Session 13 Missing in Action

I've got some bad news: Blogger went nusto over the weekend and somehow deleted several posts from our site. I was able to restore both yesterday's post and the other post containing Session 12 summary, but it looks like I lost the session 13 finale. Older posts seem to be intact, it just messed with whatever I typed up during the weekend. I thought I had a copy of Session 13 document on my work computer, thought being the key word. I forgot that Precoat upgraded my old rickety pc last week, essentially overwriting any local files on my system. What this means is that I might have to rewrite session 13 from scratch. I'm a bit pissed off regarding this. and I'm going to check with the IT guys to see if my old hard drive hasn't been wiped. I really don't want to have to type this thing again! Anyways, I'm sorry for the delay. If you guys haven't noticed, Session 12 is up and ready for consumption. I'll keep everyone posted as to 13's progress. Also, this weekend is Nick Havey's wedding so I doubt we will be playing session 14 during this timeframe. Currently, July 14th or 15th looks like our best options.

2 New Characters

Last week, Alex and Rachel drafted new characters for our Werewolf: the Forsaken game. This will mark the first time Rachel has played with the group. Alex (as you may or may not know) used to play the character known simply as Nails. Where did Nails go? Read session 13, the finale session for the Simmons chronicle, to find out! For me, making new characters is an interesting experience because it takes you back to the basics, forcing you to look at the system at its core. I have a confession to make: I am the type of person who easily forgets things that are not frequently used. As a GM, that can be a pretty big con. So this re-familiarization is always a plus for me. I'm just not really a live-by-the-rules kind of guy. I often go with my gut instincts when it comes to rules, instead of spending time consulting the books. While this does aid in speed and efficiency it certainly does not in accuracy. Back to the characters. On that fateful night we made our characters an unfortunate thunderstorm rolled through, knocking out power to the surrounding area. Instead of giving up and trying another day, the group tired on and made characters by candlelight. Birthing these warriors by primordial flame was great fun, and flickering light really added to mood. I was also impressed by everyone's resolve to start gaming again, and I believe these new characters will integrate with the Scars most interestingly. I don't want to spoil their backgrounds for everyone just yet, but we are gaining a new Rahu and a Cahalith to the fold. This means the Scars will, for the first time, have each auspice represented in the pack. In the old world of darkness this was called a blessed pack, and it was privy to certain bonuses. I will have to check the new book to see if this same idea has remained.

Apologies for Nothingness

It absolutely figures. I write a post last week confirming that many awesome things (session summary, posts of coolness) would grace our site and, sadly, I haven't made good on any of those promises. Excuses follow: this Memorial Day holiday weekend became very family-oriented (which is of course fine as they should be) eating up the time I had thought would go towards the game. Work-related stress has once again reared its ugly head: the capital project I'm running has put our engineering guys in a hissy-fit with our sister-company over our new thermal system which they designed and sorta fucked up (one of those multi-million $$ boo-boo's). Excuses aside, I hope to get my collective shit together and crank out content very soon. I have a rough draft for session 13 on paper but it desperately needs revision. I seriously doubt it will be ready for this weekend. So my question is, how does the weekend after next (June 8-9) feel for you guys? Comment here, or email me, or call, or whatever electronic device route you feel is appropriate to respond. Thanks. I really heart your patience!

Some Changes on the Way

A quick shout out to the boyz for an excellent session last weekend! I believe things went down quite nicely. The primarily focus of that session was to prep for the battle with David Simmons (Junior). In the past, downtime was used to do this as players bought gifts, rites, and upped their stats. I chose to instead to integrate these actions directly into the story (like the restructuring of the pack's totem, Rids-the-Pain). The next session will most likely be the last for this chronicle. It's been a long journey, from those first days when the Scars took over Hyde Park. The first mission was to investigate several murders (that Simmons committed) in their new territory. This hunt took them to the Ethros realm, Lancaster, and now the United States. The finale encounter is in sight. Needless to say, I'm eagerly awaiting this showdown. By the by, here are few changes to site I plan on adding in the days to come: -Session Summary for Session 12 -Online character sheets -New page for pack totem with character sheet -Music page for the song "Leave" -New pack pictures

My Brightest Diamond

The session summary is running a little bit behind, so I thought I'd make a quick post concerning some of the music I've recently chosen. Last session, I opened our gig with a song from the band My Brightest Diamond. These guys are the real deal, and I can't stress enough how much I enjoy listening to their sounds. Here's a quick intro to the band via their website: "My Brightest Diamond is Shara Worden, granddaughter of an Epiphone-playing traveling evangelist, fathered by a National Accordion Champion, and mothered by a classical organist. Having a family of wanderers who migrated across the US every few years, the landscape and the musical influences were constantly changing. Spanish tangos, Sunday morning gospel, classical and jazz were the accompaniment to her home life. Her first song was recorded at age three and by age eight she was studying piano and performing in community musical productions. As a teenager in Michigan, Shara honed her musical prowess singing along to Whitney Houston music videos and Mariah Carey albums. When pop music wasn't enough, she enrolled in the music program at the University of North Texas, immersing herself in the songs of Purcell and Debussy. After college, she moved to New York City and fell in love with its cold winters and busy streets. She continued to study opera on the Upper West Side during the day, but at night she frequented downtown clubs such as Tonic, Knitting Factory, and The Living Room, catching performances by Antony and the Johnsons, Nina Nastasia, and Rebecca Moore. She began to spend less time sight-reading Mozart and more time de-tuning her Gibson electric guitar to play her own newly-written songs. Coaxed out of recital halls and onto the small stages of bars and clubs, Shara assembled a coterie of musicians to accompany her with bass and drums, music boxes, wine glasses, and wind chimes." I've embedded their amazingly surreal live cover of Led Zeppelin's No Quarter below, along with several other inspiring melodies. I hope you enjoy!

We're REALLY Back!

OK folks, we are really (I swear) starting up our Healing Scars group again! I'm also happy to report that everyone from the group is on board and ready to play (Adam, did you loose you character sheet again? /joking). What the outsiders to our game didn't know is that we actually played Sessions 9 and 10 last year. I never managed to pen the events and I'm going to do so over the next few days. Due to the extreme length of time between writing and playing, I'm quite sure that some things will be left out. So I'd really appreciate it if you guys (the Scars) look these session summaries over and let me know what I've undoubtedly missed. I'm brainstorming Session 11 as we speak and plan on writing it this weekend. Originally, I had planned on jumping forward one year and playing events after the battle with David Simmons. But an idea I've been kicking around has changed my mind; you guys will be continuing the story. Did I mention that I'm excited? Hell yeah!

A Post is a Post

A recent conversation with myself: Eithan: Damn I am busy. Real Life: Yeah, I’m going to have to take the blame for that. Healing Scars: Eithan, where are you? I’m sooo cold. Eithan: Who the hell are you? (Gives blanket) Healing Scars: (Cough) We used to be such good friends. I miss you. Real Life: Don’t listen to him. I AM YOUR ONLY FRIEND. Eithan: I’m so confused. Healing Scars: Remember this? (Draws a heart with his finger) Your imagination? Eithan: Oh damn, I sure do. (Takes out gun. Shoots Real Life in the head.) Healing Scars: (Smile) Eithan: Let’s rock.

I am alive. I swear.

Sorry for the lack of updates. I’m pulling a full load of classes this term and work is slowing catching up with me. School is a mess as I’m fighting to graduate this year in the rare event that the company I work for doesn’t pick me up next year. That way I have a degree when I job hunt to increase said chances of getting a decent job. I will post the summaries once I get a chance to sit down at my computer and waste an hour or so. Also, this weekend is really bad for me as a military friend is flying up to hang out. I’ll post more as soon as time is on my side. As always, you guys’s patience is super appreciated.

A New Experiment

I’m going to try something new with the session summaries. If this experiment fails, I will revert back to the old way of doing things. In the past, I have been trying to write out detailed descriptions of every character's actions during the session. The problem is that the summaries turn into pages upon pages of text. My free time is slipping away more and I’ve struggled a lot these past few weeks to crank out the summaries. While I believe that the descriptive content is important, I’d like to approach writing them from a different angle. The next session summary will be posted in a more condensed format than the last few. I am trying to limit the length of the initial post to about 2-3 pages. With the old system, players used the comment system to note any mistakes or additions. Then, I would edit the post and correct the necessary information. Instead I would like to cut out myself as a middle-man. After the initial posting, I want to give the players FULL ACCESS to edit the session sumary post however they see fit. If a particular passage needs more description, simply add a paragraph or two. The comment system then can act as a log to note anyone’s major changes. So, if you alter a major section of the text, just post a brief comment about what you changed. Note: Small things, like spelling corrections or a sentence restructure really don’t need to be documented as a comment. We’ll try this format out for the Session 8 Summary. If it sucks, then we’ll go back to the old method. The major advantage would be the speed of documentation. It will take much less time for me to crank out a brief summary (that can be edited) versus writing a more detailed one. Then I can concentrate more time on writing the next session, and you'll all have the summaries posted a bit faster. Comments, questions, gripes? My ears are open.

Is there something of ourselves in wolves?

Our fear of wolves is rooted deep in our past as a hunting people The howl was long and mournful, rising slowly to a crescendo in the twilight. I turned to look at my friend, dread filling the space between us. We had been watching a herd of elk in a large meadow in New Mexico’s Jemez Mountains, and we had lingered too long. Now we were hiking up a narrow forest trail toward our car in almost complete darkness. I was sure the call had come from a coyote, but my friend disagreed, saying it was too long and melancholy, more like that of a wolf. Fear and fascination warred within us as we walked, the same human ambivalence that erupts every time a wolf reintroduction program is proposed in the United States, even one as seemingly passive as the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission’s recent decision not to stop wolves from migrating into Eastern Oregon from Idaho. Fearing attacks on their livestock, ranchers are fearful and angry. Protectionists, meanwhile, see the program as a way to bring a historic predator back into the state. Most of the time wolves will likely hunt the game they have traditionally hunted in the lower 48 — wild deer, elk, marmots, grouse, geese, rabbits, mice and occasionally salmon. Yet they are opportunists known to kill livestock as well. Both sides in the debate know that wolves are brutally efficient killers. With twice the crushing power of a German shepherd, their bite can break through almost any bone to get at its marrow. On the hunt, they harass fleeing prey by striking at the legs, haunches and stomach until the animal is so weakened it collapses. Written accounts of wolf killings of humans in the continental United States are almost nonexistent, but there is a strong oral tradition of such killings among Eskimos in the far north. Nevertheless, they respect the animals for their superior hunting skills and emulate wolf techniques in their own hunting practices. Despite this admiration by native peoples, no predator in the United States has been more vilified than the wolf. Beginning shortly after European settlement on the East Coast, wolves were killed mercilessly with guns, strychnine and traps, until the species was almost wiped out in the lower 48. In his recently reprinted 1978 book, "Of Wolves and Men," Oregon writer Barry Lopez theorizes that this attitude is partly a result of the shift from hunting to an agricultural economy. In the beginning, humans and wolves evolved congruently as social hunters, he postulates, pursuing essentially the same game species, a competitive existence of constant killing for food, which our glimmering human consciousness needed to appease through ritual. Native peoples had such rituals, but not later European settlers. As a result, wolves were seen as remnants of our darkest nature, the killing side we no longer wanted to acknowledge, Lopez argues. The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission waited months to put its wolf management plan into effect, hoping the state Legislature would enact a measure giving ranchers the right to kill any wolves preying on their livestock. The agency also hoped the state would provide compensation for wildlife losses from wolf predation. The Legislature failed to address either issue, making the restoration program far more likely to fail if any cattle or sheep are killed. In New Mexico that chilly September night, when my friend and I at last reached the road, we stood a long time by our car, waiting and looking at the stars, hoping to hear that mournful call one more time. I knew no wolves had been reintroduced into the Jemez Mountains, but in that moment, it seemed possible they had re-emerged dreamlike from some fading ancestral memory. In that lengthening silence, a profound loss swept over me, a tiny remnant, perhaps, of that ancient bond between two consummate hunters — one a wild canine firmly rooted in nature whose domain is sadly diminished, and the other an intelligent primate who became dominant only by sacrificing his once-deep connection to nature. As my friend and I drove down the mountain that night, I could not say which species had suffered the greater loss. Source: http://www.mailtribune.com/archive/2006/0113/life/stories/03life.htm Other Links of Note: http://www.defenders.org/wildlife/wolf/alaska.html http://www.wolfcountry.net/ http://conservationgiscenter.org/maps/html/wolves.htmlhttp://www.serconline.org/wolfpreservation/

The Full Moon Approaches

The 14th of this month marks the first full moon of the year. In werewolf, the full moon relates to the warrior side of Mother Luna. To the Healing Scars, this is the night for Nails DeWinter. A lush history formulated by various cultures has created many diffenent faces to the moon, pun intended. But did you know that each different full moon has its own name? Here's a little history, for your reading pleasure. This should pass the time as you wait for the session 7 summary. Full Moon names date back to Native Americans, of what is now the northern and eastern United States. Those tribes of a few hundred years ago kept track of the seasons by giving distinctive names to each recurring full Moon. Their names were applied to the entire month in which each occurred. There were some variations in the Moon names, but in general the same ones were current throughout the Algonquin tribes from New England on west to Lake Superior. European settlers followed their own customs and created some of their own names. Since the lunar (“synodic”) month is roughly 29.5 days in length on average, the dates of the full Moon shift from year to year. Below are all the Full Moon names, as well as the dates and times, for the next twelve months. Unless otherwise noted, all times are for the Eastern Time Zone. Jan. 14, 4:48 a.m. EST: The Full Wolf Moon. Amid the zero cold and deep snows of midwinter, the wolf packs howled hungrily outside Indian villages. It was also known as the Old Moon or the “Moon after Yule.” In some tribes this was the Full Snow Moon; most applied that name to the next moon. Feb. 12, 11:44 p.m. EST: The Full Snow Moon. Usually the heaviest snows fall in this month. Hunting becomes very difficult, and hence to some tribes this was the Full Hunger Moon. March 14, 6:35 p.m. EST: The Full Worm Moon. In this month the ground softens and the earthworm casts reappear, inviting the return of the robins. The more northern tribes knew this as the Full Crow Moon, when the cawing of crows signals the end of winter, or the Full Crust Moon because the snow cover becomes crusted from thawing by day and freezing at night. The Full Sap Moon, marking the time of tapping maple trees, is another variation. In addition, a very minor penumbral lunar eclipse will take place on this night; the Moon will pass through the Earth’s outer and cause a slight tarnishing or smudginess to appear on its lower rim. The darkest phase of this eclipse comes at 6:48 p.m. EST. For about 40 minutes before and after this time, the subtle penumbral shading may be detected with binoculars and even the naked eye. April 13, 12:40 p.m. EDT: The Full Pink Moon. The grass pink or wild ground phlox is one of the earliest widespread flowers of the spring. Other names were the Full Sprouting Grass Moon, the Egg Moon, and -- among coastal tribes -- the Full Fish Moon, when the shad came upstream to spawn. This is also the Paschal Full Moon; the first full Moon of the spring season. The first Sunday following the Paschal Moon is Easter Sunday, which indeed will be observed three days later on Sunday, April 16. May 13, 2:51 a.m. EDT: The Full Flower Moon. Flowers are abundant everywhere. It was also known as the Full Corn Planting Moon or the Milk Moon. June 11, 2:03 p.m. EDT: The Full Strawberry Moon. Known to every Algonquin tribe. Europeans called it the Rose Moon. July 10, 11:02 p.m. EDT: The Full Buck Moon, when the new antlers of buck deer push out from their foreheads in coatings of velvety fur. It was also often called the Full Thunder Moon, thunderstorms being now most frequent. Sometimes also called the Full Hay Moon. Aug. 9, 6:54 a.m. EDT: The Full Sturgeon Moon, when this large fish of the Great Lakes and other major bodies of water like Lake Champlain is most readily caught. A few tribes knew it as the Full Red Moon because the moon rises looking reddish through sultry haze, or the Green Corn Moon or Grain Moon. Sept. 7, 2:42 p.m. EDT: The Full Corn Moon. Corn – an Indian staple -- is now ready for gathering. The Moon will also be at perigee later this day, at 11:00 p.m., at a distance of 221,938 miles/357,175 km. from Earth. As such, this will be the biggest and brightest Full Moon of 2006. Very high tides can be expected from the coincidence of perigee with full Moon. In addition, a rather small (19%) partial lunar eclipse will be visible from Africa, Asia, Australia, and Eastern Europe. Maximum eclipse occurs at 18:51 GMT. Oct. 6, 11:13 p.m. EDT: The Full Harvest Moon. Always the full Moon occurring nearest to the Autumnal Equinox. In one out of three years, it comes in October and 2006 is one of those years. Nov. 5, 7:58 a.m. EST: The Full Beaver Moon. Time to set beaver traps before the swamps freeze to ensure a supply of warm winter furs. Another interpretation suggests that the name Beaver Full Moon comes from the fact that the beavers are now active in their preparation for winter. Also called the Frosty Moon. Dec. 4, 7:25 p.m. EST: The Full Cold Moon; among some tribes, the Full Long Nights Moon. In this month the winter cold fastens its grip, and the nights are at their longest and darkest. Also sometimes called the “Moon before Yule” (Yule is Christmas, and this time the Moon is only just before it). The term Long Night Moon is a doubly appropriate name because the midwinter night is indeed long and the Moon is above the horizon a long time. The midwinter full Moon takes a high trajectory across the sky because it is opposite to the low Sun. Note: The following information can be found on Space.com. For more on the moon go to: http://www.space.com/fullmoonfever/

Email Confirmations

If you look to the right of our webpage you will now notice that the proposed date and time for the next session is displayed. This is an attempt to iron out any confusion as to when and where the Healing Scars will be gaming next. I have also devised a system of emails to replace our current system of calling folks up and having them verbally commit to a date. In with the new, out with the old, I say. There are many reasons as to why I feel it is necessary to switch to this format. I'll list a few. It's hard to reach people via phone. We all work different schedules. Most of the time, I end up leaving a message on one's machine and hope for the best. No central way to check on the status of the date/time. The Session date and time listed on the main page does perform this. It also lists which players have confirmed the proposed date and time and which haven't. I'm the hardest guy in the world to reach via phone. It's true. When I'm not working crazy hours or going to school, I'm generally spending time with my wife and my son. Translation: 90% of my time is spent elsewhere. I am however, always on the web and check my email multiple times each day. I hate phones. They are the devil. The guy who invented them can go to the devil and stay there for a long time. I could go into further explanation of how this new system works, but I think the first confirmation email explains things nicely: Session Confirmation Email #1 Healing Scars Packmates, This is the proposed date and time for the next Healing Scars session: Next Session: Fri 1/20/06 Locale: Adam's Place Time: 10:00 p.m. Please reply to this email and confirm the date above. If you are unable to confirm, please respond and suggest an alternate date and/or time. The date and time information can be found on our main website, http://www.healingscars.blogspot.com/. When a Healing Scars Packmate confirms the date and time, I will move their name from the "Unconfirmed" category to the "Confirmed" category. This information will be displayed on the main page. If someone cannot play at all, their name will be moved to the "Not Attending" category. By general rule of thumb we will play a session if 3 out of 4 packmates are willing to play. If a change in the date and time occurs I will send out another email and the process of confirming will continue until an acceptable time and date has been established. Each new email will have a new confirmation number. This email, for example, is Session Conformation Email #1. If I send out another one, due to a change in date or time, it will be labeled Session Confirmation Email #2. This method will hopefully filter out countless phone calls and ease the communication process. On the night before the actual session, I will phone everyone to get a voice confirmation. I look forward to our next gaming session. Eithan

Touched by VAST

Simply put, "Touched" is a powerful song. It sparks a tribal flame with its chanting refrain. I’d like to take a moment and explain the significance of this song. Kindly observe the lyrics to the Healing Scar's theme song "Touched" by Vast: Touched, you say that I am too So much, of what you say is true I'll never find someone quite like you again I'll never find someone quite like you, like you The razors and the dying roses Plead I don't leave you alone The demi-gods and hungry ghosts Oh god, god knows I'm not at home I'll never find someone quite like you again I'll never find someone quite like you again I, I looked into your eyes and saw A world that does not exist I looked into your eyes and saw A world I wish I was in I'll never find someone quite as touched as you I'll never love someone quite the way That I loved you But what does this mean? I remember hearing this song for the first time (thanks to Jarrett) and thinking the melody was perfect but the lyrics were off. At first glance the song seems personal, a lover’s quest through love, rejection, and ultimately acceptance over their partner’s perfection. The Uratha do not display this feeling, or do they? After several more listenings I thought on the lyrics deeper and a connection was made. Allow me to attempt to explain. "Touched" is about dying love. And, if you twist its initial conveyances, “Touched” represents the relationship between the Forsaken and Mother Luna. The narrator is the Uratha, who long for the time before the gauntlet, before the death of Father Wolf. It is a twisted love, for as a parent she cursed her sons and daughters on the night of that kill. Her love is pure, but it is not kind. “The razors and the dying roses” represent the challenges each Werewolf must overcome: the Shadow, Incarnae, the Pure, even themselves. And the bit about “looking into her eyes”… as I experience this particular moment of the song I envision a wolf-form Uratha gazing at the night sky, staring into the full moon, the physical representation Luna. The world that Luna envisions does not exist, perhaps it never can. But, if we give in to doubt, if we allow ourselves to not believe (much like the Pure), we loose her love and then… everything.

Tribute

I fondly remember my first real exposure to roleplaying. I was fifteen. My mother and my sisters were shopping for crafts and other such girly things in a mall in St. Louis. I quickly separated from them and made my way to closest bookstore. Acknowledging my “nerd-dom” I skipped right over the popular literature and made my way to the fantasy section. I’ve always been drawn to fantasy. At this particular point in my life, I knew absolutely nothing about pen and paper rpgs. While searching for the latest Wheel of Time novel, my eyes fell upon this hardback book simply titled: Vampire: the Masquerade. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. It seemed so inviting, and with each page turn I felt this book was closer to a “must-buy” status in my head. After a bit of skimming I came across a perplexing notion, this book was no ordinary work of fiction. It claimed, as I continued to read on, to be a game. I was at first naïve to this notion and started looking for another box; there must be figures or a board of something elsewhere. But I found nothing. And, on the next page, the book told me that all I need is my imagination… and this book as a guide. This has got to be too good to be true, I remember thinking. I decided to give it a try/buy, since the latest Robert Jordan work was not out yet anyways. I actually ended up purchasing Vampire: the Dark Ages instead of Masquerade for the absolute silliest of reasons: I thought the cover looked better. As soon as I was home I took my first step into the world of roleplaying. I read it cover to cover in just 2 days. I remember devoting most of a Saturday tucked away in my bedroom trying to make sense of this complicated game without rules. I finished the book and immediately started a migraine. I was lost. None of it made sense to me. A couple of days later I tried to read it again. It left me with the same results, new headache to boot. My high school girlfriend mentioned that one particular guy played these roleplaying games and might be able to help. I really needed to figure this thing out. I took her advice and looked him up. In fact, we had the same math class, so I started there. His name was Jarrett Heintz. Jarrett and I had been in a few plays together, but other than that, I knew very little of the guy. Jarrett was a vault of roleplaying information and filled in the blanks to a lot of my questions. Subsequently, he was running his own roleplaying game called Werewolf: the Apocalypse. A few weeks later, he asked me if I would like to sit in on one of his sessions. Now, this made sound a little weird, but Jarrett’s sessions were kind of legendary amongst the dorky folk at Alton High School. His players talked so vividly of the experiences that lots of people wanted to play, so much that sitting in on a group was the first initiation step towards getting to play. I accepted his proposal, hoping that I might earn my way into the group. At least this way I could learn more about the roleplaying process if I ever started up my own group. I sat in and was amazed. The plots were so deep; the players actually dressed and spoke as their characters. They even had theme music. Very dorky, for sure, but I was engrossed in it all. Luckily for me, I was accepted in the group and slowly became one of their regulars. If I could sum up all of these experiences into one word, I would have to say: EPIC. Everything we did was larger-than-life. The feeling of being in character and running in those games was truly incredible. We all continued to play through high school, all the way up to graduation. And, after a short break, J managed to start up a new group in college. Many of the faces had changed, but the core feel of the group and the game had not. I was a car ride away and did my best to drive up on the weekends to game. Of course, it also helped that my future wife was at that school as well. The games went strong until college finally ended. I joined the military and Jarrett went on to grad school in Montana. Everyone was quite busy with the necessities of life. It looked like our roleplaying would have to take a break, for a short while at least. I’m happy to say that our group is back, though many of the faces have yet again changed. But I hold true to the belief that the passion of the game, the longing for creation, and the intensity of our imaginations have not wavered. Why am I writing about this? Well, today is Jarrett’s 25th birthday, and I think the last ten years of roleplaying ought to be recorded somewhere. That’s why I started this site in the first place, to make sure that the memories, OUR memories, are recorded. It’s important to mention that while our group is back, it is missing one key player. Jarrett is the guy who started all of this, and our group would not be here if it were not for his advances in storytelling. So, be sure to wish him happy birthday. You might even want to hop on our other website, Dreaming Eye, and give him a shout. Thanks for the memories Jarrett. I hope to game with you soon again.

Special Day

This may be a bit off topic for the blog, but I feel I’ve reached a place where I can brag about my marriage. As of today, Brandy and I have been married for four years! Sweet Jesus, that is a long time! Even though she doesn’t read this blog (probably a good thing, she makes fun of me enough as if is) I just wanted to say that it has been a privilege being her husband through good times and bad. Here’s my lame ass excuse to relate this news to gaming. Finding a girlfriend who supports your roleplaying is no easy task. Most women throw red flags and treat the roleplaying process as if were a cancer to the relationship. Some even go so far as to threaten breaking up if one doesn’t cease said action immediately. I know this; I’ve been there before. And I’m very happy to say that I’ve found someone with whom I can compromise all these things with. Brandy is my voice of reason; she supports my imagination and creative process more than anyone else. On the flip side, she is also never afraid to tell me when I’ve overstepped my bounds regarding family issues. But the difference between her and any other woman I had a relationship with is that she doesn’t nag me about it. She respects me deeply, and in return I do my best to return the favor when it comes to things that she wants. Compromising is never easy, but when you’re with the right person the things you gain in comparison to what you might loose easily outweigh. I am a very lucky guy, and I’ll leave it at that. The session summary is going well, but for obvious reasons I won’t be working on it today.

Free Will In Roleplaying

Heather Grove does an excellent job of concisely explaining various roleplaying techniques. Discussed below are the concept and illusion of free will, subtle scripting, communication and/or lack thereof between GM and players. I have provided several excerpts of hers along with a few of my own notes to further the discussion of our recent Q&A session. Following excerpts are from: "Free Will in Roleplaying" Copyright 2000 by Heather Grove. Currently printed on the Burning Void roleplaying resources page. ------ The Appearance of Free Will What a lot of people don't realize is that it's more important for the players to believe that their characters have free will than it is for them to have free will. As long as the guiding hand is invisible - as long as you trick your players into making the choices you want them to make, seemingly of their own free will - they'll never know the difference. You just have to be ready to throw that guiding hand out the window if your players are bound and determined to do what you don't want them to do. Better to let them lose the quest or end up in an entirely different plot than to make them think that their choices don't matter. ------ I am notorious for these type of traps in my own games. The guiding hand theory is always deep in my mind when my own group meets a challenge. Alex brought up a great example with his character Nails a few sessions back. The Healing Scars, through some crazy means, traveled through time using a locus to the year 1990. Instead of dealing with the immediate problem on the train, his attention focused entirely towards David Simmons, his arch enemy. In this current time period the young man would only be a small child, making him an easy target to kill. His original line of thinking completely caught me off guard and forced me to think "outside the box" in order to contain the validity of my script. On another note, paradoxes (time travel) are best left undone in a game because it almost always complicates the situation. I knew quite well when using this type of plot device that handling the whole ordeal woulf be "tricky" at best. ------ Subtle Scripting Not all forms of scripting are blatant. Some are subtle and insidious. The GM might use narration to slip in hints about how the characters must feel. For example, "as you near the corner you see a bloody footprint. It fills you with fear." Such comments are subtle and you might not even realize that you're making them. They're important to avoid when possible, however. Telling a player how her character should think and feel is one of the worst forms of control. (For a particularly bad example of this form of scripting, see our review of "Supernumerary.") The example above isn't a terrible one. It's worse when a GM tells the characters something that directly affects their actions. To pull on the example in that review, you really shouldn't tell a character: "While your suspicion of the android is evident even to him, you cannot deny the necessity of his proposal." In this example the GM blatantly scripts actions as well as feelings: he has decreed that the characters should find the android's proposal necessary, which will have a huge impact on their actions. Mind you, some such comments may be appropriate - maybe a wizard cast a spell to make anyone who saw the afore-mentioned bloody prints feel fear. Or maybe the character has a premonition that takes the feeling of a shiver of fear. "It fills you with fear" does not automatically mean that the GM is scripting. And admittedly, it can be hard to notice when you're saying these things unintentionally. But when possible, you're always better off tailoring your description to evoke the response you want, rather than simply stating the response. In the example of the bloody footprint, you might instead say the following: "You near the corner of the street. The lamp has burned out and everything is a blur of shadow. You can barely make out the shape of a footprint on the ground, but as you get closer, you note rivulets of a dark red fluid trickling out of the footprint. The shadows seem to press closer, and you hear a rustling sound off to your left in the bushes..." You get the point. Use concrete, physical description to convey the feeling you want the character to feel. ------ I'm going to use Nails again in an example. When reading the resurrection book I scripted that Alex's character would feel fear from Magaloth's intentions towards the Ethros realm. What took place was exactly the opposite, Nails connected with the spirits lust for destruction, and rightly so. It is very easy to generalize feelings produced from certain events and not give them their due weight in regards to personal experiences. Luckily, Alex caught this remark in the session summary and the error was corrected. ------ Communication One way to avoid the apparent need for scripting is to communicate with your players before the game to make certain that you're all on the same wavelength. If some of your players hate politics-plots and that's what your whole story arc is based on, you're going to have a problem, and you may end up feeling as though you have to push people into following your plot. If you talk to people ahead of time you can make sure that everyone's interested in the same kind of game, and muck with the plot if they aren't. In addition, pay attention to what the characters say when they talk amongst themselves during the game. If they talk about their feelings and suspicions regarding events, they may provide you with plenty of information to allow you to tailor the events to them. When it comes down to it, running a game that isn't scripted can be challenging - that's why a lot of people avoid it. But it isn't as challenging as people think. It avoids a lot of potential friction between GM and players, and it can result in a game that's more fun for all. Besides, nothing quite compares to seeing the wonderful, unexpected plots that your players can make out of your game. ------ The Ethros realm is a "cut and paste" example of how I've used communication to determine how to tailor the story. While the bulk of the plot is socially strained towards Alpha packmate Marcus Blair, I have kindly balanced other twists (the thinking trials of the Five of Seven, the brute force necessary to accomplish the last two) in the game.

White Wolf Website Hacked

It's a very scary world out there. This is quoted directly from their main page: Dear White Wolf Users, Like many other well-known companies of the last few years, White Wolf was the target of an attack by international hackers this weekend. These hackers are now attempting to extort money from us with the threat of posting user data to the internet. We have no intention of paying this money, and are in contact with the FBI in an attempt to bring these criminals to justice. We are choosing to make this public so that our users and fans can take any precautions needed to protect themselves. We are recommending that if you have used your White Wolf user password as the password for any other services you use on the internet, that you change them immediately. These hackers were able to exploit a flaw in our software and access user data, this data included usernames, email addresses and encrypted passwords. As far as we can ascertain, they were unable to access any credit card data (nor have they claimed they did). However, it is possible for the encrypted passwords they accessed to be decrypted given enough time. In addition, the site will be down for the next few days while we evaluate some of the software we are using and take appropriate action to help prevent future attacks. We appreciate your patience and concern while we work through the details of this process. In addition to this posting we will be emailing our userbase with this information. For correspondence regarding this, please direct all queries to wwaccounts@white-wolf.com . -Like they said I urge everyone to change their password information if they had an account through White Wolf. I don't know if DrivethruRPG.com was also hit but I'm going to do some more research. Stupid hackers and their stupid hacking.

Understanding our Game, Part One

The session summaries are the “meat and potatoes” of this blog. While it may not be very entertaining for outside visitors, the players and I benefit from having our stories etched in digital stone. As our game grows into multiple story arcs and countless meta-plots a sense of direction is greatly needed. The sessions summaries are summations; they do not record every single event in a session. They do manage to capture the core elements of the story at hand. Let me say that it is very exciting to receive positive feedback from several White Wolf gamers about the presentation of our game. I have posted answers to a few questions here in the blog. Gamers feel free to keep emailing me (eithansmith@gmail.com) with new questions. I had an enjoyable time answering this set. 1. Your stories are very indepth but I was wondering why are specific rolls for actions not recorded in your session summaries? Just wondering. While the White Wolf’s system plays an important part to our Healing Scars campaign, I don’t feel that it is necessary to record individual rolls in the summaries. Doing so might cheapen the value of these tales, by pulling them out of the narrative fantasy into a mix of techno jargon and complicated rules. As a storyteller I constantly challenge my players through simple, extended, and contested rolls, but I do not feel that the specifics of these dice challenges require exact documentation inside of our story. If anyone wants to know the specifics of a certain roll in our game, I would be more than happy to keep a separate log of these numbers. Until the desire for such a thing emulates, expect to see more of the same from these writings. 2. I'm nitpicking here but you have individual sessions listed in the summaries, but nowhere does it list chronicles. Are these sessions all part of the same chronicle or do you even use chronicles or stories to segregate your sessions? To answer both questions: no. I detest White Wolf’s style of grouping gaming sessions together. I have always tried to compare our session format to that of individual episode of a TV show. Each session I write about is very close to that standard in length of time, character development, etc. So, one could assume that about 15-20 sessions equal an entire season. And you could take this a step further and state that each season could be a “chronicle.” Of course that requires a lot of “assuming” and “standards,” two things that I never really cared for. They are many reasons that I like the episodic formula. It is very easy to write stories in this format; I have countless examples of plot development at work to pull from on the television. Considering how popular television shows are, I take the good out of this format and apply it to roleplaying. There is no perfect way to group the sessions of the Healing Scars group. I enjoy this complexity because I think it parallels real life; such events in your world cannot be easily split into categories and often change depending on one’s point-of-view. 3. I am a GM for white wolf and have been for a while and I have this problem. How concrete are your stories in writing? Basically what I mean is do you allow your characters to deviate away much from what you are writing? It really depends on the story I’m writing. For the most part, I write my stories in a loose outline format. One trick I use is that I write down a few themes I want the story to hold to before I start writing. So while I’m crafting my story, the themes are always there and can easily fit into my writings, thus adding more complexity and realism to the game. Characters can, and often do, deviate completely from my proposed storyline. But, unlike most storytellers, I enjoy this when it happens. Ninety-nine percent of the time, the reason someone moves away from the story is due to a major flaw in the logic of where I initially wanted the story to go. That doesn’t mean that I don’t like to TRY to control the outcome of certain events. The difference is that I never force such a thing; I merely test the group with certain challenges and hope for the best. If it doesn’t work out to my design, then it is my fault entirely and I work twice as hard to recorrect my mistakes. 4. Nice site and thanks for the comment on my page. I have a question for you. I was just wondering about what you use (GM stuff) to make the Werewolf:the Forsaken game more fun? There are way too many to name. In fact, expect me to devote a few posts here in the future talking about just that. One excellent technique (a personal favorite of my old GM, Jarrett H.) is to insert various meta-plots that run outside of the session’s plotline. Character meta-plots are priceless ways to really make players feel at home in your world. One example of this, from my game, would be Nail’s confrontations with David Simmons and the Destroyer Wolf. While this is an important part of the story it runs completely separate of the central plot of the sessions. Without good meta-plots characters loose individuality and often get lost in the tasks assigned to the entire pack/group. More questions to come! The dark spiral is a great community and it's given many opportunities to meet great people. Gamers, players, whomever: post your questions here or shoot me email. I will answer new questions in Understanding our Game, Part Two.

What I Think your Characters are Thinking

I am very pleased with everyone’s performances. I sound a bit overly optimistic about our group, but the quality of our gaming really has been that good. I’m currently working on the summary for session 3, and I can’t believe how much the Healing Scars accomplished in one night of roleplaying. It’s seriously going to take me a few days to accurately write those events down. An inexperienced group couldn’t have handled half of that content in the same amount of time. Until I finish that project, I leave you guys with some brief internal notes about your characters. Feel free to comment and let me know where you think they are developing as well. Nails is indeed a dark character, but not “Vargus Creed” dark, not by a long shot. Nails is tough, and it’s in his nature to hide his feelings, and actually to kill them off as if they were his opponents. And this type of thinking is working great for him now, but everybody needs to feel something. Now he has been paired against the mysterious David Simmons in a classic battle of good vs. evil. At least Nails would like to think of it that way. But life is more complicated. He has a sketchy past, but it doesn’t plague his waking dreams as it would someone else. His life before really doesn’t concern him, not nearly as much as the future. How long can Nails go through life detached from emotion? Is there really a difference between evil (Simmons) and destruction (Nails)? And, as a natural-born leader, will he eventually challenge Marcus’s authority as pack Alpha? Eric Sky just relived a crucial turning point in his life. He has a twin brother who represents everything he doesn’t want to become. The bonds of blood between the two are thick and there’s little he can do to completely rid himself of his brother’s presence. Eric has an opportunity to take care of the ghost of Shelly Wright, another chance to prove that he is good. Eric knows and fears evil firsthand. When he looks in the mirror, he doesn’t just see himself. He sees the reflection of Sam’s deeds, his hatred, and his wrath. Will he be able to save Shelly? What of the Dark Iron pack and their connections to him? Is there any possibility for forgiveness for Sam? Marcus Blair has shown enormous mental resilience in light of everything that’s happened. His life has sharply turned upside-down. And now he is the Alpha, the one who is supposed to have all the answers. Yet he can‘t answer the simplest question: Who am I? There’s so much raw emotion attached to his family (Lindsey and Chelsea) that blinds his decision-making. Marcus is really two people, his false image (chivalrous, defender, noble) and the real image, the persona of Ben Durbin (prosecutor, liar, and manipulator). He will always have to struggle between the two, and never will one part completely fade away. But Marcus obviously wants to be good; the transformation is already taking place. How will Marcus make up for what he has done to the real Ben Durbin? How will he protect Chelsea? Does he really deserve to protect her in the first place? I personally can’t answer these questions, and that’s what makes him interesting.

The Help Post

Welcome to the infamous help post. Included within is a detailed explanation of each component of the Healing Scars Blog website. This post will be updated frequently, with new changes being logged by date. Users can feel free to use the comment system for this post to ask questions regarding whatever. Blog Format as of 11/16/05 1. New pictures have been added to the blog. Each session summary post has a new set of pictures to increase the realism of these stories. 2. The Sessions section has been moved to the top of the Sidebar. I also changed the links into a drop-down menu. This will keep the Sidebar clean as more and more session summary posts are created. 3. A Moon section has been added to the Sidebar. This handy little script will help the group with keeping track of how to give bonuses from Luna when we roleplay. Blog Format as of 10/26/05 1. The new Healing Scars Home page displays only two posts at a time. I chose this format because the length of our posts was cluttering the Home page. You can look for older posts in 3 different ways: Search, the previous Posts, or the monthly Archives. 2. The Sidebar is the column of links and information on the right side of the website. It contains several sections: Search, the Storyteller, the Pack, previous Posts, Sessions, and Archives. 3. The Search section is a webform that allows users to search the entire blog. Simply enter the relevent data you are looking for and click the "Search Blog" button. You will be redirected to a page listing links to posts that match your search. 4. The Storyteller section is extremely straightforward. This section contains any relevant information about me. I do not expect the format of this section to change much. 5. The Pack section lists the current members of the Healing Scars, providing several descriptions such as character’s auspice and tribe affiliation. As members post their backgrounds, I will put direct links to those in this section. In the future I want to take this concept even further and upload character sheets for each packmate. 6. The Posts section displays the previous 10 posts that were published to the blog. This is an excellent way to search for a post, especially if you know the post was recently added. 7. The Sessions section lists the last 5 session summary posts for the Healing Scars. The session summary posts all have a standard naming format. For example, if you wanted to read the third session that the Scars played, you would need to find the post titled: “Session 3” followed by the name of the session. If the session you are looking for is not listed in the Sessions section, the easiest way to find it is through the Search section. Types in the word “Session” followed by the number of the session "2, 3, 4, etc." and click the “Search Blog” button. It's that easy. 8. The Archives section is where you want to go when you simply can’t find a post by any other means. The Archives section displays a list of links grouped together by different months. For example, clicking on the “January 2006” will display each and every post that was published in that month.