When in Doubt, Play

    This week seems to be one of those weeks, you know the sort, where you just can’t seem to get things down on paper and every idea just looks like something a dimwitted turtle wrote (I pray that’s not every week and people just aren’t telling me).
    Since I want to adhere to my deadline of a Friday post as much as possible, and since every Friday I try to post something that is “useful” to me as a world builder and storyteller, I thought I’d share with you one of my little secrets, the ace up my sleeve.  I love to roleplay (Shocker, isn’t it?), and I love to use roleplaying resources to help me think up better and better ideas.
    The beauty of the roleplaying game industry, and its benefits for writers of speculative fiction, is two fold.  First, someone else has done all the really hard work for us!  The Legions Vast at places like Wizards of the Coast or Steve Jackson Games Inc., have created a platform for us to experiment with.  Stats for races, classes, tools, vehicles, and most importantly combat and interaction have already been written, tested, and laid out in plain and simple language that most anyone can follow.  From games like Dungeons and Dragons (see the 4th Edition D&D Core Rulebooks) to  GURPS or Rifts they have given us the bedrock of our universe.
    With this bedrock firmly intact, we as Secondhand Gods can manipulate – almost on an alchemical level – the very essence of these games.  We can change the races to mimic the world we are building; we can alter and append classes or rules to suit the nuances of our worlds (and usually, they tell you how!).  Are you writing a cyberpunk inspired novel with Mega-Corporations and evil robots?  Well, Wizards of the Coast has a game for you.  Are you writing a traditional “High Fantasy” series resplendent with fearsome orcs, trolls, and noble heroes who always get the girl?  There’s a game for you.
    This is something I like to do, when I can’t really wrap my head around where things are going, I start to roleplay.  For example, I’ve been tinkering with the Shivasii, creating racial mechanics for them to fit into a Fantasy/Modern Steampunk universe using a combination of d20 resources.  It forces me to think of what skills a Shivasii might have, how they might dress, arm themselves, what God they worship, even what sort of rations they carry.  In the end, I’ll have created more information for the Shivasii, and have a d20 entry for future gaming.

    The second benefit of this massive roleplaying industry is something most creators of anything can understand, and that’s playtesting.  When we create something that we want people to enjoy, we can never be sure they will.  We get so wrapped up in our own new world that we lose track of it.  We think the robot on orc sex scene is revealing of something deep, but in fact, your readers think it’s disgusting.  You can never be too sure.
    Altering (or “Homebrewing”) a game system to your own ends, then getting four or five very trusted friends to play it out with you can be very helpful.  Your friends will bring new insights and interpretations to the races, places, and purposes you are creating, and will almost always provide you with some new and exciting to work with.

    Don’t believe me good reader?  I can prove it!  If you’ve read the classic Dragonlance Chronicles from Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman you might know that they roleplayed it as well, getting friends to play some of the most iconic characters in the franchise and allowing those characters to become more human, and more believable, as a result.
    If you think playing a tabletop game is just childish, think of it as research in some stuffy library or as some sort of public relations panel testing a swatch of society for its interest in your work.  In the end, you’ll come away with some new ideas and some new ways to think about that world you’re making for everyone to enjoy.