Hi there. I'm Kris, and I'm new. I did a quick search and saw a good many posts on role-playing. I'm a card-carrying member of the Gamer Geek Guild myself (I even had "GEEK" tattooed to my neck recently). I've not seen anything from Mr. Card himself on the issue. So I was wondering:
1) Do you play role-playing games, Mr. Card? 2) What are your opinions of people utilizing your settings in a role-playing context? I know some authors are utterly opposed to the idea (Terry Goodkind), some who actually endorse it (George R.R. Martin) and a few fence sitters. Jacqueline Carey gave me perhaps the most original answer to this same question: (to paraphrase)"It's fine, just be gentle." 3) Has anyone approached you about licensing any of your books for published role-playing games? Are there any special criteria a game company would need to meet in order for you to say yes? (From what I read, Robert Jordan wanted final say on absolutely everything that went into the WotC production of the Wheel of Time).
Anyway, mostly just curious. -Kris
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
quote: I'm a card-carrying member of the Gamer Geek Guild myself (I even had "GEEK" tattooed to my neck recently).
I would think the only advantage of having that tattoo would be that it would render carrying the card unnecessary.
Posted by Sid Meier (Member # 6965) on :
lol, i don't know exactly how mr card's settings could be made into roleplay but I'm sure the ender books and related could make great strategy and RTS games.
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
I remember OSC talking about games like D&D once. All I remember him saying was that when he plays, death is final. No resurrection, no raise dead. Death is death.
Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :
I like his style, then. Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
This coming from the DM whose unflinching disregard for his players is now famous. Posted by Puppy (Member # 6721) on :
1) OSC hasn't played a role-playing game in decades, partly because he gets frustrated with the slow pace of the process. IE, it takes the entire first session and a half to create your characters, and you don't even have a story yet. I imagine that he would probably love an extremely story- and acting-centered roleplaying experience, but since most RPGs focus heavily on slow, turn-based tactical combat, he'd quickly get bored.
3) I actually helped him work on an Alvin Maker adaptation to a popular pen-and-paper system when I was a teenager. It never went anywhere, but he still uses the research I did into the magic system to remind himself how Alvin's world works when he settles into a new book after a long hiatus from the series. Or at least, that's what he tells me to make me feel important
... as a side note, some of the characters from Wyrms are actually based on the last role-playing game OSC played ... in which he rolled up such an abysmal character that the GM let him have TWO. He decided to make them goblins, and named them Reck and Ruin.
Posted by Sid Meier (Member # 6965) on :
congrats!
Posted by Peter Howell (Member # 8072) on :
I highly recommend the Paranoia RPG to anybody who finds most normal RPGs slow... There's absolutely nothing slow about Paranoia. Character generation takes 40 minutes tops (when you don't know what you're doing). Combat is designed to be fast and frentic, and by the end everybody has died 6 times. It's designed around quick 1 or 2 session adventures, and you don't need to know the rules to play... In fact, this is probably the only game where the person who shows the least knowledge about the rules has the best chance of survival. I won't get too deep into the setting, but it's kind of 1984 meets THX-1138 meets The Island meets Brazil meets... well, you get the picture. Check out www.costik.com/paranoia for the blog and a bunch of related links.
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
I've read some of the KotDT strips about Paranoia. It looks pretty interesting.
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
The KoDT Paranoia strips -- Hacknoia -- are nothing at all like the real Paranoia game, which is largely played for comedy. Posted by Verily the Younger (Member # 6705) on :
I so want to see a pen-and-paper RPG set in the Alvin Maker universe.
And how cool would it be to play it with OSC as the GM? My levels of geekatonin would go so high I'd pass out. Posted by Peter Howell (Member # 8072) on :
Paranoia is designed from the ground up to allow GMs to get revenge against metagamers, power gamers and rule nazis. (You know who you are)!
I think the humor of the game is summed up in the first page of the rulebook which contains the "End Citizen Licensing Agreement" (or ECLA). The ECLA begins as such: "By reading, browsing, standing near, possessing, not possessing, thinking about or not agreeing with this agreement, you agree to the following terms covered by and not covered by this agreement."
Posted by Kristoffer (Member # 8502) on :
I've read a few really good role-playing games that would make decent adaptations to Mr. Card's settings, however I personally prefer building a system around a setting. When a game is built around an author's setting, I also think the system should reflect the author's personal playing style. If Mr. Card does not like slow, plodding, combat-based games, there are a good many small-press role-playing game companies that produce rules-lite, combat-lite games that could be more to his style.
I'd love to take a crack at writing a role-playing game in the Enderverse; playing military genious children (both in Battle School and after) would be tons of fun, so far as I can tell. "Little Fears," a game I bought recently, focuses on children as the protagonists, and would serve as a good starting spot. But I digress.
And yes, my wallet is much lighter since the Geek Card was taken out of it; the tattoo is less convenient, but much more fun to show people. ^__^
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