what? it's been a year?

[Marksman45]

Jaheseus H. Christ, where the hell does the time go.

Hello, everyone! What did I miss?

Still in Oklahoma here, still playing the music (I kick ASS on the piano now, playing contrapuntal parts and the whole bit). Had a steady income for about two years now, which is something that a guy could get used to, as well as living in a house that doesn't belong to your parents.

And, yeah, big thing on my brain lately is, go figure, Roleplaying Games. Seriously, I encountered a website called The Forge, dedicated to indie RPGs as well as advancements and innovation in the form, that rekindled my old interest in these weird activities where people sit around a table with some stuff written down on some pages and a few dice or playing cards or what-have-you. So now I'm writing my own games all over the place, about all kinds of things. I'll probably beat you all over the head with one or two at some point :) Now, don't gimme that funny look, RPGs aren't for geeks in their mother's basements anymore--at least, not all of them. Now we have games where the players actually create stories (not play through a story that was made up beforehand, which has historically been the most widespread mode of RPG play) through the process of play with real themes, hard-hitting, inspiring, emotional, HUMAN themes. By playing a game! It's true! I've seen it happen! They're known as Narrativist games, and if they don't sound cool then I fear for your soul.

So, yeah, that's what I've been up to.
-Marshall

[Arcadia]

hi, beautiful-hands!!!!!

welcome again!!!!!!!! share your music, if you want!!!

[stilltrucking]

Good to see you old man
I been up to nothing much
I got a dog
WHhch is a real blessing
After twenty eight years of solitude.

What we been up to lately is talking about you

mnaz Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 10:32 pm

Yes. "God", however one would conceive of "God", is a mystery if nothing else. I remember Marksman 45 had some mind-tweaking thoughts on the subject back on the LK boards. I couldn't find the posts I was looking for, but I found these posts, peripherally related, at least... (I hope it's kosher to link to these).

http://www.studioeight.tv/phpbb/viewtop ... c&start=15


Any of those games you working on based on the Rust Belt stories?

[mnaz]

Marksman... What a coincidence. Like ST said, I was just thinking about some of your writings from the old litkix boards-- that stuff about the nature of God and all... mind-bending, but instinctively sensible on some level... I went thru the archives (Utterances) but could not find it. I just re-checked Aug.-Oct. of '03 one more time... still nothing... need to let it go, I suppose. Anyway, good to hear from you again... (Hear?)

...........
...........

[Marksman45]

Arcadia,
Hey, these hands may be beautiful, but remember that they can kill an ox at a hundred-yard range through one deadly cthonic chord of doom! :) Ragnarok 'n roll an' all that jazz

I've got some new music on the Dream & Shadow Huntsman Group's mySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/dashg
However, although some of them feature keyboard parts, none of them showcase my wicked new piano skills.

truckin',
Yes, in fact, I *am* working on a game about the Rustbelt, and it's even a shot at Narrativist design (most of the other games I'm working on are what are known as Simulationist, which basically means that imagining, adding to, and exploring the fictional world of the game is its own reward; kindof like slice-of-life fiction as compared to a classical novel). And you can even read the rough draft of it here. Of course, that draft is written with an audience in mind that is familiar with RPGs, so there might be some jargon here and there (my aim as I gradually refine the game is to ultimately present it in a form that non-roleplayers can understand as readily as us geeks).

mnaz,
Oh, man, you should hear the stuff that's swimming around in my head on the subject now. But, I think the thread you're looking for was called something like "the deus theory." It might not have been on Utterances, now that I think about it. For some reason I'm getting the feeling that it was on one of the writing boards.

[hester_prynne]

Hey Marksman! Good to see you and I can't wait to hear some of your thoughts regarding what's been going on in the news re the election...
Welcome back!
H

[Marksman45]

Oh, Theda, I can barely watch the news for two minutes before I'm ready to kick the TV screen in. And it's not just the politics that does it, either. It's some Hollywood slut in the headlines on the fucking NEWS or it's another bag of human atrocity turned into ratings fodder or it's spin doctors calmly "explaining" what's going on after we've just been told what's going on or it's incompetent and/or unprofessional newscasters who are taking no pride in their work (if you're gonna do something, especially if you're going to get paid more than I do for doing it, you better damn well do it PROPERLY).

So, that's my thoughts on the news :)
-Marshall

[Lightning Rod]

Mars,
it's good to see your face. I was just fondling my copy of your cd the other day and thinking about getting in touch since we are now in the same general region.

(I'm holding open auditions for my new band. You'll have to fight me for the keys though.)

[Arcadia]

I don´t fear you Shadow Huntsman!!. I´m an spectral warrior in the mayan horoscope

banjos & mandolines!!!!!!!!!! and in witch trails the singing voice reminds me somehow to Morrison!!!!!!! I love that!!!!!!!! Great music, congratulations & thanks for sharing!!!!!!!!

(and hey, I saw between your friends old-Bill surrounded by little fairies!!!!! )

[stilltrucking]

Thanks for the music
I enjoyed it.

Looking at the characters, Grizzled seems interesting to me. Maybe because I am.


I never thought about using RPG for my various sock puppets/psuedo-nyms. Puts me in mind of something charlie chaplin said in his autobiography. He would build his movie sets before he had a script. The script evolved out of the set. Interesting to me,



That probably makes no sense to anyone but me. I guess I am trying to say something has "clicked" into place. Thanks for the inspiration.




I been trying to find a post you made to litkicks about the bible, the story of jesus. I got so many bookmarks, I am pretty sure I have it somewhere.

[Marksman45]

Arcadia,
Thanks for listening!
Oh, here's some more music, my dance music project, the Rocketship Revenge: http://www.myspace.com/therocketshiprevenge
It blends modern electronic dance stuff with '50s and '60s dance stuff.

truckin',
Yes, you have pointed out what the primary strength of an RPG used for storytelling is: it provides structure (just like Chaplin's sets). One of the big stopping points that a lot of non-roleplaying people have when approached with a game (if they can get past the geek-in-the-basement image) are the rules that are known as "resolution mechanics," which are basically the rules by which we, the players, decide what happens--a lot of people see that as counterproductive to making a story, but it's in fact a necessary part of RPG design; a system by which you decide what happens is always part of it whether it's the rules out of the book or "just decide and have fun." Problem is, "just decide and have fun" is actually a pretty lame system, prone to bullying and endless consensus debate.

If I can get people past that, then they tend to ask what's up with these weird dice (not just six-siders, but four, eight, ten, twelve, and twenty; they make 24s and 30s too, but I've never used 'em; The Rustbelt only uses 10-siders, AKA d10's). If there's dice involved (not all games use them), they can play a very strong role to A.) provide an element of uncertainty and B.) springboard the plot into a place that nobody could have predicted it going. All of which is a good thing. For an excellent example, let me point you to one of my favorite designs by someone else, Philippe Tromeur's Wuthering Heights, a hilarious game based on the Romantic tragedies by the Bronte sisters and their ilk. (I've also scratched up a variant of Philippe's game, applying his systems to the ouevre of Edward Gorey and calling it The Hip-Deep Trilogy)

We just played a game of The Rustbelt last night, and got a pretty decent story out of it. I'll post an account of it at some point.

Clay,
Ah, man, I wish I could come play with you, but I won't be able to get enough time off for quite some time (my supervisor's on vacation and I'm filling in for her) if at all. Drat.

[Marksman45]

Oh, and truckin',
The only post I can remember about the story of Jesus was that one that mnaz already linked, the one that starts out "in the beginning."

[stilltrucking]

Yes this is the one

Of course, things didn't go quite as he planned, and people started doing evil things in his son's name. In this lifetime (and many before it), he gots m'humangetsmeblues


(well, that's MY theory, anyway)

http://www.litkicks.com/msgArchive.php?message=496905

speaking of

(if they can get past the geek-in-the-basement image)

I like this Einstein quote:

Einstein also said that behind every great theory there is a simple physical picture that even lay people can understand. In fact, he said, if a theory does not have a simple underlying picture, then the theory is probably worthless. The important thing is the physical picture; math is nothing but bookkeeping.

http://futurepositive.synearth.net/2003/04/29

Sure missed you
glad you is back

[stilltrucking]

Also missing litkicks
the more I go back and poke around in the archives
the more I realize what a truly wonderful place it was
It will always be my Camelot

[stilltrucking]

gypsy joker
be my character
for dealing with
decadence

beautiful brother
did rilke die in vain
pessimism abounds
freud took a walk with rilke
in the summer of 1914
the great war to destroy civilization
rilke mourns

not to change the subject
but you know those websites
that keep track of mis-heard song lyrics
"poison him with self confidence"
a dylan song I miss heard I think

http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/desolation.html

keep on trucking baby brother
you keep my hope alive

Freud compalined
that where ever he went
a poet had been there first
I think rilke had the clearer vision than old uncle siggie.

I love those rust belt stories
Seems like a long time since I read them
Time to again
with a geezer memory like mine it will be like reading them for the first time.
in the virgin now

last thing on my mine is giving you any invidious honors.