Sailing for Atlantis will eventually see publication, but it is not now and I do not expect it will ever be one of my “big projects.” More likely I’ll lay it out with some public-domain art when I have a spare weekend sometime, and throw it up on Lulu. When will that happen? Who the hell knows.

On the other hand, if you wanted to post AP on your game, I’d love to hear about it, and address any problems or rough bits that you hit.

Of course, we started out fairly surreal (on the island of Lisbon, formerly the capital of Portugal, where angry Spaniards are engaged in a conflict with the Portugese owners of a local papermill), and things only really degraded from there. Still, much fun was had by all, and it was an awesome and fairly light-hearted ice-breaker for a new rping group.

Any news on revising / updating the rules?

There are self-identified immersive players who prefer develop-in-play to develop-at-start (to use r.g.f.a. terminology). A friend of mine can get immersed in both ways. I don’t know how common it is.

-Tommi Brander

Roger, why is the pretend so important to you in there? In my head, roleplaying is an experience in and of itself. Players experience a fiction, sure, but it’s still an experience nonetheless.

This is a good conversation. “What would it be like to be a closeted homosexual in an oppressive society?” says Exploration of Character to me, so does “What would it be like to judge the sins of an entire town?” The focus of each question is on the character (the homosexual and the judge). Not anything else. The question “What would it be like to judge the sins of an entire town?” is exploration of Situation, I think. Again, that is a Sim agenda.

Now, if the questions were worded “How would I treat homosexuals if I lived in an oppressive society?” or “How would I judge various sins committed by a diverse group of people?” I think you would, in these cases, have thematic (Narrativist) play. The difference between them is that the second set of questions puts the focus on the player and the first set puts the focus on the character.

Additionally, if the questions were worded “How would I suvive as a homosexual in an oppressive society?” or “How could I win power as a judge in a town full of sinners?” you might have the potential for Gamist play. In these focus is on challenge and strategy, but not solely on the characters themselves.

What do you think?

Peace,

-Troy

My take on it is “RPGS let you pretend to be Frodo.” They let you pretend you are experiencing what it would be like to enter a liminal state where you interact with the apotheoses of significant influences in your life, whether they be oppression, intolerance, compassion, stress, camaraderie, or many others.

I happen to think the pretend in there is important, although there may well be many people who don’t. (To be all nuanced and erudite about it, by “pretend” I mean “simulate in the Baudrillardian sense”, in case someone was wondering.)

Peace,

-Troy