Featuring a call-in from Mirke the Meek, this episode is primarily a first conversation between Daniel Jones of the Primaeval Fantasy RPG podcast/YouTube channel and myself on the topic of in-character play through means intended to facilitate imagination and hopefully immersion in the character’s perspective.
Our attentive focus on Immersion continues. This episode explores how attention transforms our ability to perceive, receive, conceive, and visualize the imagined situations of our gaming into immersive and engaging experiences.
This episode continues our survey of the topic of ‘immersion” with the help of a meaty call-in from Safer of the Safer Fantasy Crafting podcast plus a further look at the notion of examining the focus of attention through a split lens of immersion and engagement. Previous episodes on this topic can be found at links below. In addition, written posts supporting these episodes can be found at the Casting Shadows Blog.
This episode features a call in from Safer of Safer Fantasy Crafting. In that response, he mentions a session of immersive play which was recorded and is available to listen to. That episode and more of Safer’s content can be found here:
This episode is filled to the brim with words. With luck, and your kindness, those words will make sense.
SEGMENTS:
[1] The episode begins with the promised reply to Che Webster’s epic call-in from the previous episode (Exploring the Experience of Play). To hear that message in its entirety, please refer to that episode. It’s right at the beginning so you won’t have to search for it; just press play and relax. In this episode, a short and directly relevant section of his call is presented for context but that wee snippet o’ Che pales in comparison to the full expression of his ideas. Don’t cheat yourself. Go back and revel in the full message. The context of the tiny morsel of Che in this episode reveals the semantic nuance of Frames that were obvious to Che but not to me, and the understanding of switching costs in cognition when “multitasking” or alternating between two tasks – an idea upon which we are in full agreement: at least for certain tasks.
[2] We then move into what might be the meat or might be the side dish of this meal, practical examples of using understanding of layers to inform how we play.
[3] The last main segment of the episode is a recap of ideas I have expressed about a lexicon of useful terms, jargon, and techniques for roleplaying games.
Promotional Blurb: This classic study still provides one of the most acute descriptions available of an often misunderstood subculture: that of fantasy role playing games like Dungeons & Dragons. Gary Alan Fine immerses himself in several different gaming systems, offering insightful details on the nature of the games and the patterns of interaction among players—as well as their reasons for playing.
[7] All for One: Regime Diabolique (Triple Ace Games, Musketeers face Supernatural Threats and Intrigue, Ubiquity) Actual Play Playlist
Solo Player Episode: Margot; An invisible experience of immersion
The next episode will feature Eloy Cintron, known on YouTube as Umbramancer, who shares his practical application of all of this theory talk to D&D as we explore the metric by which he assessed my ideas on Layers of and Approaches to Play: Dungeon Crawl Mode vs Story Mode in Dungeons & Dragons.
Remember!
#RPGaDay2023 is on its way. Check the Autocratik blog by David Chapman or my Casting Shadows blog for all the details! Also, check out this fantastic warm-up contest by Nerd’s RPG Variety Cast as we wait for August to arrive!
This is another one of Runeslinger’s Reflections from the Road episodes, now replete and complete with rain and hydroplaning!
No Callers were hurt or drowned in the making of this episode. Thanks to Spencer/FreeThrall and Jason for their messages! Visit Keep off the Borderlands and the Nerd’s RPG Variety Cast for more of those fine gentlemen. References to Roleplay Rescue abound in this episode. Seek it out to learn why! You can interact on these and other gaming topics by sending a voice message via SpeakPipe or sending me a recording via e-mail or Discord. Contact me by e-mail at runescastshadows at gmail dot com
#RPGaDay2023 is on its way. Check the Autocratik blog by David Chapman or my Casting Shadows blog for all the details! Also, check out this fantastic warm-up contest by Nerd’s RPG Variety Cast as we wait for August to arrive!
Using an example from the Halloween Cerebrevore episode, we briefly suggest some ideas about playing for character experience versus playing a role in a story~
Please join me as I navigate three very different topics with the help of some kind callers. This episode features calls from hosts of The GMologist Presents, Hindsightless, Spikepit, and Nerd’s RPG Variety Cast podcasts. Karl, Joe, Colin, and Jason were kind enough to listen to one or more episodes of this podcast and have called in to give depth and meaning to the conversation. Links to those shows are below.
Topic One: Difference between Cinematic and Campaign Modes in Free League’s Alien RPG
Sections include notes on my guest appearance on Roundtable Roulette with host Craig Shipman and fellow guest Seth Skorkowsky, thoughts about the next RPGaDay (2022), more on our ongoing but sometimes interrupted Alien Campaign, and a special focus on the once-again recent and always interesting topic: immersion thanks to an interesting series of observations and call-ins appearing on the Nerds’ RPG Variety Cast.
Music can be a useful tool when playing an RPG, but in my experience, I have found it to be even more useful in preparation for play. In this episode, I survey some of the ways I have found to aid my preparation for improvisation with music and playlists. We also touch on, thanks to the interest of The GMologist Presents and Hindsightless podcasts, the use of the incredible Operation: Mindcrime in these pursuits.
At the bottom of this page, I have placed a BONUS EPISODE where we go into specifics about the use of Mindcrime in play in my World of Darkness days~
Part 1 – Context of using music for Improvisation and Example 1: character playlists
Part 2 – Example 2: Using Operation: Mindcrime by Queensryche on the metalevel for preparation and reference in play
Part 3 – Using variations, covers, and remakes and Example 3: Tom Waits songs to inspire an NPC
Further Example Playlists:
Tom Waits: Delta Green – tRUST
Icecream Man – God’s Away on Business – Murder in the Red Barn – What’s he Building? – 16 shells from a 30.06
Tragically Hip: Delta Green – Seasons of Deepening Dismay
She Didn’t Know – 38 Years Old – Little Bones – Locked in the Trunk of a Car – Nautical Disaster
Various Artists (re: Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds)
Dimensional Shambles – Red Right Hand covers, variations, and remakes
Broaching the subject of roleplaying games focused on emotional reactions of self-protection, we take some broad examples such as Call of Cthulhu and FFG’s Star Wars Roleplaying to get things going. We look at two shades of this disquieting emotion: Horror and Fear. We look at how our two example games invoke it mechanically for the character, and what we as players can do to facilitate more than a hat tip to the reaction the character is experiencing. This episode covers a lot of ground, digs up a few graves, kicks in a few doors, and perhaps opens some old books that should stay closed, but all of that is being done in the spirit of sharing how we actually play~
Casting Shadows Podcast 