TaleWeaver as lightweight RPG system? Doh!
I got a really nice email from a fellow who just bought "TaleWeaver" over at Amazon.com. He’s using it pretty much as intended — to generate group story sessions — with some friends and his kids. But his wife is using it as a lightweight RPG system! Holy crap! Why didn’t I think of that. I didn’t get many details from him, but I can see a couple of ways of going about it. I may end up going back and editing the main book at some point to include some ideas on that subject.
I may also go back and reformat the book and re-self-publish with Lulu rather than Booksurge, as the latter takes a much larger chunk of royalties. I’m only really with Booksurge (which is owned by Amazon) because it was bought by GreatUnpublished.com, which was started by a friend of mine (Hi, Jeff!), who asked me to throw TaleWeaver up in a marginally publishable format in order to put it on the shelf when GU went online back in… er… 1999 I think it was.
So TaleWeaver may get a few more chapters on "Use me as an RPG," some reformatting, and a new publisher. Also… I’m looking for a way to easily, cheaply, happily, smartly produce the card deck as CARDS for the love-o-pete. Right now they’re embedded in the book, since "publishing" cards at either Lulu or Booksurge is impossible. If anybody out there has any good ideas about how to do that, I’d love to hear ‘em. I’ve been buying off-set print as part of my day job for years… but I don’t fancy dropping a couple grand to have a a crate of 500-1000 copies sitting in my basement for the next twenty years. The best thing about Lulu/Booksurge is that they are just-in-time. As of yet, I haven’t been able to find a just-in-time, custom, card deck print service. Mugs? Yes. Mouse pads? Sure. T-shirts? Of course. Cards? Not so much. Ping me at awhavens (at) sanestorm (dot) com if you have any ideas. Or any thoughts on "TaleWeaver as RPG." Thanks.
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Maybe I’ve been reading too much news from the Middle East, but when I read “RPG” I think of “rocket propelled grenade.” Since I’m having trouble picturing that as an application for a book on group story sessions … could you tell me what you imagined when you wrote “RPG”? Thanks!
Ah. Sorry. RPG = Role Playing Game. The first and (some say) greatest example being Dungeons and Dragons (D&D). Which is NOT lightweight. Other examples would include GURPS, and all kinds of videogames and online roleplaying games… anything where one person (often called a game master (GM) or dungeon master (DM)) creates a story for other folks, players, to work their way through.
So TaleWeaver could be used as an RPG system where a game master would set the stage by using cards from the deck to define a story, and then players would rely on the use of other cards to create characters, props and situations to continue the story and develop their characters and their reactions.
Did that help?
Thanks. I guess I need to get out more — or would it be ’stay in more’? It does seem, though, that at least some RPGs (your definition) would employ virtual versions of RPGs (my definition). Could make getting through that dungeon even more interesting.
Philip: Virtual RPGs? Heck, yeah. There have been video game and computer game versions of role-playing games as long as there have been computers. Solo games came first, and now the ones being shared by hundreds of thousands of players at one time are called MMORPGs (Masively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Games), or MMOs for short. World of Warcraft is currently the leader in terms of number of subscribers, with something like 6.5 million worldwide users having registered for the game. With realistic 3D graphics, the ability to share adventures with hundreds of other players at one time and compete/cooperate in complex scenarios… yeah… more interesting indeed.