Levi McCormick

Any text you want.

After many weeks, we finally got our whole group together for our D&D game. The players have been adventuring to destroy Fasal, an undead sorcerer they inadvertently released from a five century prison. They possess three items he created and aim to unite the energy to create an item useful in combating him.

I had a long time to write and develop an engaging storyline and I think it showed. They have discovered a magical foundry in an abandoned city, once inhabited by Fasal. They were attacked by a crystal dragon, which was taken down by a chance spell from a magical staff they discovered in the ruins. After the battle with the dragon, they were visited by an emmisary from the sorcerer. It was a race to beat him to the magical foundry. His lieutenant, Shiverbone, waited for them in the entrance to the foundry. Some of the party tried to circle around to flank him and were ambushed by an invisible Fasal.

After paralyzing the group, he killed them one by one. They all awoke in a bleak, blizzard wracked landscape. After coming to grips with their new situation, they confronted a group of giant wolves fighting over a basket. In the basket was a human baby. After a quick battle, they carried the baby with them. Soon they came upon a small cottage.

The cottage was inhabited by Amroth, another wizard who aided them in their quest. He spoke to them, but mysteriously, he did not make a sound. He motioned for them to give him the baby, and after they complied, he closed the door, forcing them back into the cold. They continued along the seeming path. Moments later, the cottage burst into flames, and we adjourned.

It was great to get everyone together and it was obvious we had all missed each other. It was hard to keep the group focused on what was happening. I could have either one side or the other. It was also hard to hear some of the softer spoken players at times. I’d like to think that is because everyone was having such a good time. I know I did.

The last few sessions of my game have been really weak. I have relied too much on specific people showing up, and when they don’t, it makes it difficult for me to run the game I envisioned. This has resulted in me asking myself, why do we play role-playing games? Why don’t we just sit at home and play Playstation or watch a movie?

I, for one, enjoy the company of my friends. D&D is the reason we get together. It allows us to interact through a different medium. Our attention is not fixated on a single object, but shifts from person to person.

I also enjoy it as a creative outlet. I use it to weave stories that my audience can discover at their own impulse. If an aspect of the story I’ve written isn’t interesting, they don’t feel compelled to follow it. I drop it and move in the direction they want.  The immediate feedback from my audience allows me to create the story they want to enjoy. I find it very rewarding.

There is nothing like competition against a human opponent. This is the reason for the popularity of multiplayer online games, whether in shooters, fantasy hack & slash, or even more traditional games like chess. Video game AI is still so predictable that playing against it can be dull. The creativity and spontaneity of human teammates and opponents is invigorating. I do love watching my players come up with a solution to a puzzle or situation that I could never have dreamed.

Role-playing is a social affair, but with elements of competition and creativity, it is unlike any other activity I engage. This is why I play.

I study Yang style taijiquan. There are a number of basic skills, but one rises above the rest: sensitivity. In taiji, sensitivity is the ability to sense the subtle movements and pressures from your partner. If your partner is very skilled, these pressures are nearly imperceptible. Incorrect perception allows your partner to manipulate your structure to their will. Depending on the interaction, the results can be silly, painful, or devastating.

I struggle with developing my sensitivity in many ways. First, I hold tension in my shoulders and upper back, which dulls transmission between my waist and arms. By dulling the transmission, it is hard to distinguish the actions of my partner. Second, sensitivity is a continually evolving skill. There isn’t a point where you finally “have” sensitivity. It just gets better, without end. Third, I don’t do enough two-person work focusing on sensitivity. Two-person exercise usually takes the form of push hands, which can get very competitive. Competition usually leads to anxiety and divergence from taiji principles, like softness and yielding.

So, what do I plan to do? My tension comes from bad posture. So I am trying to be mindful of my posture and let it fix itself. I am also trying to stretch more often, and spend time meditating. Relaxation is key, but difficult to achieve.

How do I measure my advances in sensitivity? Through constant work in class. Every time I work with someone else, I try to think about how much more I am sensing. Sometimes there is more, sometimes not. I also like to work with people from other martial arts, especially ones that don’t focus on these skills. They can serve as a benchmark for progress.

Lastly, I need to focus on less competitive exercises with other people. This is difficult, especially if the relationship with your partner is naturally competitive. Maybe by preluding an exchange with a discussion of the exercise’s purpose, I can hope to focus on these skills.

Without great sensitivity, taiji becomes a muddy mess of flailing limbs. By sensing your partners movements, you can react appropriately and end an exchange quickly. Translating this to an adversarial encounter, reacting to subtle cues can end fights without even harming your opponent. To me, that is the mark of a true master.

I’ve been running a D&D game for the last few months and I can see it coming to an end. The flu has been taking its toll on attendance and I think interest is waining. I’ve already started thinking about another game to run. Over at Ars Ludi, Ben Robbins wrote about a free-form game he ran for about two years. I loved the concept of the game and wanted to recreate something similar. I’m not sure if my group would be interested in this style of game as most of them are there to be entertained and not make tons of decisions. A game of this format would require more direction from the group than other games I run.

Another source of direction could come in the form of an art collector in the local city. Stealing from Drake’s Fortune, I’d have lists of items he’s looking for and rewards of some kind. Obviously, rare or hard to acquire items would warrant larger rewards. Completing sets could result in information about secret areas or areas that are impossible to access (the Vault of the Deep or something).

In a few games, I’ve tried to have players research their own leads. Each time, it was boring and uneventful. I’m sure it was resultant from a lack of preparation on my part, but I doubt will ever be an engaging event within the game. This collector could be the sage they work with. He could be a central driving factor. Usually, characters like this become targets of enemies, but this game style wouldn’t necessarily have an overarching villain or group after the players.

Another source of inspiration for this game is Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. I really enjoyed running around the countryside and killing everything that moves, stealing anything that isn’t bolted down. It seems like it would be challenging to translate that experience to a table top environment.

Ultimately, it would take creating a highly detailed countryside full of dungeons and ruins for player exploration. Hopefully, I would learn to manage my design time better and flesh out enough areas for the players to enjoy. I’ll have to brain storm on it further.

I just finished playing through Uncharted, and I have to say, I enjoyed my time. It reminded me of a Tomb Raider game, platforming and gun-play. Great visuals and good locations made for a fun game, although the platforming was frustrating at times. Slight frustrations resulted from the hundreds of enemies you needed to gun down while crouched behind any number of stone pillars, wooden crates, or low walls. I can write all day about the graphics and controls, but my main interests are gameplay and story.

Drake’s gameplay is made up of three distinct modes: platforming, puzzles, and killing. I felt the platforming was mostly tedious due to the static routes the game designers created. The textures were a bit misleading at times, as well. I would often try to climb up to a higher ledge, only to have drake leap up and then fall back down. Other times, I wouldn’t know where to go and just jump for it, only to catch a seemingly decorative ledge. A bit more consistency would have gone a long way. Assassin’s Creed nailed the feeling in the free running game mode. Anything that stuck out or had a hard line in a texture could be climbed. Adopting this style of movement for Drake’s would have made every area accessible, making the existing linear plot impossible.

The puzzles lacked any actual puzzling elements to it. The game dialog would prompt you to look at your diary, which would open to the exact page. The “clue” either led to you walking up to that object and pressing a button, or having one of your lackeys do something for you. There was also a hint element, which I found useful. If you were stuck in an area long enough, they would prompt you to hit a button and the view would focus on the next area you needed to go or the next object to activate. The timing of the hint feature was inconsistent, often too early, but never too late. I guess the designers knew that if you were stuck, you’d go find a FAQ or something to help you out anyway.

Combat in Uncharted was fun, although the battles were often extreme. Every battle boiled down to you ducking behind an object, using the duck gimmick, and firing on people also ducking behind objects. The number of enemies was daunting, often 10 or more in a wave. Many areas had two or three waves, and some upwards of five. Ammo was never a problem, unless you were picky about your weapon. Enemies were liberal in the use of grenades, forcing you to hop from cover to cover. The duck gimmick was well done, allowing you to hit a button and roll to the next cover zone or hop over the low wall and run forward. The health system was unique and fresh. As you took damage, the screen would lose color and your heart would pound. You would regain health by not getting hit for a short period of time, and the screen and audio would return to normal. This allowed you to take on the hundreds of enemies and not feel too pressured, although the enemies would try to catch you in crossfire, or flush you out with grenades.

Another small part of the game was collection and rewards. Hidden throughout the game were 60 treasures that appeared as regularly flashing dots.  Collecting certain numbers would give you reward points, unlocking concept artwork and game design video. A few of the rewards had an effect on the game, such as weapon select and fast/slow motion. Other ways to gain reward points were killing certain numbers of enemies with specific weapons, or in specific ways, like while hanging from a ledge or killing them with a single punch after weakening them with gunfire. These achievements were fun to collect and some quite challenging. It reminded me of the rewards in N64’s Goldeneye.

Finally, the story was every bit as cliché and contrived as every other recent video game. The girl falls for the hero, people double-cross each other in obvious ways. There is no attempt to make the story innovative, but it is fairly entertaining. Interestingly, this was the first game I’ve played in a few years that didn’t leave an open ending for a sequel, although I’m sure they’ll try to make one. Hopefully with some different characters.

Next time, I’ll cover how Uncharted will influence my future game designs and concepts.

My first official post. I’m planning on launching this site with mini-parallel adventures for download. It will also showcase some of my writing samples. Now and again, I’ll also post observations on my journey through internal martial arts.