One of the current enjoyable parts of my gaming ministry has been "The Clergy Game". It is a group of--you guessed it--clergy who have played a variety of scenarios and systems with a wide range of success. People come in and out based on their busy schedules so there are now more alums than active players. This, however, is the usual in many long-running groups so that is OK. Right now I am the Game Master. Mostly this has to do with the system we are using (RISUS) and also because i said I would. I love being GM but being a player is less time-consumig and also quite a bit fun.
In this post I will describe a bit how our group operates. It may be helpful for people (particularly working adults) who would like to get a game going but just don't know how to get around to it. This has been our struggle, too. First, our basic format... We have always met online. At first, we did this because it made our lives easier by taking out one of the largest logistical hurdles. We had--I think--one or two live games early on, including one before my annual Christmas party. Those were better in many ways, but the compromise is what enables us to keep going in the end. Now, with the pandemic and with participants in Connecticut and Florida (which is a state or nation outside New England) it is a total necessity. Also we have some basic rules... 1) No one plays a Cleric. This is what we do for work! Someone did, however, play an angel... 2) We will play at the appointed time if a majority of players can make it. It is up to the GM and the absent player(s) to figure out why the Player Character (PC) is not around. I usually find the best way to do this is set the campaign in or near a major city. People in a city have different friend groups, jobs, etc. It is harder to explain the disappearance of someone who was just next to you in a dungeon or on a wilderness trek. 3) Basically our game features a lot of improv. We follow the "yes and" rule unless things are just too ridiculous. We also follow the "don't be obnoxious" rule. Yes it has other names. If you can't play nice, play somewhere else. We are busy people in a stressful job trying to wind down. This is our clergy support/care group. If you can't be supportive and caring, why are you here? 4) Our games will be goofy and loose. The game system we use has very low "mechanics". This means that the system itself has very few rules and relies on us to fill in a lot of gaps. RISUS RISUS, the system we use, is only two pages long and it's free. I also play in D&D games and in Pathfinder games where the rules inhabit thousands of pages enshrined in three or more books, each costing around $40 a pop. Those games--with much more complicated mechanics are super-cool and fun. The "Backstory" and "Thrush" tags in this blog come out of a 2nd edition Pathfinder group GM'd by my former intern Shane (who also plays in the clergy group). The advantages are in the way the math that supports the system also allows one to create a character whose traits, strengths and foibles have a measurable game impact. In a low mechanics game--like RISUS--much more of the story is developed by agreement. The dice are rolled either a lot or a little--depending on the system and the group's culture--to create moments of tension, success, and failure to drive the story forward, just like in a high mechanics game. However there are just fewer formulas and rules defining the character, the world, and how those two things interact. I hope that makes sense. This means that in many ways the sky is the limit in RISUS. Both you and the world can be anything you want them to be. It is a bit less of a "game" in one sense--defeating obstacles with clearly define powers and skills as in a video game RPG for example--and more of a "game" in another sense--collaborative story telling. I like both types. I currently play in (as a PC or GM) four ongoing high mechanics games and two low mechanics games...one of whish is the Clergy Game that uses RISUS. Phew! That's alot. The best thing to do now would be to take a look at those RISUS rules. Generally RISUS is considered a "less serious" game. It relies on classic (and original) tropes and cliches to built a character. One picks a number of stereotypical (or potentially stereotypical) qualities and assigns them a number of plain-old six-sided dice to reflect how good they are at these things. A character, therefore, could be a "Forgetful Inn Keeper" with four dice and then a "Vampire Hunter" for three dice, and a "Cat Lover" for two. I played an one-shot where someone put all their dice in "A Ball of Light". Then when something happens that the dice need to resolve--like combat or cooking dinner--and the player or GM chooses which trope seems to make sense. In general it is fun. It is fast. Most importantly, these characters don't require a lot of attention outside of the game. The characters in Pathfinder 2nd edition? As a player, I can take a lot of outside game time trying to get the most out of their stats and skills. That out of game time is fun (again, fanfic backstories!) but if you don't have time for that, you should still be able to play. So our group is finally getting back together at the end of the month. We had to take a break as my back injury and the Pandemic made it hard to find time to play. Not everyone can make it but we are going to make an attempt. I will keep you posted! Until then, here is the link to RISUS, the best RPG in the history of the world...or not...you do you...
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Author's NoteA few years ago my intern and I began a D&D game for our church youth group. I wanted to get back into Tabletop Roleplaying games that I had played extensively as a kid and then off and on (eventually with my own kids) over the years. Anyway, fast-forward to now, I am gaming a lot and have become interested in the spiritual dimensions of the game as well as it's ability to spark the imagination about this world and other worlds. Archives
November 2020
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