Comments for Eddy Webb: Writer. Gamer. Usually Not Dead

Comment on Death in the Family by Joshua Doetsch

Joshua Doetsch — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:11:40 +0000

Be well.

Comment on Death in the Family by PrimalFlame aka White_Wolf_Fan

PrimalFlame aka White_Wolf_Fan — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:43:15 +0000

I am sorry to hear it. My grandfather and one of my uncles succumbed to throat cancer, caused by their alcoholism. It really hurts. My condolences to you.

Comment on Death in the Family by Mike Todd

Mike Todd — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:49:08 +0000

That sucks man, I’m really sorry to hear it. I’ve got two alcoholic parents (both now in recovery) who are also both diagnosed with chronic depression — last year I had to drive overnight to Louisville to literally save my dad’s life because of it. So I know a little of what sort of hell that kind of situation can be like, and I wish you weren’t going through it. My condolences to you and your family.

Comment on Death in the Family by Phil

Phil — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:39:07 +0000

Sorry to hear that man. Take care.

Comment on Yanking Out The Wires In The Time Bomb by Death in the Family | Eddy Webb: Writer. Gamer. Usually Not Dead

Death in the Family | Eddy Webb: Writer. Gamer. Usually Not Dead — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:10:07 +0000

[...] Last night, I got a call from my mom as we were starting our D&D game. It turns out that my uncle, who has been struggling with alcoholism for years now, is now dead. She gave me a few details, but to be honest I was pretty numb for the rest of the evening, so I don’t remember them all, and I didn’t want to push my mom while she was having a calm moment Sadly, this kind of death is nothing new for my family. [...]

Comment on To the Far West: By Any Means Necessary by Buy My Stuff: Tales of the Far West | Eddy Webb: Writer. Gamer. Usually Not Dead

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 23:22:29 +0000

[...] To The Far West: By Any Means Necessary [...]

Comment on What I Learned from OWbN Girls by Caroline Willis

Caroline Willis — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 03:10:43 +0000

*Shuffles about the page, looking for a plus one or a like or a favorite button.* How did we express simple agreement before the hive mind?

Oh, yeah.

Good point!

Comment on What I Learned from OWbN Girls by Eddy Webb

Eddy Webb — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:21:17 +0000

Thanks for taking the time to provide your thoughts! I think that kind of escapism is the reason why horror movies are so popular — it’s a safe space to explore uncomfortable topics. I think a good LARP can occupy a similar space, as long as that “safe space” part is there.

Comment on What I Learned from OWbN Girls by Caroline Willis

Caroline Willis — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 20:19:52 +0000

There are two types of games that I like to play:

1) Games that explore what-ifs of setting, where the characters are more or less normal but the setting is super-powered or fantastic or bizarre

2) Games that explore what-ifs of character, where the setting is more or less normal, but the characters can be super-powered or fantastic or bizarre

Most fantasy games have both of these elements, but the ratios vary.

I’ve found that when I play games with a sort of Star Trek morality world where there is no sexism, I occasionally run across players who think that the world we live in now is like that, and there is nothing worth thinking about in regards to -isms or privileged, because *they’ve* never experienced it as a negative, and all their friends are into this game where everything is wonderful and equal, and therefore most of the world (except, of course, for Othered places) is like that too.

But in Vampire, for example, the game forces you to confront the choice of exercising the privilege of vampiric powers in order to live- powers that have significant downsides, as well, but downsides that make the vampires miserable, and do nothing to alleviate the plight of a vampire’s victims. This is a spot-on fucking illustration of the messy way in which privilege, oppression, lack of privilege, self-preservation and a dozen other life experiences interact.

Vampire feels like a #2 kind of game. And I value those games, because I get a chance to play with some messy concepts in a world that I care about, but one that doesn’t happen to be the world that determines whether I get fed and paid. I could plot the death of a sexist in game, and discover that the world doesn’t neatly split itself into victims and perps. We all play many roles at once.

It’s a different kind of escapism, and my world would suck a lot if there was less of it!

In conclusion: OWbN girls are awesome, and I like games that explore controversy too.

Comment on What I Learned From “The Witcher” by What I Learned from OWbN Girls | Eddy Webb: Writer. Gamer. Usually Not Dead

What I Learned from OWbN Girls | Eddy Webb: Writer. Gamer. Usually Not Dead — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 20:38:59 +0000

[...] not be okay. But there’s a flip side. It’s one thing to have a game where, say, you can choose to have random sex with a woman to get something. It’s another to force me to do that to proceed. It’s okay to have [...]

Comment on Politics: Throwing Chairs for Fun by Weekly Roundup: D&D 5th Ed. Edition | Roving Band of Misfits

Weekly Roundup: D&D 5th Ed. Edition | Roving Band of Misfits — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:03:56 +0000

[...] Fate wrote an article on how to use politics in your campaign. While somewhat LARP-related, this article is a must read if your PCs ever intend [...]

Comment on Mechanics and setting by Politics: Throwing Chairs for Fun | Eddy Webb: Writer. Gamer. Usually Not Dead

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 21:26:44 +0000

[...] designing a game, this power has to matter to the mechanics at some level (which goes back to my thoughts on mechanics and setting — it all applies here as [...]

Comment on Help Me Ruin My Vacation by Kelley

Kelley — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 00:52:58 +0000

One vote for Villain comparison here

Comment on Mechanics and setting by Eddy Webb

Eddy Webb — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 16:11:57 +0000

I hadn’t heard that before, but I think that’s dead on.

Comment on Mechanics and setting by Paul Tevis

Paul Tevis — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 16:03:22 +0000

Luke Crane once said to me, “System is setting.” I think he’s right, for precisely the reason you describe.

Comment on Mechanics and setting by Eddy Webb

Eddy Webb — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 14:06:02 +0000

That’s another good point, but it’s not as easy to point to as an example. But yes, D&D certainly relies on certain group dynamics, which is explicitly clear in 4e.

Comment on Mechanics and setting by Eddy Webb

Eddy Webb — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 14:04:50 +0000

In this case, I view “mechanic” as “something the game calls out as necessary to document.” By putting alignment on the character sheet, the system is saying that it’s important, and that shapes player behavior. Various editions do more or less on the “making it meaningful” scale (and I agree that I don’t think the game NEEDS that particular stick anymore), but it’s still a “mechanic.”

Comment on Mechanics and setting by Michael Cunliffe

Michael Cunliffe — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 13:45:00 +0000

A very interesting post. I would suggest that D&D is very much a game of archetypes – while the individual campaigns may have all manner of twists and changes, the game itself still relies on concepts like ‘evil wizard’, ‘goodly knight’ and ‘self-interested rogue’.

The alignment system helps cement characters into these roles, which in turn makes it easier to inhabit the plots of a typical D&D world.

I think this will help cement up my intended mechanics for the system I’m working on.

Comment on Mechanics and setting by Rob Sharp

Rob Sharp — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 13:36:32 +0000

I found myself thinking the same thing about Exalted the other day, the system may be clunky, slow and difficult, at least initially, but it is inseperable from the feel and setting. You start trimming bits you don’t like and you end taking away awesome charms and powers that rely on those mechanics for expression.

Comment on Mechanics and setting by Rantmo

Rantmo — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 02:55:49 +0000

Maybe. That’s certainly been true up to this point and will probably be true in the next edition (I’d certainly be very happy to see it jettisoned entirely.) I think that its significant de-emphasis in 4e has been mechanically positive; I’ve yet to hear any horrible stories about paladins being sexually assaulted to make them fall and that’s unambiguously a good thing. What’s interesting and pertinent is that the heroic D&D archetype/behavior is still there, even though the mechanics aren’t. The behavior doesn’t need to be driven by mechanics anymore; it’s on auto-pilot. It’s definitely related to the high-heroic fantasy genre of D&D but also, to a large extent, the instinct from previous editions.