El Burro Volador

A while back I mentioned that I was working on a big project that was occupying most of my creative faculties.  Well, I’ve recovered a little bit from the launch of this behemoth on Tuesday, and I’d like to talk a little bit about it.

I’ve mentioned before in this space that I play tabletop roleplaying games with my group of friends every Tuesday.  Well, I know that the readership here is mixed company, some of whom have had no exposure to roleplaying games, so I’d like to explain a couple of fundamental concepts.

First, the way that I like to think of it is that my friends and I get together each week to cooperate in the telling of a story.  So far, this particular group has told classic fantasy stories – a quest to steal a magical apple from some wicked goblins, the exploration of a fallen dwarven hold, etc.  We have also told a gothic tale about a journey through haunted woods to the castle of a strange conjurer.  We have told a superhero story, and we have even told a story set in the dark future where an act of chemical terrorism traps a small band of assorted lowlifes in a bar while tensions between them mount.

Now, perhaps the most basic structure that needs explaining in order to understand how these games work is the basic division between the “actors” and the “director”.  Y’see, all but one of the people in the group are what is called “players” and each take on the role of one of the main characters in the story, creating this persona more or less from scratch, determining the character’s actions, and even speaking for/as the character.  The remaining member of the group is responsible for creating the underlying situations, playing all of the supporting characters, and adjudicating the rules.  Each different roleplaying game gives this person a different title – in Dungeons & Dragons this person is called the “Dungeon Master”, in Mutants & Masterminds this person is called the “Mastermind”, in Cyberpunk 2020 it’s “Referee”, while in White Wolf’s line of games it’s “Storyteller”.

Anyhow, that’s me this time around, and I have decided to try and make this story the best one we’ve ever told, so I’m putting in tons of work – including writing nearly 20 pages of fiction last week as a “preface” to set the tone.  In theory this story will run for most of 2009, with occasional breaks to keep things fresh.  I’ll keep you posted.