I really need to work on mine. At school, at home, in terms of hobbies, everywhere.
When I focus on it, I can usually power through just about anything that interests me. So I should stop dabbling around with stuff and just focus on one or two things, then complete them.
It struck me, on reading the Magicians, that I had fallen into something of a Quentin pattern with my entertainments. I always expected the next one to -really- make me happy. But normally I did not have the time or the ability to actually try them all. The recent combination of vacation/injury let me do so - and nothing really seemed to work.
But you have to put some time into things to see a reward. Is reading a book for twenty minutes, or forty, nearly as rewarding as finishing it? How about 20 minutes of an RPG? Part of the reward is the pay-off for the focus you put into it. Especially the way my mind works, liking to mull over things and digest them.
Jumping from thing to thing in 20-30 minute bursts just doesn't work very well. Reading RPG stuff you never, deep down, expect to run, doesn't work very well either.
Diving into a book, reading it enthusaistically, and finishing it has been more effective. Picking the right book is important, too, but my brain is pretty self-sorting. If I don't really like it, I won't come back to it.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Thursday, July 28, 2011
I mostly started this because livejournal is down, and I really, really want a place to write down my thoughts.
I just finished the Magicians. I thought it was excellent. I will have more to say about it later, but I am still sort of chewing it over in my head.
I think I need to read or I go a little bit crazy. My brain has to measure itself in terms of agreement or opposition to the books I read. It is like a vine and a trellis, I suppose.
Well, read something besides RPGs. I like them, but my search for the perfect one has become silly.
I realized lately that your preconceptions about RPGs become real since they filter how you run or play them. This doesn't mean that the RPGs have no objective qualities, but the subjective aspect is important too. So if you see CoC as a slow slog towards inevitable destruction, you won't try anything adventurous and it may well become that. If your DM thinks D&D is an endless succession of dungeon corridors, well, that's what it will be.
But it doesn't have to be, you know? CoC can be over the top pulp action and metaphysical weirdness. D&D can be political drama or nation building, too. Besides "feel free to change the rules" Your Mileage May Vary should be stamped all over RPG discussions, forever.
After reading The Magicians and thinking about Harry Potter's strengths and weaknesses, I feel like I actually get Mage for the first time. Am I going to run it? I dunno. I tend to like the brainstorming stage more than the diving into mechanics stage of these games.
It's not that I can't wrap my head around these things (I think me, Paul, and John memorized the most of the 3.0 rules, and were generally the most optimized in that we played spellcasters) but sometimes it feels unfortunately like work. The tedious kind, not the fun kind.
I just finished the Magicians. I thought it was excellent. I will have more to say about it later, but I am still sort of chewing it over in my head.
I think I need to read or I go a little bit crazy. My brain has to measure itself in terms of agreement or opposition to the books I read. It is like a vine and a trellis, I suppose.
Well, read something besides RPGs. I like them, but my search for the perfect one has become silly.
I realized lately that your preconceptions about RPGs become real since they filter how you run or play them. This doesn't mean that the RPGs have no objective qualities, but the subjective aspect is important too. So if you see CoC as a slow slog towards inevitable destruction, you won't try anything adventurous and it may well become that. If your DM thinks D&D is an endless succession of dungeon corridors, well, that's what it will be.
But it doesn't have to be, you know? CoC can be over the top pulp action and metaphysical weirdness. D&D can be political drama or nation building, too. Besides "feel free to change the rules" Your Mileage May Vary should be stamped all over RPG discussions, forever.
After reading The Magicians and thinking about Harry Potter's strengths and weaknesses, I feel like I actually get Mage for the first time. Am I going to run it? I dunno. I tend to like the brainstorming stage more than the diving into mechanics stage of these games.
It's not that I can't wrap my head around these things (I think me, Paul, and John memorized the most of the 3.0 rules, and were generally the most optimized in that we played spellcasters) but sometimes it feels unfortunately like work. The tedious kind, not the fun kind.
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