Journeys discussion thread

[Rían]

I'm thinking (and I know some people here who are "in the know" might think I'm crazy!) of starting up a new RPG in the style of one that we did several years ago. It's actually more of a cooperative writing thing than the usual RPG. We each would write very short chapters or episodes, often using another person's character, giving any person whose character was used complete edit rights to preserve the integrity of their character. What I liked about it was that it didn't have that "choppy" feel of many RPGs, because we would write complete little episodes.

Here is a sample of one episode that I wrote:

Early Tuesday morning
in front of the University Library

"My name is RÃ*an, and it is a pleasure to meet a fellow book-lover,â€� she said graciously. “I’m so glad that the library has such a dedicated and careful caretaker now. When I read a book, I feel a kinship with the author, and even with the book itself – they seem to have their own personalities, don’t they? Reading a book is almost like being with a friend, and one can never have enough friends!â€�

“Indeed, I have heard that saying, and imagine it’s true,â€� said Sapthân absently, as he carefully opened the book and examined the inside of the front cover. RÃ*an bit her lip and vowed to speak more carefully; he did not seem like a man with an over-abundance of friends. She spoke up quickly to answer his question and to hopefully cover over her possible faux pas.

“It’s hard to say which are my favorite verses; I love them all, and depending upon what is happening in my life, sometimes I favor one, and sometimes another. But this, I think,� turning to a page near the middle, “is my favorite illustration. Is it not lovely?�

Sapthân murmured his agreement – he was enraptured with the rare and ancient book. There were not many like it left in the world today. He exclaimed sadly over a slightly damaged area, and RÃ*an said, “I’m afraid that I’m not as careful a caretaker of my book as you would be, but I know that my parents would rather it was worn out in love than preserved in coldness. But indeed, I am very careful with it, for it is one of the few links I have with my parents, whom I loved dearly. And it has held up amazingly well over all these long years, for we had highly skilled craftsmen in Gondolin who knew how to make books that lasted for our long lives.â€�

“Ah, I’m afraid that many secrets were lost with the Fall of Gondolin,� said Sapthân with a curious expression on his face.

RÃ*an nodded, and then turned to another section. “I think this is my favorite verse, at least now,â€� she said, “but more than the verses themselves, I love my father’s writing – it is strong and passionate, open-hearted and lively, as he was. Look how he forms this letter – and this one!â€�

“Very unique – an excellent example of a personal and individualized family gift. I have not seen many books from Gondolin, and it is indeed a pleasure to see one again.�

“Oh, you should have seen the libraries we had there ... but they are gone now,â€� said RÃ*an sadly. “King Turgon even had some manuscripts from the Blessed Realm, and so did several other nobles. There is a song I know that I think you would understand - one man had some manuscripts that he prized greatly and that were lost in the crossing of the Helcaraxë, and he wrote a beautiful lament for them.â€� She paused a moment, and then sang softly,

“Go Cuan Bhéil Inse casadh mé
Cois Góilin aoibhinn Dairbhre
Mar a seoltar flÃ*t na farraige
Thar sáile I gcéin.
I Portmagee do stadas seal,
Faoi thuairim intinn maitheasa
D’fhonn bheith seal ad eatarthu
Mar mháistir léinn.
is gearr gur chuala an eachtara
Ag cách mo léan!
Gur i mBord Eoghain Fhinn do chailleathas
An t-árthach tréan.
Do phreab mo chroÃ* le hatuirse
I dtaobh loinge an taoisign chalma
Go mb'fhearrde an tÃ*r Ã* 'sheasamh seal
Do ráib an tséin.
“That is only the first verse – there are many, as is the way of the Eldar! I know you can’t understand the words, for few today know my mother-tongue, but can you hear his sorrow?� she asked, and saw in his eyes that he did.

“The Darkness has caused so much sorrow,� she said sadly and looked away. “He whom we name Morgoth, for he has forfeited the right to his first name, was the cause of the destruction of so much beauty …�

Sapthân tensed up, but RÃ*an wasn’t looking at him and didn’t notice.

“The Dark One – I will not name him the Dark Lord, as some do, for he is no rightful Lord …�

She felt Sapthan stir, and turned to look at him.

Rian was my character, and Sapthân was another person's character. When the posts were more complex, like this one, I always checked with the other person via PM before posting the episode, but if it was just a little use of someone else's character, I posted and gave edit rights.

Anyway, it worked really well for a long time until several problems arose, some of which I won't mention because there were a lot of hurt feelings involved. But mainly the problems arose when a few of the people refused to give edit rights to the owners of the characters they used, or tried to take over another person's storyline (like person A wanted a break-in in a castle to happen, and person B thwarts it by just happening to have a guard come by right then, and person A then has another bandit bonk the guard to try to keep his storyline, then person B adds another guard to try to thwart the storyline, etc. etc.) Now part of the fun of RPGs is surprises, but also part of the fun is to invent something and carry it through. So anyway, those were two of the main problems.

(con't)