Reminder: Pirates are not funny

Two posts in one day may seem a little excessive, but since I have formally adopted "Pirate Queen" as my self-referential title, I couldn't help but share. Besides, I thought this would be interesting to those who know why someone once called me the Pirate Queen. Some of these folks probably know that I think highwaymen are "cooler", but that's irrelevant. I'm the Pirate Queen. (In rpg's) I didn't quite make it as the Highway Robber Queen, but I kicked ass as the Pirate Queen.

Still, I find the storybook, role playing game, and folk tale pirates quite entertaining, and do so delight in telling their tales, even if when they're horrible. The real life thing is an entirely different creature. One who is NOT funny.

We should be concerned that pirate attacks rose 10% in 2007. Yo ho ho...No thanks.

Even still, I have to ask: What would Abyssinia do?

Mission Statement Mission

In the past couple of years, I have committed a great deal of time and money to playing and designing role playing games. I'm getting to the point where the hobby pays for itself financially and I've received significant personal, social, and creative returns. So for now I'm getting what I put in. It can't hurt to ask occasionally, why make the investment, and to ask when the investment makes a positive impact on one's life.

There's an interesting conversation on Story Games on using cards (vs. dice) in role-playing games. It's prompted me to consider why I decided to write a role playing game, what keeps me interested in designing role playing games, and who is the audience I'm trying to reach with my games. So I'll ask my third question first.

I want to make games that would attract people who aren't Role Playing Gamers, in the traditional or "indie" sense. RPG's can be fun for people who hate TV, people who like board, card, or dice games, storytellers, folksingers. I would like for these people who don't come from an RPG background to bring what they like about story (or game) and play.

I think about how long it took me to actually play a role playing game, from the time I was first interested (elementary school), to when I first bought one (late 20's), to when I actually played one (a few years later). The things that kept me from jumping in when I was a kid were much different from the things that prevented me when I was an adult. As an adult, it was time, money, and stories to be told didn't grab me.

What I did like was the possibility to hang out with friends, not watch tv, and tell stories. I think those are attractive endeavors to more than just Role Players. So I want to make games that tell stories that perhaps you already know (like folk tales and myths), but you tell them at a different angle, with a different conclusion, different middle, or you bring in characters that don't have a great voice in the original telling, but could.

Also, the time thing. With two kids and full time job, my game time is quite limited. I won't rule out making a game that could go on for months or years, but I like the idea of shorter, single or multi-session games, so you get the satisfaction of a conclusion. This is a conversation I need to continue with myself.

Here's why I included the octopus picture: The Octopus Dating Game.

What are you looking at?

He who won't speak to me, but spends an astounding amount of time reading my blog? It's a little stalkish. I feel hainted.

Yeah, I've been looking at my visitor stats lately. I still don't get all the people who come here looking for "naked sauna" entries.

At this blog, I mostly talk about my kids, my hair, role playing games, both playing and designing (Steal Away Jordan, Murder Ballad Blackjack, M'Alice, and now Tales of the Fisherman's Wife), tattoos, Japan, food, creepy dolls, murder ballads, and autoharps. I haven't been in a sauna in months, although I really miss it.

The internet is not a reasonable facsimile of me. It's more like a photocopy of a photocopy of a photocopy. But if you must know some minutia of my life, Meg trimmed my hair the other day, so now it doesn't fall in the toilet and I don't sit on it any more. It looks much neater.

I strongly encourage people to leave non-spammy comments. If you stop by, sign the guest book!

Sincerely,
Parthenia, aka The Pirate Queen

Octopus Falls in Love with You

Utagawa Kunisada.
Floating Bridge of Dreams
(Yume no ukihashi), 1854.

I'm making a game for Chris for two people, inspired by my freaky tattoo thing (so you know what kind of game it will be), called Tales of the Fisherman's Wife: Roleplaying the Floating World.

Set sometime in a fantasy Japan. When the Fisherman leaves for sea, he gives his wife 6 words to weave a story while they are apart. The Wife creates a story from his 6 words (see title of this post for example), which she tells him when he returns.

He rolls the d4 to determine how long he will be gone. 1-4 days. The longer he's gone, the more they miss each other. The more they miss each other, the more graphic her story.

The Wife rolls the d4 to determine how many fish he caught. The more fish, the more leisure they will enjoy. The more leisure they enjoy, the more input the Fisherman gives.

But the Fisherman and his Wife have caught the attention of kami, oni, or otherworldly beings who try to seduce, possess (or supplant), devour, or serve them. While the Fisherman fishes, the "Wife" Player plays the part of the being attached to him, and the Fisherman player plays the being attached to the wife. Players take turns playing out what happens while the lovers are apart and vulnerable to the demons or spirits.

Players must successfully hold off the spirits until the couple is reunited. The Wife's story should incorporate the couple's escapades while they are away.

It uses dice and cards. A short game, no more than an hour. That's what I have so far, what I came up with at work last night. Now I'm going to sleep on it.

A Serendipitous Encounter

I love Atlanta!

In the airport, on my way back home, I bumped into my cousins Chi Chi and Antonio. They were flying back from Argentina, where they were visiting their son, who works there. A luggage mishap kept them from leaving the airport and going home to Auburn, AL. It also made it possible for us to cross paths in a city neither of us lives in, going in opposite directions, but both going home.

I'm in Atlanta!

This is short notice, but if you’re in the Atlanta area, I’m giving a presentation on Steal Away Jordan and game design at Spelman College Monday, March 24 at 6 pm in the Ennis Cosby Reading Room.

I’m going to talk about how I came to design a role playing game about slavery, about story games, the community, being an “only” in the community, and anything else that’s relevent. I’m also going to do a brief demo of Steal Away Jordan.

There's a possibility that I might run an evening game at the hotel or on campus. We'll see. Email me if you're interested.

Slave Narratives: Prince Among Slaves & The Story of Catcher Freeman

[From Stone Baby Games] I have a new category: Slave Narratives. I'm on a search for all kinds of slave narratives in all kinds of media. Fictional, autobiographical, mythical, books, film, spoken word, still life. I am particularly looking for slave narratives that break with convention.

Last month, as I watched Prince Among Slaves (the book on which it is based) on PBS, I realized that Steal Away Jordan has more in common with a televised dramatization of a slave narrative than a text, such as Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.

I push the notion that in SAJ you play a hero. Your character can be larger than life. Your story has a full orchestra soundtrack. Your character's costumes and makeup would win Oscars. Your characters may not get everything they want, and quite possibly may not survive, but they will go out in a blaze of glory. The audience will howl and weep and will cheer at the end.

Stories spoken out loud have that affect on me. It's one of those things that drew me to role playing games in the first place. I could not resist the chance to exchange stories. Reading a book is a personal story telling experience. Movies and role playing games are enjoyed best in groups.

Last night at work, I finally saw an episode of The Boondocks. Tonight I watched The Story of Catcher Freeman. It illustrates perfectly and hilariously the power of collaborative story telling. You have four people each giving their account of a legendary slave hero, in all his cinematic glory. Each story reflects the ideals and perceptions of the story teller, for better or worse. Best of all, it was painfully funny. You can see it here for now.