Sorcerer Online

[Ron Edwards]

Hey,

The title's a little whacked, because the whole SITE is on-line, but what it refers to is the sign-on feature at the Sorcerer website.

Now, when Clay and I were designing it (me with the notions, him with the codes), there was no effective Sorcerer forum happening. GO was active, but it belched and crashed too often, and the site admin over there was acting funny in general; RPG.net's format isn't well suited for the kind of discussions I wanted. The Forge was inoperative and at that time had no forum anyway.

So the PLAN was to set up a Sorc forum inside the site, with sign-on, and a couple other fun services. That's all changed, 'cause the Forge came back and took off like a goosed rhino.

Since the Sorc forum is now HERE, what remains of Sorcerer Online is what I want to talk about. There are two things.

Thing #1 is a sorcerer and demon character generator system. It works nicely, and a few people have used it, but I'd like to get some commentary going about its features and even, I hope, some commentary about one another's characters and what sort of play they might be slated for or involved in.

Thing #2 is the planned main feature of Sorcerer Online, specifically a means to archive and describe ACTUAL PLAY to one another in a decent, interesting fashion. It will be questionnaire-driven - answer "Ron's list" of questions about your session, and post them. Then people can visit your stuff, see how it's going, and offer comments and reactions.

I'd really like to encourage REAL discussion of real play, rather than the breathless and incoherent "then I did ... then I did ..." descriptions one usually hears. Sorcerer is predicated on the idea that actual play may indeed produce entertaining narrative outcomes that can be transitive, not merely experiential. I'd like to get that into action.

So what do you think?

Best,
Ron

[Bailywolf]

I'd like some kind of big communal demon database... I would love to steal...erm... be inspired by the demonic concepts of others.

[Ron Edwards]

It's there already. Hit "search" without specifying the field and you get everybody's stuff to look through.

Best,
Ron

[Blake Hutchins]

I'm for it, Ron. Sounds like a cool idea.

[Tor Erickson]

On 2001-09-17 10:06, Ron Edwards wrote:

Thing #2 is the planned main feature of Sorcerer Online, specifically a means to archive and describe ACTUAL PLAY to one another in a decent, interesting fashion.
...
Then people can visit your stuff, see how it's going, and offer comments and reactions.
...
So what do you think?

Best,
Ron

This, I think, is a FANTASTIC idea.  Makes me wanna play sorcerer just so I can report.
Tor

[Ron Edwards]

Hey,

Tor, thanks - that's exactly the response I was hoping for. It's still in development, though, but over the next months, I hope it will become the major attraction for the site.

Best,
Ron

[Uncle Dark]

What about support for online gaming?  Either PBEM or chat?

Mind you, I know nothing of what this would involve, but it is suggested by the "Sorecerer Online" tag...

Lon

[Ron Edwards]

Lon,

My first reaction is that you've provided yet another excellent reason for changing the name of the service. Yes, that reflects my general disinterest in the PBeM/online-play scene, and is rightly designated a "prejudice."

A few people have asked about setting up PBeMs, and I always say, "Sure, go for it, tell me what happens" and then I hear nothing more. So either they're playing away like gangbusters, in which case such a service on the website would be a great idea, or it fizzles every time, in which case all the effort to set it up seems kind of dubious.

Granted, I could set it up on the site, in the hopes of GENERATING the activity, but since it's not something I understand very well or think I'd be involved in, I remain hesitant.

Any other thoughts? I freely admit to being prejudiced, but I'm not entirely unreasonable. Anyone, tell me more so I can make a good decision without my prejudices.

Best,
Ron

[Wart]

On 2001-09-18 10:25, Ron Edwards wrote:
Any other thoughts? I freely admit to being prejudiced, but I'm not entirely unreasonable. Anyone, tell me more so I can make a good decision without my prejudices.

As you know, I'm currently considering starting a Sorcerer
PBEM (hopefully for one or two dozen players), so perhaps
I'll have some feedback after that.

I've come to the conclusion that the Sorcerer system needs tweaking before it becomes suitable for PBEM play, especially the sort of PBEM I have planned: in particular, more Humanity is needed since players are less likely to be able to co-operate all the time.

[Ron Edwards]

Arthur (Wart),

I would very much like to see the PBeM thing happen, although as I said I'm completely unqualified to participate. System-tweaking for that purpose is totally valid - as mini-supplement authors & customers know, I'm extremely permissive about Humanity rules in particular.

What other rules/guidelines do you have in mind?

Best,
Ron

[Wart]

On 2001-09-19 11:22, Ron Edwards wrote:
I would very much like to see the PBeM thing happen, although as I said I'm completely unqualified to participate. System-tweaking for that purpose is totally valid - as mini-supplement authors & customers know, I'm extremely permissive about Humanity rules in particular.

What other rules/guidelines do you have in mind?

Bearing in mind that this is for a PBEM for over a dozen folks, where the traditional tabletop "party slogging through a scenario" format is abandoned to allow players to co-operate or compete with each other as they say fit, the intent being to create a believeable and alive "sorcerous underground" that PCs would be a part of, interact with, and explore.

The only other main alteration I'm considering at the moment is to the Kicker mechanic. It's the most overtly Narrativist part of the game. Whilst I'd like to keep the game vaguely Narrativist, I'd also like to be able to cater to Gamist and Simulationist players as well (entirely possible, of course, in a PBEM where everyone is doing their own thing: Gamists would be inclined to use problem-solving skills to overcome gameworld problems or solve gameworld mysteries, Simulationists would love to explore the sorcerous underground, and so forth), and so Kicker may be downgraded to "Agenda", an optional part of one's background.

There'd need to be some way for the players to talk to each other, so there'd probably be some sort of sorcerer's mailing list, perhaps even moderated by a reasonably neutral demon (perhaps with a Need for discussion).

[Uncle Dark]

Ron,

I am another person wh tried to get a Sorcerer PBEM going, but it sank due to the same problems I've been having with tabletop gaming: my players are too busy to commit the time needed to get the game going!

Anyway, I can send you the same stuff I sent them, if you're curious as to how it was supposed to work.

Lon

[Ron Edwards]

Lon,

I would be interested in seeing that material. I'd also be interested to see you and Arthur (Wart) share some information and thoughts about the matter, perhaps in a thread of its own.

Whatever you guys come up with, run it past me, and Clay and I will ruminate about how it become part of Sorcerer Online (which would then justify its name after all).

Best,
Ron