The Slow Blade Penetrates The Culture

 

Like the new map?  I made it with my own tentacles!  ;)

I was on a FB group devoted to David Hargrave and Arduin, posting something about my latest book, Primordial Chaos: Gonzo Like A Fucking Boss (now that KS backers have theirs, I'll be releasing it to the general public tomorrow morning), when I find myself embroiled in a discussion.

A dude commented on my post, letting me know that I'm no Dave Hargrave, and Arduin "wasn't as gonzo as you think."  When I mentioned that things change over time, he said that I'm nowhere near as good as Hargrave.  

All props and praise due to those who came before... Gygax, Arneson, Hargrave, and so on.  This isn't about who's better or worse.  It's about how culture moves through the decades.  While there are certain factors that balance and mitigate, restrain and conserve what was, an even greater force constantly pushes things forward, making them faster, stronger, easier, more efficient, longer lasting and tastier.  Yes... 3 steps forward, 1 step back.  Regression and going in the wrong direction are built into "progress."  In other words, it's not always a good thing.  Nevertheless, we can't stop moving forward in time.

When gonzo was new and fresh, a little went farther than it does now.  Sure, the odd laser-shark floating down an orange stairway can give 2024 players a minor shock, but chances are we've been there, done that, seen it all before.  If you want the same kind of reaction today that you'd get in the late 70s, you have to up the ante.  

Sticking with that poker metaphor, if you always play Texas Hold'em at the $1 / $2 tables, say after 20 years, it can still be quite challenging and fun.  But that same rush you got at the beginning won't return until you move up in stakes to $2 / $5 or perhaps even $5 / $10 (my next personal poker goal) and beyond.  Additionally, common sense strategy, not to mention optimal game theory, back in 2009 looks a whole lot different than 2024.  That's because the game changes.  Not like another edition, because chess and Texas Hold'em aren't changing the actual game, but the way people play changes over time.

My stuff, especially my Cha'alt stuff, might be "ahead of its time" or simply yet another "wrong direction" because it sticks out like a sore thumb and isn't all that popular.  But even if Cha'alt is just garbage to certain people, it represents movement, conscious movement or evolution towards something - the next stage of gonzo, perhaps...  

One of the things that resonated in me regarding the OSR was the renaissance.  Taking what was and remaking it.  I know the term "modern sensibilities" is so beyond cringe that I didn't even want to bring it up.  Let's just say it's getting slapped with a new coat of paint.  

[Same map; laminated... will be using this at VENGER CON in July]

Gonzo was amazing in the 70s and 80s, and probably through the 90s, but gonzo in 2024 is different, by necessity.  Same fundamentals, but updated understanding and execution.  For gonzo to survive, it can't stay the same - just like you can't put your hand into the same river twice.

Let me put it this way because I don't want folks to get the wrong idea.  I love The Twilight Zone.  Always have, always will.  If I was creating my own show in the same vein, with the same vibe, I wouldn't just slavishly copy what The Twilight Zone did in the late 50s.  I'd take that awesomeness and go even harder so that same feeling the audience had back then, they'd have today.

Ok, I'm excited to show you Primordial Chaos: Gonzo Like A Fucking Boss tomorrow morning.  The artwork, the advice, the random tables, the Cha'alt adventure at the back is one of my best, and will bring your table multiple sessions of eldritch, gonzo, science-fantasy, post-apocalypse, humor, sleaze, pop-culture, and grindhouse exploitation enjoyment.

Thanks,

VS

p.s. Want the hardcover Cha'alt trilogy?  here's how!  Want to join the Kort'thalis mailing list to stay up-to-date on what's going on in the skinematic Vengerverse?  This is it!!  Last but not least, I'm organizing a based-as-fuck RPG convention in Madison, WI this July.  Grab your weekend badge for VENGER CON IV: Post-Modern Apocalypse!!!

Every Encounter Is An Opportunity

 

As the title states, every encounter is an opportunity.  But an opportunity for what?  A better game, of course.  And, as always, better means more immersive!

This blog post was going to be a session report, but now I'm just going to explain and expand on a video I uploaded yesterday... here.

It was just after my last Roll20 session that I realized I needed to continue upping my game.  From now on, EVERY SINGLE ENCOUNTER must push the Game Master's paradigm, drawn from the campaign setting and directly influenced by whatever words or phrases (I suggest three) he's chosen as the primary mood, tone, atmosphere, vibe, etc.

What do I mean by paradigm?  Well, I thought about using "agenda", instead.  But that's kind of a scary word for a variety of reasons.  For starters, it reminds me of those 00's Forge type games that broke everything down into gameist, narrativist, and simulationist categories.  Also, it seems too political these days.  I'm not trying to unfairly castigate and scapegoat 74 million Americans just because my administration is an authoritarian dumpster fire, I just want to create a more immersive game.

So, what do I mean by paradigm?  Basically, I'm talking about the worldview.  Think of it as a forced perspective... or the focus.  The GM's paradigm is a conscious pattern being woven throughout the entire session.  In the video, I may have streamed-out into the weeds, so let's discuss a concrete example.

There's a group of orcs... evil, pig-faced orcs just over that hill.  The PCs will undoubtedly run into them.  How's that encounter going to go?  Well, what do you want out of this session or the entire campaign?  

Back up a bit.  Describe your ideal (what you'd most like to run at the moment) game to GM in three words or phrases, keeping in mind the rule-set, players, campaign world, and your own abilities, preferences, etc.  Those three things shall be the watchwords, the battle-cries, the call to arms of your game.  Choose wisely. 

I know it seems like extra work (and it is), but if we're going to the trouble of drastically improving the entire roleplaying game experience, it's going to take a little forethought and planning.

Taking a few standard watchwords that I've seen floating around cyberspace, we get 1) Grim/dark, 2) Whimsical, and 3) Spooky... Halloween will be here before you know it.

Now, that we have those three things driving our paradigm, we can easily inject one or more (grim/dark, whimsical, and/or spooky) elements into the orc encounter... and EVERY encounter.  That's why, when picking out your watchwords, you should make them open-ended and inspirational enough to keep using over and over again.

So, if I was to whip-up something on the spot, I'd make those evil, pig-faced orcs carrying the hollowed-out heads of their latest victims.  Maybe a tight, leathery skin covers the scooped-out holes so the orcs can beat a particular rhythm like a drum on these gory severed heads.  I'd probably write that stuff on a notecard if I was doing GM prep as "Bongo Orcs".  

Wow, that satisfies grim/dark, whimsical, and spooky.  Well done, Venger!  Thank you, hoss. ;)

Creating a singular effect, as Edgar Allen Poe and H.P. Lovecraft wrote, by keeping specific watchwords in mind, is like infusing the game with whatever paradigm you're going for.  And that infusion should happen at the microscopic level of your gaming.  In other words, EVERY SINGLE ENCOUNTER.  

Now, in the above example, I seeded the encounter directly with my chosen paradigm.  An alternative might have described the orcs standing over a human body like a pincushion, with a dozen daggers, spears, and swords sticking out of him.  Or, at the end of the encounter, the PCs might have found gold coins pushed into cowpies.  If you can make a case for the encounter, in some small way, furthering your paradigm, then it's a success!

Having just committed to this theory, consciously, I haven't fully explored it yet.  As an RPG scientist, that's what I (we) should do.  Use it.  Test it.  See if it works.  If not, why not?  But if it does... then celebration ensues.  Pretend you're carrying me around on a tentacled throne or something cool like that.

Questions?  Yes, let's hear 'em.  Shoot!

VS

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