--> 8/18/98 -->>

        ABOUT THE GAME --> Upon the mortality of one's character.
                        At the last Elysium, I really had the point driven home about how one should treat one's character as they would treat themselves.  By the end of the night, Arthur Drake was down to 2 Social traits, 2 Physical Traits, and 2 Mental traits, for a grand total of 18 lost.  I won't tell you which ones go where.  Looking back, I should never have been caught this low, but I was swept away by the fun of such things as: the Brujah rant, where I lost a few physical; constantly changing my appearance (for fun, when I thought that there would be no really eventful things left), which lost me a few mental; and the usual social challenges.  Now, by my figurings, Arthur is the third longest-lived character in the game, coming in at about 10 months old.  I guess I should have known better than to wear all my traits down, not to mention the fact that of my abilities I really love, I had none left.  But, there was one wild card thrown in by the storytellers, which -- I hope that they don't smite me for this -- really kind of pissed me off.  It was, in Vampire Time Zone, less than twenty-minutes to sunrise when I was assaulted in the middle of the Elysium building.  Not only would that make things really difficult for my attackers if they were Kindred (which I don't think all, if any, of them were), but it also almost guaranteed that I'd be down a lot for the night, something which seems to be more the knowledge of someone who pretends to be a Vampire every Friday night than someone who's a vampire every night.  But that's just me.  Anyway, my point was that there's lots of fun to be had in this game, but when you stop and think "I would like my character to live for a while," you also have to take into account all of the silly fights we get involved in, or the Brujah rants, and the like, and you have to really consider before jumping into something which could give you five minutes of fun, but may indirectly result in the death of your character.  For example, earlier in the Elysium I blew a willpower to resist somebody's entrancement or somesuch.  Later on, I could have used that willpower when I attempted to resist Rico's mind-tricks.  Again, looking back, I realized just how much that willpower cost me.  As a mater of fact, with it, I could possibly have taken Rico down.  No guarantee, of course, but it still gives you that itchy feeling in the back of your brain.  Above all, however, what I learned last Elysium is that I have been saved, once again, because other people's characters genuinely like my guy, no matter how twisted he may be sometimes.  A whole herd of people flocked out of the Primogen Council meeting, and when they saw that I was being attacked, they jumped to my aid.  For the second time, I was saved when I was currently being overrun and overpowered.  And I know that had I been at full strength, I could have done a respectable job against my attackers, since I always have a few tricks up my sleeves, but I can't be at all certain that I would have won the fight.  That's a good followup to what I discuss below: if you have a relatively likeable character, people will be willing to assist you.  The more likeable, the more likely the help.  I mean, can you imagine people leaping to help Arthur Drake the way he acted when he first arrived?  Not bloody likely.  Anyway, I think last Friday was a nice reminder of how our characters are easily destroyed, and that it takes more than big guns and a well-marked character sheet to keep you alive.  Even the longest-lived character can die...but it's much less likely if they have friends.
 
    NOT ABOUT THE GAME --> Upon having a real job, and what I think about it, with miscellaneous mumblings about the semi-nonexistant M.O.M....

                    This is a difficult one to go into, but I'll give it a try.  I've got my first real job, and this is my fourth work here.  Having just cashed my first eighty-hour paycheck (soon to disappear into the never-ending reaches of the realtor's bank account), I'm feeling pretty good.  Sitting here, misusing my lunck time (don't worry, I shall stay late to make up any time I use past my allotted time), I'm feeling very comfortable about my life.  The question in, how comfortable do I want my life to become?  Don't get me wrong, although this is indeed a real job, it's a very laid-back atmosphere.  For example, most of my day consists of taking documents that have been translated into Chinese for various corporations -- lesson plans, technical manuals, and the like -- and redoing the format with Microsoft Word and Adobe Illustrator, so that they look as physically close as possible to the original English layout.  Not too bad, but not too much fun, you might say.  It's honestly very pleasant, and the atmosphere at my workplace is very laid back, particularly since we deal many with corporate contracts and the like, and NOBODY ever simply walks in through the door as a random customer.  As a matter of fact, the dealings with the so-called "public" are practically nonexistant.  I do enjoy working with the public very much, but my friends here at work are great, and I deal with my real-life friends and such every night once I've left.  So I don't feel that I'm missing anything as a result of that.  My biggest problem as of right now is this: am I too drained when I come home, or am I spending so much time with my friends, that I am neglecting my creative side, namely the two screenplays that I'm working on?  That's a very big concern for me, and I'm not too sure of the answer.  Right now, I have a tiny bit of leeway, as I'm staying with my friend Dave King, and haven't a phone, computer, very much space, etc, to actually work on things.  But it still hurts that I'm not getting anything written.  Not only that, but the Mystic Order of Mirth [M.O.M.] hasn't gotten much past the drawing board, and what good is a secret society if it's a secret even to its creators?  Sigh...I'd tell you more about it, but I'd have to kill you.  Suffice it to say that the Third Divine Decree, paraphrased, is that "Will Smith shall herein and henceforth be referred to as The Fresh Prince.  D.J.Jazzy Jeff, being on hiatus, shall be dealt with on a case-by-case basis."  And that's one of the more tame Decrees...you can imaging the sheer straining, bulging might contained in all of the others...or can you.  Anyway, for right now, I'm going to dive back into document TM 11-FMS-201-13-1, Chapter 3, and finish renumbering it, as we've just done away with the automatic numbering system due to inconsistencies on various machines in the office.  You'll probably get more silly ramblings later in the week, but for now, ta-ta, and enjoy...here's to screenwriting on a Thursday night...hell, I'm leaving work early tomorrow -- No Elysium, sorry -- so I can move into my new place which may or may not have phone service hooked up, and my girlfriend Sara Gorecki's parents are coming up to help us move the rest of the stuff Saturday, so tonight's my last chance for at least two or three days...Espresso Royale and cofee galore, here I come...

                                                benjamin "Raymond, Raymond, and this is Raymond" sTone

--> 8/3/98 -->>

Okay, as I said on the opening page, this week's little chat is going to be primarily for new players, but it also applies to experienced players who are beginning new characters. I'm trying to come up with a nice way to put it, but I'll be blunt instead. Think more than twice before entering the game with a stupid, evil character. Now, don't take that the wrong way, not all evil characters are stupid, but that seems to be the track record for them in this city. Listen, we've got more than our fair share of bass-ackwards characters (THAT'S *CHARACTERS*, NOT *PLAYERS*) and we don't need any more. I am not, however, telling you not to have an evil character. In fact, they add quite a bit to the game as a whole.  Unlike in the movies, though, in real life bad people don't often go around flaunting how evil they are, and being beaten up by James Bond after he escapes from their elaborate trap. Sometimes you just have to shoot 007. In the equation of life, EVIL doesn't always mean STUPID. You have to bear in mind that successfully playing an evil character, and getting them to live, is infinitely more difficult than playing a straightforward nice guy. Here's the thing: nice people can go wherever they want, knowing that they're safe. If an evil character walks into Elysium, though, he is surrounded by "the enemy." You must be cunning, you must be prepared to cover your ass, you must be prepared to run away if the shit hits the fan, particularly if you're a relatively new character. There's also a nice mix of good and evil that can be achieved. My character -- Arthur Drake, jr. -- is much more good than evil, but he's certainly not the most cool-headed and polite Kindred in the city. In order to guarantee that the people of the city won't just ignore him and shunt him into the corner, he must do things to ingratiate himself to the others, even if that means using more self-restraint than he normally would, or even saying nice things and making the city laugh. Another factor to consider is that the storytellers are really piling the baddies on thick as of late, what with the Sabbat, and Rico, and the Setites, and the Inquisition breathing down our collective necks. Do you really need to have a character who will just fit in with them? Consider having a character that isn't necesarily Sabbat, as seems to be all the rage these days, but just isn't a nice person. Again, not to say that you just go around shooting everybody you see, but add spice to the cliched villan that so many players often present us with. Make it fun for others as well as yourself. To tell you the truth, I never expected Arthur Drake to survive for 9 months, and as a matter of fact, when I first introduced him, my good friend and Storyteller Michael Huyett predicted (and I agreed, reluctantly) that he'd be dead and gone within a month. Check it out, though, he's still "alive" and kicking. Kicking hard. Make your new characters interesting, but don't think that every new one has to be some groundbreaking concept. When was the last time, for example, you saw a plumber Kindred? They must exist though, mustn't they? Not all vampires can be all dark and tragic. And blur the lines that White Wolf lays down for your clan. Just because you're Gangrel doesn't mean you HAVE TO hate the Ventrue, or however it is that that stuff works. Use your own imagination, and you'll make a character that is not only long-living, and worthwhile, but a treat to all -- yourself included -- whether they be so good that they make Mother Theresa look like a bum, or so evil that Hitler would lock himself in his closet...go to it...

Your friend and mine,
benjamin lee sTone
moxy@tmbg.org