Post by Celeste Berger on Nov 16, 2006 5:43:22 GMT -8
Okay, so maybe this should go under the house rules, but as it's not really rules perse I'm talking about here, I'll put it in its own thread. Nyar.
Something's been bothering me at Mage, and I finally put my finger on it while chatting with some folks today... we don't describe our magic very much. Well, at all, really. See, I've always played and ran Mage as a game where how you do something is more important than what you actually do. Even perception magic, well, you don't neccesarily just look... Bridget, for instance, has substances and rotes she uses to give her that "special" sight, which I've never really described.
Not describing our magic, what our characters are doing and how, means Mage loses a lot of its flavor for me. Mage, to me, should be a very cinematic game. It's not just "I throw a lightning bolt down the street," it's "I raise my hand to the heavens, chant in <insert arcane language here> and then gesture at the fleeing Cultists," to which the ST replies, "Awesome, so what happens is..."
I know not everyone's great at describing stuff in detail, and sometimes we want to skip past it, but let me ask you... what's the point, otherwise? What does it matter whether the Technocracy or the Traditions have a hold on the hearts of the Sleepers if we don't even know what the difference between their types of magic is?
Some description gets done, but not enough and not often enough. I also think that now we're in the garage we should designate areas more clearly... it's frustrating to feel like I'm in the same space as people in the living room when I'm really two floors up. Maybe mark off a little more than the Vampire Elysium area, give enough room for people to move around now that we have quite a few.
The key to all of this is for people to listen to others. I've noticed a lot of that, too, even from myself... people doing too much of their own thing and not paying attention to STs and others as said people describe what's going on. The point of LARPing, or RPing in general, is to tell a story and do cool stuff. Standing around throwing rock, paper, scissors isn't my idea of a good time... what we describe after we throw down is.
Basically, I'd like to see more description of what people are doing and how... and not wind up seeing "yeah, okay, whatever, so here's what I do" right after. Let's make this more Mage. I mean, the books repeatedly say that paradigm, foci, and magical style are more important that what Spheres you use... let's make it such.
Something's been bothering me at Mage, and I finally put my finger on it while chatting with some folks today... we don't describe our magic very much. Well, at all, really. See, I've always played and ran Mage as a game where how you do something is more important than what you actually do. Even perception magic, well, you don't neccesarily just look... Bridget, for instance, has substances and rotes she uses to give her that "special" sight, which I've never really described.
Not describing our magic, what our characters are doing and how, means Mage loses a lot of its flavor for me. Mage, to me, should be a very cinematic game. It's not just "I throw a lightning bolt down the street," it's "I raise my hand to the heavens, chant in <insert arcane language here> and then gesture at the fleeing Cultists," to which the ST replies, "Awesome, so what happens is..."
I know not everyone's great at describing stuff in detail, and sometimes we want to skip past it, but let me ask you... what's the point, otherwise? What does it matter whether the Technocracy or the Traditions have a hold on the hearts of the Sleepers if we don't even know what the difference between their types of magic is?
Some description gets done, but not enough and not often enough. I also think that now we're in the garage we should designate areas more clearly... it's frustrating to feel like I'm in the same space as people in the living room when I'm really two floors up. Maybe mark off a little more than the Vampire Elysium area, give enough room for people to move around now that we have quite a few.
The key to all of this is for people to listen to others. I've noticed a lot of that, too, even from myself... people doing too much of their own thing and not paying attention to STs and others as said people describe what's going on. The point of LARPing, or RPing in general, is to tell a story and do cool stuff. Standing around throwing rock, paper, scissors isn't my idea of a good time... what we describe after we throw down is.
Basically, I'd like to see more description of what people are doing and how... and not wind up seeing "yeah, okay, whatever, so here's what I do" right after. Let's make this more Mage. I mean, the books repeatedly say that paradigm, foci, and magical style are more important that what Spheres you use... let's make it such.
I never said it doesn't happen. I just said I'd like to see more. And am hoping people (including myself) chatter OOC less during scenes so we can pay attention at such times.