. The NPC speaks sensibly—if there's a no loitering sign, there's a no loitering sign—and as far as I can tell you've given her no due cause to find any of this dubious. She presently has no good reason to distract herself from her personal quest to assist with this missing persons search, for instance; but nor would she arouse attention and possibly suspicion by openly flaunting the town's statutes, even the small, frivolous ones.

It's unlike me to ask a GM to throw me a bone OOC but I'm genuinely unsure whether I'm supposed to try and Charm this character, or whether this whole library setup was a convoluted way to move me to the diner locale from the beginning.

Lamplight

@Tally Dor I almost, almost included the "ice-water mansion" line.

Lamplight

Edited.