On Diversity in Characters

 I kinda tried to put off this post because...well, honestly I was scared.

 It's a very, very delicate topic, and I have my ideas on it, but I don't want people to misjudge me.

 Even because my ideas might not be exactly aligned to what can be called...politically correct, in a way?

 Honestly I find it kind of ironic that I find it easier to speak in 'public' about graphic sex and kinky stuff than this. But I do think that, if me and you guys are to have a meaningful relation and if I want to go on and discuss what I want to discuss (#CharactersTell, I have a number of projects about it! You'll see, tomorrow we'll discuss some!) we have to tackle this topic and in a way...'rip the bandaid' on it.

 Now, before we continue, I think considering the topic it's just fair that I put all the 'cards' on the table. While me personally have no reason to use 'labels', it seems they're needed. I'm a 32 years

old, bisexual, assigned male and...pretty ok with that, could be better, but eh, I guess white but Italian, so I'm not entirely sure where that fits me on the 'whiteness' scale, and definitely not a millionaire (by the way, my books are available for purchase, if you wanna help change that), and that's just for what I'm aware of without entering the realm of neurodiversity (never had a formal evaluation for that, so I won't assume anything).

 Maybe some of you won't like what I have to say.

 And that is perfectly fine.

 Some of you might even dismiss whatever I'm going to say just on the basis of what I've just written, and honestly? While I don't agree with that kind of mentality, I won't be mad at you either. It's your prerogative.

Feel free to do this. I won't be mad.

 As you can imagine, this topic is gonna be more somber than usual, so don't expect a lot of funny jokes in it. If I find an opening, I might still do that, but I make no promises. Have a cat getting a massage as an apology.

Why am I writing this?

 So, I've been on the internet for quite a while now, and especially on Twitter. And sometimes I've seen..some weird little things floating around.

 I've seen the demand for diversity and representation on a lot of media, I've seen the results of that,  One time I've even seen arguments to basically say that people who are not of color shouldn't write characters of color.

I've seen what I sometimes perceived to be forced messages and forced agendas. On both sides of the spectrum, before you start throwing torches on my soapbox.
 And since one of the big things for me is character creation and development, I think we really need to have a talk about all this.

Diversity and Representation

 Such really good, yet vague words.
 Let me preface it with this: I love diverse characters. And I love that we're seeing more of them, and that they can give inspiration to people.

 We see a call for it in almost every aspect, but what does that exactly mean? Just having people of a certain ethnicity/gender/sexual orientation? Does that make them different as a person? Mind you, as with everything it plays a part in their personality - and it can be a big one, too - but should it be the defining aspect of it? The only thing we judge them for?

 I guess this might need to be explained in a bit of a better way.

 I used Tiogair already to make an example for something, so please allow me to bring Elemental, my published novel, as an example this time.

 I pride myself in the fact that, in this book, I tried my best to make the main characters people you could find every day outside of your door. The ones who could be your neighbours. The people you meet at a coffee shop.

 Natalia is one of them. She's a barista at a small coffee shop in Valladolid. She's the sort of woman who would always try to see the best in everyone, who would, if needed, force two people to speak to make good with each other. She's optimistic, believes in peace and love (unluckily for her), and is always trying to cheer people up.

 She's also straight and a latina (being native Spanish.)

 Damodar is another one of the main characters. He's the complete opposite. He's a selfish, self-entitled and centered, abrasive asshole, who surrounds himself in luxury in defiance to his family thanks to an hefty inheritance, to stubbornly revel in it. He's a promiscuous womanizer, and likes to come out on top no matter what - even if underneath it all there's some goodness in him. He just has troubles showing it.

 He's also a person of color (Indian, lives in Bangalore).

 Now, here's where I'm trying to go with this. How much does their skin color, their gender, and their country of origin mean to them on a 'grand' scale?

 If I wrote Natalia as a white woman from Finland, would she be the same? In the same sort of family, growing environment, experiences and socio-economical series of events, probably yes. The differences would be minimal in what her personality is like, because it's her experiences as a person forming it more than certain aspects dominating it.

 The same can be said of Damodar, if he was a white Italian he might have turned out the same, because the country and race have only so much bearing on what these characters are. They're not just a product of the country, or of their ethnicity, they're a product of all the other amazing or awful people that forged their experiences, from the parents to the random thug that might have mugged them ten years ago.

 They themselves can be amazing or can be awful. And it's not a matter of their skin color, gender, sexuality, or whatever, it's because they're people.

 

 While I can agree that having diverse characters is absolutely vital, and that their surroundings and experiences due to their gender, race, or any other aspect, shape them, I disagree with the idea that they should be considered 'different' just because they happen to like the same set of genitalia they have between their partner's legs.

 Don't get me wrong - they are, of course, very important aspects of the character. But there are so many other factors that weigh into what forges them as people that I never understood why calling it diversity to begin with.

 It might be a stupid example, but I can still read Batman, like Batman and empathize with Batman even if I don't have a multimillion dollar company to pay for my hi-tech gadgets, my parents are both still alive, and I don't have a buttler that was in the SAS.

 Or, an even more fitting example, I can watch Luke Cage and still identify myself with him. Or Jessica Jones. Despite me not being a person of color or a woman.

 I oppose to the idea that those aspects are so divisive they need to be the absolutely critical part of their character, because I find it a gross generalization. It's like saying that's the most important part of their personality - not being amazing or cruel, not being helpful or selfish, not being brave or a coward, but being that color, that gender and that sexuality.

 I'm all for diverse characters and fair representation of them. I hope by now with just my work I managed to demonstrate it. But I'm for that and representation because I believe everyone can be everything. A person of color can be Batman or the Joker just as much as a white or an asian person. Not because of their skin, but because of who they are.

Neurodiversity - a side mention

 A specific mention goes for Neurodiversity. While I tried to explain why the other aspects are  important, but I have my views on them, neurodiversity does deserve it's own explanation.

 I myself tend to avoid writing neurodiversity. Not because I don't wanna write it, or because I don't wanna represent it, mind you - but because I don't wanna make mistakes.

 Of all the various sorts of diversities, I think neurodiversity is the one that is the more delicate to portray, because while everything else is a 'facet' (i.e., an homosexual person that has an upbringing of a certain kind, has more self confidence, etc, will face their situation in a different way than a more introverse, insecure one) neurodiversity is a lens. It's not an aspect, it's something that changes and 'warps' every experience that character might have.

 Yes, I get that it's debatable that all the other aspects I've talked about do the same - but the main difference is not in a preference, or in an aspect, it's in how the mind processes and analyzes such facets and aspects.

On the other side - No, all this doesen't make you right

 As much as I've seen the call for diversity, and I've seen the examples of diversity being implemented or demanded in a...clumsy way, to say the least, in some cases, I've seen just as much  the backlash against this - which makes things even more awkward, because now it feels like when you're speaking about these topics you're taken in the middle of two armies ready to shoot or claim alliance with you for this or that word you said.

 While some of the criticism in some of the cases is valid, and I do think both sides need to take a good look at themselves and recognize what is trolling and what is actual constructive and reasonable feedback, I've seen examples of people lamenting how much 'this minority is getting in my fandom' or even worse 'this wouldn't happen because of this and that due to biological differences'.

 My only response to those on that extremist side of the argument (not to be mistaken with people actually trying to make the discussion constructive) is...grow up. We're talking about individuals - individuals that are in different situations that apply to them. You're thinking with statistics, and statistics aren't a person.

 I can believe a woman can fight, kick ass and do all sorts of awesome things. The only reason I might not like certain things is not if the character portrayed is a male or a female, it's that even if that character was a man, I still wouldn't like them. And this ties back to the same big wall of text I've made earlier, it's not the gender that is 'wrong', is the character that is written sloppily.

 Whatever gender they might be.

Conclusions

 Huff. This has been a very difficult post to make. And I already thank you if you managed to get this far through my...somewhat confusing attempt at explaining my position on the issue.

 I guess in conclusion what all this is trying to say is: Diversity is awesome, because it can give a very interesting view into some things we're not used to, and give role models, and more 'relatable' characters, but - and it's a pretty big but - we should keep in mind a character is a person first and a demographic later.

 I keep being afraid that sometimes we end up feverishly rushing to have this 'kind' of character that we forget they need to have something more than just those details to define them. Or stand behind them and not point out their flaws in writing because of that.

 Or we end up excusing poorly written characters because they're 'this' skin color or 'that' gender.

 I can understand the need for representation - I mean, the only characters I'm familiar with that come to mind that just come from Italy in worldwide mainstream media are: a pair of stereotypically pizza loving plumbers, crime-bosses and just with Tekken 7 a maybe evil devil-gene sort of enhanced secret society exorcist - but let's not lose sight of what a full character is only because we crave to see someone like us.

 Now feel free to blast me and shout how wrong I am about everything.

 Or, preferably, let's discuss this and try to figure things out together, shall we?

 See you tomorrow!

Short - Tryouts (NSFW)

 I don't remember exactly what made me write this short. I just remember that, shortly after I finished the first draft of Tiogair, I had someone talk about 'putting unicorns in the WIP' on Twitter, and so, considering my new book's setting is quite apt for that, I did.

 Set in the Heart's Delight, Cerulean Springs' best sex club, it depicts a 'normal' casting day for a new dancer. Meet Zoe, the MC of the new book, Paula, the owner, and Ian, the heavily-augmented DJ.

 And George, the unicorn.

“You think it’s real? I mean, it can’t be. It has to have had some work done, an implant or something.”

The tigress was sitting on the chair in front of the stage, her eyes completely fixed on the spectacle that was being presented. The slow, obvious, ridiculously sexual saxophone and bass accompanying the dance echoing in the empty club, soundwaves reflecting in the spacious room making them distort slightly.

Not that she cared. Or the other two people along with her. They were way too distracted.

“Mh. Dunno. If he had some work done, it doesn’t really show.” Paula replied, arching her eyebrow as she scuttled a bit on the chair to get more comfortable. “The coat is absolutely gorgeous, though.”

“Whiter than the snow in December~” the melodic tone of the dj chimed in. The metal plates forming his features were curled and contorted in a sly, appreciating smile.

The music picked up the pace as the tryout gyrated around the pole, well defined muscles bulging under the short, brisk fur and skin, the three spectators all letting out varied stupefied sounds as they saw the body contorting and hanging masterfully in mid air.

“Dìa, that is impressi- Cac naofa!” The tigress widened her eyes as she felt a swift Ether manipulation in the air surrounding them, and the bottom clothes of the tryout were ripped off by a magic surge in the middle of the rotations, revealing everything underneath.

Still stunned by the sudden discovery of the tryout having Ether talent, the tigress lost her chance to compete in the short-lived, one-sided battle ensuing, with Paula using her mechanical arm and bodybuilder physique to push the DJ away and catch the prize.

An electronic, disappointed hiss rose from the internal speakers of the scorned showman.

Finally stopping his swirls on the pole, the perspective dancer spreaded his legs, giving the back to the audience to show the chromed shaft slide across the perfect buttocks to a graceful halt kneeling on the stage floor.

The slightly equine-featured head tilted back, a seductive smile barely visible and, as the music stopped, he tapped the pole with the long, spiralled horn protruding from his forehead, his free hand holding a massive, hung shaft already hard and pointing, just to the side enough for his audience to notice the tip and the jet-black skin.

A very long silence weighed in the room as the three judges blinked, Paula still squeezing way too tightly onto the easily discardable trousers that were tossed their way.

George, the dancing unicorn trying out for the club, frowned. “Was...something wrong…?” he asked. “I’m still working on the Ether control, but-”

“I think” Paula interrupted “that you have talent, George, but you do know dancing is only part of what we offer here at the Heart’s Delight.”

Both Zoe and the DJ opened in a wide grin.

Paula ignored them both, clearing her throat and trying to hide at least part of her blushing cheeks with the cascade of now pink hair flowing on one side of her head. “As the owner of the club, I do think it is just fitting that I’m the one to put you through the rest of the tests to-”

“Oh, I disagree!” Zoe, outraged, interjected, her tail swiftly flapping from side to side, ready for battle. “As a representative of the general customer population, -and- with the capacity to judge from -both- sides of the spectrum, I’m clearly the most qualified person in this room, nay, in this entire -club- to judge his performance!”

A sneering, distorted hiss came from Ian’s speakers. “And with the sense of rhythm of a drunkard, hip-challenged middle aged man. I have the equipment to clearly analyze every aspect of his performance, and especially make sure it’s up to the standards not only of a sex club but of a dancing club as well. You know music does play a part on some of the play scenes upstairs too.”

“I am going to fry that goddamn metal face of yours, I can dance!”

“No you can’t.” Paula retorted.

“I so can! And besides, he needs to know how to fuck the brains out with style not only do it on a beat!”

“This is why I don’t invite you two to tryouts! I am the club owner, I get first dibs!”

“But come ooon, have you seen him!?” Ian pouted.

“Hands off, tincan! He needs to behave when he gets oral. Guess who doesn’t have a speaker in the way of our throats?” the tigress victoriously smirked, pointing at her and Paula. All under the confused looks of the poor aspiring dancer.

The three looked at each other angrily, still bickering on first dibs before Paula shushed them rising her hand.

Bopped on the nose with the flailing pants, the tigress scrunched her face, glaring at her.

“So. George. I know you didn’t write anything about it, but you do know we offer the option for group sex, right? How do you play with numbers?”

“Ah, I’m quite apt. Had my experiences.”

Immediately the bickering stopped, and all three opened in a wide grin, standing up in unison.

“Well then. If you care to follow us-”

“Wait!” the tigress moved to the unicorn, her eyes fixed unashamedly on a very specific spot, biting her lower lip. “So, before we do this, I need to ask. Is that real? Can I touch it?”

George chuckled, with a knowing smile and presented himself openly. With a childish grin, the tigress rose up on the tip of her toes and wrapped her hand around it, giving it a long stroke, gasping.

The spiraled curves of the horn felt so interesting under her palm, and the consistency was clearly natural. “Do you…”

“Yes.”

“In both-”

“Oh, yes. It’s a very common request.”

“RIGHT, PAULA, GET THE ROOM READY!”

//END//

On RPG's in general - Tabletop RPG resources

 Here we are! The end of the RPG and Writing saga.

 It's been a nice run, and I hope I gave you both good ideas for your writing, an incentive to try this amazing hobby, and a way to find other very awesome people. Most of the friends I made roleplaying in various ways stuck with me for a long time, and I'm proud to call them so.

 

 Today's post will be a tad shorter, too. Do keep in mind, though, that the same little word of advice about meeting other people applies here too: all of these resources usually will require an interaction of sort with other people, and this time we're talking voice interaction at the very least.

 So keep that in mind, yes?

 Prepare your bodies, because we're starting!

'cus it's gonan blow yo mind~

Online resources - The tools of the trade

 So, remember how we used the term Tabletop way too much in the last posts? Here's a secret.

 You don't necessarily need a table for it. Or a group to be physically in your house or somewhere else, either!

 Thanks to the powers of science and technology, the applied sacred oils and praise to the Machine Spirit while chanting the Sacred Hymn of the Planetary connection-*coff*

 Sorry, sorry. My 40k is showing. It's getting a tad shameless at this time of the month.

Look at dem servoarms showing. So lewd. (For those who ask, yes, there's 40k tabletop roleplaying too.)

 But yeah, with the power of the internet, in this day and age you can engage in all sorts of roleplaying from the comfort of your own home.

 To do so properly, though, you'll need a couple of things:

• A Voice over Internet Provider service: My favourite at the moment is Discord - light, easy to use and secure. Skype is another good option as well, especially with the latest updates making it a bit more streamlined and usable.
• An account on Roll20, or a similar service: Roll20 is basically a virtual tabletop. It's a framework that can accomodate most kinds of roleplaying systems. There are other instruments that you can find that provide the same sort of service. Google is your friend.
• Friends. Here's a little inspiration on how to acquire some.

Interacting and improvising around other people

 This can be one of the biggest hurdles to surpass when you start in this hobby. You'll have to talk with other people, and you'll have to interpret a character, with its reactions, its backstory, talking back and forth in real time with other people doing the same!

 It can be scary.

 Luckily, you have a couple of games that, after you acquired a sufficient number of friends, can help you doing that without going through the whole, in-depth experience.

 I find that one of the best sort of games to do so are social deduction tabletop games - some of them you can even find versions online to play. These games are a ton of fun, usually very easy to learn, and will help you gain confidence in doing and saying stupid stuff with your newly acquired friends.

 Some examples are:

• Secret Hitler (Here's an easily accessible online version): A social deduction game with pretty easy rules and that can get very tense, it's an amazing tool to learn how to play a 'character' - of the players, a small group of them will have a secret agenda and will need to work against the group to fulfill it, while the others will need to stop them in time. Try it. It can create some gorgeous and hilarious moments.
• Tabletop Simulator: found on Steam, if you guys have a decent enough pc, this game will be invaluable. Another tabletop simulator, but usually for more traditional games, it hosts a miriad of various games you and your friends can find and play - and yes, social deduction games too, like Snake Oil, where, given a certain item, each player will have to sell it to the judge (appointed every turn) as the BEST THING EVER.

Let's get some dices rolling, shall we?

 Right. It's time for the big one. The real stuff. You've read the whole miniseries, you've tried to roleplay by chat around, you've tried calling your friends and get more comfortable around them while playing games...the time is right to get your character sheets, login on roll20, and get started as a GM or as a Player.

 The first thing you'll need to do is the manual for your system. Of course, as we discussed before, usually you'll have to buy these manuals, because no one here supports piracy, do we?

• DrivethruRPG is one of the most extensive online stores to get all of your roleplaying fix. Reviews, an easy-to-use online store, an online library where you won't lose anything as long as you remember your password. A great way to get your manuals.
• If you still don't feel like laying down money to play, which is totally understandable, you have some RPG's that are completely FREE! I know, right? Here's a selection: of particular note are Dungeons and Dragons 5e, so famous I don't think it requires explanation, and ECLIPSE PHASE, a stunningly well done transhumanist roleplaying game with underlying themes of cosmic horror.

 Once that is done, it's just a matter of starting and creating your stories! Remember, you can always propose a new system, you can always rework things, you can always back down. After all, it's all PEOPLE we're talking about, and if your friends are good friends, they'll understand.

But I want to invite people in my house!

 You do? I know, it's a good feeling, I had to stop because I don't want them to find the bodies in my closet  - I'm too embarrassed of the mess.

 If you wanna connect in the real world with people who enjoy the same hobby, one of the best ways to do that is finding a shop for the hobby in your area - Comic book stores, book stores and tabletop gaming stores usually tend to have both the resources you need to get started (dice sets, manuals, etc).

 A friendly chat with the workers there is usually a good way to know who's playing what and if they have available spots - sometimes you'll even find little ads around that will ask for players or game masters for specific systems.

 

 Going online and searching for groups in your areas is another good way as well. As always, I'd advise first a public encounter and getting to know them instead of jumping headfirst. It's not just a matter of safety - you might not like their style, or they might not like yours. It's all a matter of being curteous and recognizing a situation you might not have fun with.

 If you want to get to know more about the hobby, there's plenty of resources online to expand your knowledge. On youtube you'll find a lot of channels dedicated to tabletop RPG's - between recorded sessions from start to finish, stories and guides, you'll be hard pressed not to find what you're looking for.

 A very nice serie I found some years ago, and that is still funny and reliable to this day is Noah Antwiler's 'Counter Monkey' series: lots of amazing little snippets and stories, advices and experiences from his days as a roleplayer that are fun to watch and listen to. 

 And with that, our little miniseries is done! Stay tuned tomorrow for my very short short set in the #Tiogair universe, 'Tryouts', depicting a little snippet of life at the Heart's Delight.

 Go forth, my dungeon delvers, mercenaries, scoundrels and paladins - try this hobby for yourself, and if you like it create gorgeous and fun stories. And if you're already familiar, share your best stories down here in the comments! Show everyone how amazing this can be!

 Toodles!

On RPG's in General - Lite: where and how to get your feet wet!

 After yesterday's technical problems with blogger, I had my tech specialists take a look to make sure everything was fine.

 That's why you didn't get the post yesterday - they're  competent, but very much difficult to cut a proper deal with.

It costed me three whole cans of tuna! THREE I SAY! IT'S A TRAVESTY!

 Now, I can already see you eager to get started, fidgeting and staring at your screen as you scour the post, with your mind craving to start...

 

 Hey. At least let me dream about it. It makes me feel all fuzzy inside.

 Anyway, let's not waste any more time and let's get to it, shall we?

Little premise - but important

 Now, do remember that almost all the resources I'm going to show you today are either pointing you to, or giving you the tools to, engage in an activity that more often than not requires other people.

 I know, scary.

 Some of them will require some contact online, so always keep in mind that some level of interaction with strangers might be possible. But nerds are usually a friendly bunch. We don't bite.

 Still, for all the various options, either have some friends come with you, or keep in mind that a tacit 'con' and 'pro' for each will be that you'll interact with them. So amazing friendships and dramas can still happen.

 Believe me.

 I know.

 And with that out of the way, here you'll find a lot of hints and resources for you to start down this path. I'll list pro and cons of each one, and what level of engagement is required. In the series we talked about Tabletop RPG (Dungeons and Dragons, Vampires, Shadowrun, etc) but there are a lot of possible experiences out there that can ease you into the roleplaying world with less of a daunting interaction and still giving you some of the same benefits.

Lite Experiences

 What I intend by 'Lite experiences' are akin to gateway experiences to ease you into the whole roleplaying scene.

Pros:

 These sort of experiences will probably have you start as the role of a player, with a possible growth to some minor world and event building and very easy narratives.

 Character creation will be most probably just narrative based, without any sort of statistics or number crunching to be dealt with.

 The settings will be usually well explained or easy enough to grasp to not require a lot of work to go into it.

 All interactions are usually gonna be tied to just text-chatting, adding a layer of tranquillity and anonimity to the whole ordeal.

Cons:

 

 Interaction between people will usually be short, and only a few grow to something more meaningful.

 Waiting times in some cases can be quite long.

 No guarantee of the quality of writing you'll find with this or the other person, or the sort of person you'll deal with (yes, some people are jerks. But that's why I put that little premise beforehand).

 SINGLE PLAYER EXPERIENCES

 

 For those of you who are into PC gaming, one of the best ways to start getting acquainted with the whole concept while going at it on your own and experience some amazing stories.

 The pros of it are that you won't have to interact with others, and you still get some of the benefits - explore a different world with its rules, generate a character you can to some extent customize and give a backstory to if you wish (or not).

 The cons, instead, are that you're going to have a very 'limited' experience. Being constricted to a specific script, you won't be able to customize your character as much as you want, but in some cases, the choices you take during dialogues will help you 'flesh out' the sort of person your character is. And that usually, they are paid experiences. 

 A couple of examples:

• Shadowrun Returns/Dragonfall/Hong Kong: I couldn't let it out. A gorgeous universe where tech and magic blend together, one of the best settings I've ever met with (and a great inspiration, too.) Based on the Tabletop RPG, these are three contained stories with very nice characters and good (even if limited) choices to figure out who your character is. Should run well on older machines as well.
• Pillars of Eternity: A more 'classic' cRPG, on the same level with Baldur's Gate and other great titles of the past that used the Dungeons and Dragons license and system, it's a good title to pickup, with an extensive lore and choices to customize your character.
• TES: Skyrim: An example of open world rpg: this means your character is plopped into a world and from there on out you can develop and do almost whatever the hell you want, among the limits of the engine. Even follow the main story, eventually. Or not.

 MULTIPLAYER EXPERIENCES

 Now we're getting into the meat of it. These experiences will start putting you in contact with other people interested in roleplaying.

 The number of resources around for these sort of things is massive, so google is definitely your friend. You'll find communities roleplaying about everything (yes, even very, very lewd stuff of all kinds).

And lewd roleplaying follows suit.

 The pros are that almost all of these options are free (except one, but we'll cover it).

 

 The cons are the ones I've already listed - you won't know what people you'll be playing with, and writing and roleplaying 'quality' can vary greatly.

 It is at this point that I would suggest you get familiar with messaging/VoIP programs like Skype or Discord - they'll come extremely handy to keep in contact with the people you like, giving you the option to play again for a more continuative relation, and they'll be extremely helpful tomorrow when we'll go into full on tabletop RPG resources territory.

• Play by Forum: With the pros of being easy to enter into and giving you a lot of time to think of a reply scene, and the specific con of it usually bringing very slow pacing due to people replying 'when they can', this sort of roleplaying can be found in a lot of artsy communities (DA, FA, etc) with a simple search for 'roleplaying' and contacting members who are interested. A quick search on google can find you a lot of other communities into other established settings like say Star Trek, or Star Wars.
• Play by Chat: A term that encompasses everything between simple *does this* banter in a private message to more complex, specifically made chats and sites to support character creation and chat groups, the pros of play by chat are the same of play by forum, but along with that there's a much more speedy dialogue between the parts. Beware that the cons apply as well. You can easily find discord groups with a google search, or you can create your own little group with friends to try it out without too much of a problem! a great way to flesh out your own settings too.

  A mention aside is for MMORPG's - Stuff like Guild Wars 2, World of Warcraft, Star Wars - The Old Republic and so on.

 Some of them are free, some of them require a monthly fee, some of them require just a one time payment, but all of them tend to have a roleplaying scene of sorts. While the setting in this case is very well defined (usually following the race histories, storylines, etc of the world they're set in) you still have a lot of freedom in character creation, and can get pretty good interactions roleplaying wise.
 Another pro is that, even if you don't wanna roleplay, you still have a fun game to play in and make new friends without much of a worry about writing and so on.
 You can find a lot of amazing people, and these can turn into play by chat roleplaying partners, friends, sometimes betareaders, and even tabletop roleplaying companions. It happened with me!

 Cons are obviously the time consumption, money spent upfront, and the unsure quality of interactions, along with the sheer fact that you should make sure the game runs smoothly on your system. Choppy framerates can kill the mood.
 
 To give you an example of it, here's the RP side of Guild Wars 2 , where there are character sheets, events, and other fun and amazingly creative stuff made by players in that universe - and, like this, you can find an RP community in almost every other MMO game around!

 So, here's the resources just to 'get your feet wet'. Tomorrow, we'll get into tabletop RPG proper - and how to completely avoid the need for the physical table alltogether, thus ending this miniseries!

On Tabletop RPG's and Writing - Being a Player and Writing

 Hey! Welcome back!

 So, how's it going? Still wrapping your head around the whole GM thing? Don't worry. Took me forever to figure all that stuff out myself.

 I know it can sound daunting and complex, but really, it's not that bad.

 Now sit back and relax, and we'll talk about how it is to be on the other side of the barricade - one of the cats the Game Master is trying to herd all around his world and his plot.

And believe me, it's a fun place to be.

Give it some time. When you'll foil the GM plans enough you *will* become like this.

 Let's begin, shall we?

Being a player - What do I need and what do I do?

 Every roleplaying game usually has between 2 to about 6 or 7 other players other than the GM. 

 Of course, the more players are involved, the more schedules you need to sort out when we're talking of a tabletop game, so it usually settles to about 4 players max.

 You're gonna be one of them.

 As a player, you're gonna be required to own at the very least the player handbook of the game you're playing. If you're playing on an actual physical setting, you will need your own set of dices as well.

 Since this is more of a broad overview of roleplaying, I can't tell you exactly which system you will be playing with, but don't worry - the manuals are usually pretty clear on the basics and you're not alone. The GM at the very least should already know the basics of the game to help you create a character and know what to roll and when. After that, repetition is the base of engrained knowledge.

 And trust me. There will be repetition when it comes to rolling dices. To the point you'll immediately associate certain things with those terms.

"On Will, Constitution or Reflexes? I NEED TO KNOW!!"

 Don't worry. No one will expect you to know every single rule of the game the first time you play it. The only thing we're gonna ask for is just the will to learn, and all decent players will know everyone starts from somewhere and lend you a hand.

 With all that, your next step is gonna be creating a character. As for the GM and the introductory adventures, every system decent enough will have some 'example' character sheets that you can pick from to start playing the game right away and get familiar with the system.
 Or, as with adventures for the Game Master, you can create your own from scratch - give him or her a backstory, a reason to adventure, and basically make your 'alter ego' in this world. Needless to say, it's the one I think it's more interesting, and the more useful as a writer.

 The Character Sheet is basically....everything about your character. To keep the game balanced, most of your character's capabilities (how good is he/she at picking locks, at combat, at magic, how much he/she knows) and actual features (strength, intelligence, charisma, dexterity and so on) will be represented by numbers. You will have either a number of points to allocate on,  or will have to roll some dices, to determine these numbers. All this is to avoid characters that can do everything ever in the history of the universe - because remember: it's a group game. Everyone needs to have fun.
 Thus, most characters will probably specialize in this or that aspect - in D&D, for example, a typical party is comprised of a warrior to soak damage and physical feats, a mage for the arcane knowledges and combat spells, a rogue to find traps and scout ahead (and usually stab people with pointy things) and a cleric, knowing about religion and faith and being able to heal the injured.

 All of these things are usually done through the roll of one or more dices. As we covered yesterday, each system has its own rules for dicerolling. In D&D, a general roll is made on a d20 and adding or subtracting scores on your character sheets. The higher the number, the better, with a 20 on the dice being a critical success and a 1 on the dice...

"Omae wa...mou shindeiru."

 A critical fail. Oddly enough, despite the statistical possibilities of getting a 1 and a 20 being the same, you'll swear you see more 1's than 20's.

 So these games are fun and break the fundamental rules of probability and the universe! Neat, huh?

 And thus, after you and the other players finish making your characters, the game proper can start. The party comprised of the new imaginary people you created will venture in the world the Game Master devised for you lot, and in such world they'll grow in power, notoriety and wealth as they adventure through the setting and face weird and dangerous situations of all kinds.

 And probably die in a ridiculous manner. There's no such thing as an 'old' adventurer, after all.

An example of Player-Game Master interaction

 As yesterday, I'll make up a short scene between me, playing Zoe, the wizard, and Liam, this time with him acting as the GM. To ease the whole thing, we'll assume the party has been split up, so we'll keep this interaction short, with a guest appearence from Ann, playing again Irene, the Rogue.

 Liam (GM): "Alright. So. As Irene is scouting ahead in the ruins and searching for traps, you told me you wanted to take a better look around the main hall of the ruins, if I'm not wrong. As you roam around and look at the various walls, you can notice quite easily something on the floor. What you first noticed as lines decorating it and running all the way to the walls seem to be, actually, a set of very thin, elegantly scribbled runes that create the patterns around the main hall."

 Me (Zoe): "Huh. Go figure. Aight, I try to follow one of the lines and decypher what the language is. I'll cast 'comprehend languages' on myself to make things easier."

 Liam: "You recognize the language as ancient Aelish, something that hasn't been used for centuries to this day. After you cast the spell on yourself, the words are much easier to make sense of, and you can start reading the first branch of the line. This one seems to be speaking about the creation of this place, called 'Irid Daelochis', a military outpost of sorts to keep in check some unknown armies mentioned in the script. It details how the greatest engineers of the Aelian civilization laid down rings of defenses throughout the structure, with some specifics on the traps they set up to make the position more secure. Roll me perception."

 Me: "Zoe would frown reading all this and look at the corridor Irene started exploring. Trying not to give away our position too much, she'd just take a pebble and send it rolling on the floor to make a possibly natural noise and recall Irene here. As for the perception check...WELP. Fuck me. She can't hear shit. It's a 1."

 Liam: "Yeah, no, your character is absolutely certain everything is fine, and that around her there's dead silence. Is she gonna read another branch?"

 Me: "Yep. Allll perfectly fine, innit. Nothing to worry about. God damnit. Anyway, yeah, since it gave us some intel on the possible traps of this place, I'm gonna have her read the branch that goes towards the northeastern corner of the hall."

 Liam: "This branch seems to be detailing how the Aelian civilization started its conflict with this still unnamed faction. It goes on a lot on how they started becoming so paranoid that they had to secure everything from the enemy spies. Even the..."

 Me: "...Oh come the fuck on. Don't say it."

 Liam: "Even their writing and their history. Yes. Would you roll a will save, please?"

 Me: "I knew it...Aight. It's a 15?"

 Liam: "Just passed it. The more you keep reading the passages, the more you can feel something prying back in your mind, but you manage to shut it down just in time. You do realize though that something just awoke. And it's not very pleased with you lot."

 Ann (Irene): "Am I back yet?"

 Liam: "Yeah, I'd say by now between the noise of the pebble and a quick looksie you're back. What is Zoe doing?"

 Me: "As Irene comes back, I'd say she can see Zoe widening her eyes, flinching and scuttling back from one of the lines on the pavement. She definitely doesen't look pleased. 'Right. Quite sure something fucked up.'"

 Ann: "Irene will look at her. '...What did you do?'"

 Annnnd scene.

 Now, as a player, I want you to notice something here, that will help you a lot when interacting with the Game Master and the other Players during the game.

 In all of this, I never decided the outcome of my major actions (looking at the writing, and so on). I give the Game Master the intention of what I'm going to do, and where its needed, the Game Master is the one controlling what happens next - if I have to roll some dices, what I see, and so on.

 As a player you can't just autodetermine your outcomes, i.e. 'I look for a secret door and I find it on the east wall'. You just look for the door. Determining if it's there or not, or if you find it, is the GM's job.

 Same thing goes for interacting with the other players. What my character can do when it comes to them is attempt something. After that, it's either rolls, roleplaying or common sense dictating if the GM will let that attempt go through. Zoe can try to shove Irene to provoke her, but I can't say "Zoe pushes Irene to the ground" just "Zoe tries to push Irene angrily". If I roll a 1 on my check to push her, she'll just mildly annoy the rogue.

Typical example of your average D&D wizard attempting any kind of physical conflict.

And, pray tell, what does this have to do with writing?

 I'm glad you asked, it seems like you still haven't lost your amazing wit from my 'Hello World' post.  It's almost like...

 Ok. No. Used that joke already. I'm not that cruel.

 As with the GM side of things, being a player in a roleplaying session, aside from being awesome fun, can be incredibly useful for your writing - only, in this case, in the aspect of characters and character interaction.

 First things first, you'll have to make this character: this means figuring out what sort of person someone living in this setting could be. And the adventures this character will go through along with his or her friends will shape their personality in a very organic manner, making them fleshed out as they go. How will they react when put in front of a morally ambiguous situation? How are they standing on certain issues? You will find yourself having to answer these questions as you go along.   Just remember not to take arguments too far - a good rule of thumb is, when the party is starting to get really divided on something, take a step back. It's all for the fun of all the players after all.

 But, as long as you stay in that sort of 'boundary', there's another very important aspect to all this: you will be forced to think outside the box. You will be met with situations that might very well be common, but, unlike in the real world, you will have very uncommon ways to deal with it - magic, weird capabilities, and so on. This will help you even when you're writing your own story to devise interesting and innovative uses of powers we usually see exploited only in very limited ways.

 Think about this: how will making breakfast change if you had access to fire magic? How would society deal with it? There are a lot of nuances that you'll find yourself thinking about as a roleplayer that will help you make your worlds a lot more believable because you'll be used to think at normal things with unusual stuff to face them with.

 Not to toot my own horn, but to make an example, in Tiogair magic resurfaced in a technologically advanced world, and became common. What did that do? There are chefs in the best restaurants testing alchemical cooking, using essences and magic to give spice to their dishes. Astral projection is used in prospecting for minerals and other industrial applications.

 Just little aspects like this can help make your worldbuilding a lot more complete, because those capacities are not just that 'special power' - but an intrinsic element of your characters, or even society as a whole, affecting their day to day life.

 Another good aspect is the fact that your characters will grow, and you'll have a chance to build firsthand fantasy/fictional dialogues with other people. And that's amazing. Because it can help you give the characters in your story more natural, realistic banters and reactions to situations - because you saw it play out in a similar situation somewhere else.

 And, last, but not least, one of the most important lessons of them all in my opinion: your character can't do EVERYTHING EVER. Yes, in RPG's we usually stick to one role, while in books your main characters tend to be a lot more...'proficient' than others. But let's be honest: we all know the danger of falling into the Mary Sue/Gary Stu trope. Having to move your character in a setting you don't directly control, with other characters you don't control, will help you realize just how much more fun it is when there's actual, genuine interactions not only between characters, but between fields of expertise as well. And when you aren't writing the story, yes, sometimes even your character can fuck up. And get hated by someone. And that's healthy. A good character isn't a perfect in everything character. They'll need help, they'll give help to others, and sometimes they'll even get their ass kicked and have to go home with the tail between their legs.

 So!

 With all this being said, I really hope I've whetted your appetite for roleplaying games. And if that's the case, tomorrow you'll be able to find various informations on where to get started: roleplay resources, sites, and so on that can help you delve into this amazing world.

 And if you ever have any questions, you can post them on the comments below and I'll be more than happy to answer what I can!

 Toodles!

On Tabletop RPG's and Writing - GM'ng and Writing

 So, you've decided to take a look at being a GM, eh?
 Ok, you can take off the cilice from your thigh. Don't worry, I'll wait. We're all quite masochistic in here. You'll learn why in a bit.
 But it's actually one of the best experiences you can have!

In picture: typical instrument found in possession of religious body punishers, hard BDSM dungeons, and Game Masters.
"It's a relief after dealing with the party's dungeon delve, really." - typical RPG GM.

What do I need to be a GM? What do I do when I become one?

 First, take a moment to question your life choices. When did it all go so wrong?

 Then, when you finally come to terms with it, we can proceed.

 As the Game Master, you have admittedly the most important part in the roleplaying game of your choosing. This means having a clear understanding of the general rules and having the materials you need to find the specific ones and deal with every aspect of the game itself, which you obviously bought completely legally because no one here endorses piracy, do we?

 You'll be the one your players will turn to when they need to ask information, be it in character creation, in game, or in general questions between sessions to plan things ahead.

 If this doesen't feel already like a lot of responsibility, not only you have to be the repository of the rules - from the start to the end of each session you will be all five (and sometimes more) senses of your characters, you will be the world they move in, the people they talk to, the creatures that try to kill them and everything that happens behind the scenes. You will be the one mainly setting the tone and the style of the campaign. And especially, you will be the story they will be entwined into.

 Luckily, this gives you power: your rolls will usually be hidden, and since you're the one portraying the world and its rules, while you can't change them on a whim without it being discussed with the rest of the party, you can bend them from time to time for narrative purposes. Basically every single system manual will have at page 2 or 3 a variation of  "Story and fun first, nitty gritty rules second".

 This power, though, comes with a very important responsibility: you can't be antagonistic to your players. You will be tempted to, trust me, so very tempted to, but don't. The moment you start thinking it's you against them, the whole thing will blow up in your face and suddenly you won't have a group to play with. And you should always remember that you're playing with other people, each with their own ideas and their own characters. You can't just ignore their decisions for the sake of your story. But this is another important lesson that you, as a writer, need to learn.

 So, yeah, being a GM is basically like herding cats. Cats that talk. And that are your friends. But still cats.

Basically this. Every week. Only with more talking, snaks, and beer and trying to make a coherent story out of it. Also called "Recipe for disaster"

 After all this, you have two main options. Every system has usually some introduction adventures ready for you - these are called 'modules' in the business, and they're basically pre-written plots with well indicated intended characters levels, encounters, places...it basically does most of the work for you. The best of them have even the flavour text to read to your players to set the scene around the table. Of course, knowing your party, you're free to tinker with it as much as you want.

 Then, there's the second option, which is to me the most fun and most challenging, but absolutely invaluable for a writer: you can make your own story. You have everything you need to do so - you have the setting, you have the rules, you have the general functioning of the world. From there, you can create basically whatever you want. With some work, even readapt the system to your own settings!

 A gorgeous example of this, even if flawed, is the d20 system. What is meant by d20 system is a system that will use the roll of a 20-sided dice to resolve most situations.

 Built initially for Dungeons and Dragons, Wizards of the Coast (the game company owning the system) had a period where they made the d20 system open source - thanks to that, and to the streamlined nature of the character creation system, we have plenty of d20 settings: want to roam a galaxy far far away with a lightsaber? there's d20 Star Wars. A horrific foray into cosmic horror granted to render your player characters insane and/or dead in horrible fashion? There's a Call of Chthulluh d20 system. All you need to do is explore and find what universe you wanna play in!

An example of a player-game master interaction

 Before we continue, I'll give you a little played out, made up 'scene' in a generic fantasy d20 setting. We'll have a group made of me (gm), and three players. Keep in mind, in most of these games players have different roles to cover, with different abilities each, that will help them progress the story. We'll have Liam, playing Lord Vaas, the cleric, Steven, playing Ta'shal, the wizard, and Ann, playing Irene,  the rogue.

 Me (GM): "After a long travel through the deserted roads slithering between the hills of Adrimor, you see the what used to be a small town. It's deserted, and you can clearly see that the inhabitants seem to have just...up and left the place. Passing by, you can notice easily on the floor normal items, like a basket of freshly picked fruit, a cart left in the middle of the main road, and a pie left to cool on the window of the local bakery. Oddly enough, there is no blood or sign of violence - not on the streets or on the buildings of the village. Vaas, roll Perception for me, please.

 Liam (Lord Vaas): "Righty-oh." *a d20 roll later* "It's a 7, plus my perception score of 5...12."

 Me (GM): "Mh. Strangely, while usually this sort of events tend to be tied to some horribly evil event, you feel an intense sense of holiness coming from the place. Almost...too much."

 Ann (Irene): "I want to check the outskirts of the village. I prepare my shortbow and I try to sneak around the houses. You know, peek into the windows, have a looksie without being noticed."

 Me (GM) "Roll stealth. And perception."

 Ann: "...Fuck sake. 2's not enough for stealth, innit? 17 on perception, tho."

 Me: "You start moving around and initially everything seems to be fine. But as you try to peak around, your foot trips onto some robes. Something inside them breaks with a very loud 'crack'. With your experience, you know that if someone is around you just gave away your position to it. Nothing seems to happen, though. And as you listen to see if there's anything coming to check on your position, you can hear distinctly some muttered prayers coming from an open window a couple houses ahead. The voice is one of a woman, seemingly very distressed and chanting loudly."

 Steven (Ta'shal): "Right, I'm gonna cast detect magic. And I look towards the noise that Ann made." 

 Me: "You attune your arcane sense to the magical energies around the place. You can feel that a very, very intense magical activity just happened around here, and you can still perceive some of the faint magical items around. With Irene still in your sight, you can definitely tell that she's close to a growing source of magical energy, right beneath her feet."

 Steven: "Well, damn. Ok, my character will jump up, robes flowing and all, and start waving frantically at Irene. 'Yo! Hey! Ye lass! Ye wanna get the fock 'way from there, sum'thin's gettin' weird!"

 Ann: "Go figure. Aight. I try to jump back from whatever I stepped on and get closer to the group."

 Me: "Make me a reflex saving throw? 10 plus...6, right? Good. You manage to jump away just as the grass around your feet seems to grow and try to squeeze around your ankle. As you make your way to the rest of the group, the grass keeps growing, forming a humanoid figure with bright, white eyes, staring directly at you. It rises an arm, and starts speaking with a multitonal, eerie voice. 'You shall leave this place at once. You aren't pure of faith enough to step on these hollowed grounds. Begone.'"

 Liam: "The hell? 'I don't know on what ground you level this accusation, creature, but I'll have you know you stand in the presence of Lord Vaas von Elefheim, Administrator secretorum of second class of the order of Heleisos. While I can hardly speak for the despicable lot I find myself traveling with, I find quite offensive that a creature born of arcane magic, of all things, has the gall of calling me impure. State your business.'"

 Yeah, I know. I went a bit lengthy on this, but we're all writers, you can understand my trouble when I start writing a scene, don't you?

 Now, though, notice something very important in this whole interaction: I don't decide what the players do. The only thing I do is describing what's around them and reacting to their actions and their rolls. I clearly know what's going on, but the other players don't - and they shouldn't. They should explore the scene at their leisure, find what's going on, discuss, find a course of action. I'm there to make their stories happen in my setting.

 A good example is what happened to Irene and Ta'Shal reaction to it. Irene tripped on something, Ta'Shal saw that it was having an effect. He's the one that warned Irene, not me. If he didn't warn her, she'd end up tangled in the vines and wrapped around by the grass creature to be kept as its 'voice'.

 For all I knew, the characters could have just as easily said to themselves "know what? Fuck that place, we ain't gonna mess with it" and continued on their road.

Actually appropriate reaction. But hey, are you here to play or not?

So, what's the moral of the story?

 Despite my jokes early on, I think most of you can already see how the position of Game Master in a roleplaying game can be extremely beneficial to your writing, and, while definitely not easy and requiring some training, can be a lot of fun seeing your friends react in real time to a story you are creating.

 Being 'forced' to play around the fact you don't move the main characters of your own story can give you some exciting challenges in terms of worldbuilding and improvisation skills.

 You will see your best plans laid out fail. You will see your players find some amazingly creative solutions to problems you've put on their path, or a series of botched rolls can make them miss completely the hints to proceed you've put right under their noses. And what's even better, you'll have to go with them.

 You might prepare a hard, gruelsome encounter with a lot of gnolls to happen this day at this place, and your characters might be able to find a reasonable diplomatic solution to it. What then? Well, you're the Game Master! You'll have to come up with something else! Perhaps the adventurers will be tied into some of the tribes political shifts to make sure the gnolls leave this area alone?

 And what then?

 You will learn to make the plot happen despite characters fucking up, and this will be absolutely incredible for your writing. Because it'll make sure that when you write yourself in a corner, you'll have another tool to figure out that no, this is not a dead end, this corner brings to a completely new intersection I can take every road in.

 You will learn that failed plans and unforeseen events can be fun and a lot more interesting. Sure, as a GM sometimes you'll end up railroading the plot - after all you do need to get the overarching story going - but you'll figure out how to do it in a subtle manner. Get back the reins of your story when the story seems to go out of control.

 Aside from this, you'll have to make a lot of characters the players will interact with. And those players may ask the most absurd questions you ever heard to them, and you'll have to find an answer - or a reaction to it. Which definitely includes laughing in the character face or looking at them like they just went batshit insane.

 And I mean, if it's not the absolute basis of worldbuilding...

 Another great pro of this is that you'll have to tell a story to other people. In real time. With all the aforementioned accidents happening.

 In all this, you'll have to find a balance to keep your players progressing in the plot, but still in the dark enough to make sure they don't figure the buttler did it way ahead of time. You'll practice pacing, details in the scenes, basically every single aspect regarding world, antagonists and side characters that you can definitely use in your works.

 And you'll do all this ideally in a safe, friendly environment, where, as long as everyone knows it's all in good fun and no one takes it too seriously, you can all have an amazing time and some very, very interesting stories to tell.

 Trust me. Few things are funnier than some of the stories I can tell you in my days of running Vampires: the Masquerade, where a simple Non-Player Character (NPC) man went from being a ticket checker on a train to one of the most feared and revered vampire hunters of the land.

 And this story has a dancing gipsy vampire in it, too.

 It's a joy to try and to have these moments.

 So, this is it for what regards herding cats and plot bunnies at the same time. Next time, we'll talk about what it's like to be one of these aforementioned cats.

 Check in tomorrow for the next part!