Hello world!
Hey guys,
First, I'd like to introduce myself. I'm Luke Hill, your new US ANST-Awakening. I'm certain that some of you know me, and I'm equally certain that some of you don't. That being said, I'd like to pontificate for a moment on my past as a storyteller, my take on the present state of affairs in the Awakening venue, and my vision for the future of the Awakening venue in the United States.
The past (or, 'who I am and why'): I've been playing Mage in various forms since the mid-late 90s, though I only heard of the Camarilla in 2002 when I entered college in Ruston, Louisiana. I joined the Camarilla in 2004, primarily to play Ascension. I played for about 9 months before I ran - and was elected - Ascension VST of Ruston. In March of 2005, just after SCaRE, I was hired as ARST-Mage for the SC Region of the US. In May of that year (a bit prior to NEGLECt 2005) I was hired as GSA: Entropy, an assistant to the AAMST-Mage at the time, Jessi Hixon. When the big venue reset button got pushed I was retained as SC ARST-Mage and as a GSA under Jessi, though my job title changed to GSA: Antagonists & Realms. When Kevin Drugan took the job of AAMST-Awakening I was retained, though my job title was changed to GSA: Antagonists & ST Support. I stayed there for a couple months before the global reorg released me along with all of the other GSAs. Recently I've been re-elected as VST-Awakening in Ruston (after stepping down in March of 2006), and as I'm sure you're well aware by now, selected by Jon Hermann as his US ANST-Awakening. So, that catches us up to now...
The present (or, 'what I see and think'): I see the Awakening chronicle right now as being in a state of transition, from the beginning of the chronicle into the middle. This means that we're now seeing the development of what will be the face of the Awakening chronicle, and I believe that the face we're seeing is something that people will enjoy (and are enjoying). Interpersonal (vP) and environmental (vE) conflicts are taking place on several levels, and that's keeping things entertaining and people engaged. The power level in the chronicle is high (higher than some would like, I venture), but I don't believe that to be a destructive force in and of itself; rather, I think it is an identifying element of our chronicle, of our take on the open-ended world that White Wolf has given us. So, from here, I want to look at what we're given and shape from it a chronicle that will be entertaining and engaging, that will draw people in and help them to have fun while staying true to the themes, setting, and flavor of Mage: the Awakening.
The future (or, 'what I plan to, and not to, do'): First things first, I want to look at the rules we've added to those in the published literature of Mage: the Awakening (i.e. the Camarilla General and US National Addenda), and determine with your help whether they add to or detract from what we are seeking in the Camarilla Awakening chronicle. As they add to it, I will keep them; as they detract from it, I will revise or remove them. After that, I will introduce plot that stays true to the themes of Awakening while providing new and interesting avenues for conflict of both an environmental and interpersonal nature. After that I will work to educate storytellers up and down the chain about the eccentricities of the rules of Awakening, of the unique challenges the venue presents, and of how to develop plots that are suited to the unique face of the Camarilla Awakening chronicle.
So, all that said, here's what I'm looking at right now:
note: feel free to comment on any of the following issues either publicly on this LJ or in private to my e-mail at auronculari63 yahoo com - I'm happy to hear commentary of all stripes, and I very much want your input on issues relating to my office in order to help me make sure that I'm working with, rather than against, the desires of the US Awakening venue
(1) The US National Addendum:
I'm considering the following changes: (a) Drop the general legacy approval level to that set by the Cam Addendum, (b) Raise the approval level of new (not pre-existing) self-initiated and NPC-inducted Legacy PCs one step above the general level (High in most cases, Global in a few), (c) Raise the approval level of certain Legacies (my pet example being the Perfected Adepts) by a step or two in order to compensate for their over-abundance.
Justification for the changes:
(a) I have little fondness for restricting the access of US Awakening players to a given item over and above that of players in other nations without a compelling reason rooted in the demographics of the US player base. Since I don't see one, I see no reason for this provision.
(b) The player base in the US is large enough to support this, and I feel that it would encourage PC tutorship and thereby encourage tutor-student RP. That seems to me to be an important enough factor to raise the approval level one step - making it more difficult to acquire, but far from impossible. In other nations this would be problematic, as the player base in all other affiliates is much smaller than in the US and therefore the pool of legacy tutors is much smaller, making the acquisition of a PC tutor much more problematic.
(c) Simple over-abundance in the case of the Perfected Adepts; there are enough already, and so I want to stem the tide on subsequent approvals.
Questions to you:
(a) What justification(s) would you see as sufficient for raising the approval of a given Legacy or class of Legacies in the United States?
(b) Do you believe that making Legacies more common will be constructive or destructive to the Awakening chronicle in the US, and why do you think so?
(c) Are there any other items that you would like to see changed in approval, what are they, and why?
(2) SCaRE and USCC Plot:
I mentioned above that I was selected as SC ARST-Mage some time ago, and so it merits mention here that I am still acting as SC ARST-Mage until SCaRE, this upcoming March 14-18. Because of this, I will be Venue Lead for Awakening at both SCaRE 2007 and USCC 2007. As such, I'm looking to develop plot that will carry over from one con to the other in a fluid fashion (mostly to lessen the work load, though I also think that some plot continuity between cons would be nice). In addition to designing fluid plot that transfers between the conventions, I'm looking to solve a few, basic problems with convention plots that I've perceived in the past year or so.
These problems include:
(a) Plot monopolization by a select cohort of PCs, at the expense of the fun of other players
(b) Seeming predictability of plot (i.e. the '10 o'clock monster') and unoriginality of design
(c) Narrative disconectedness of plots that happen at the same convention
(d) Inaccessibility of plot by either less or more powerful PCs, depending upon design
Proposed solutions:
(a) Provide plot access greatly in advance of the con in an even, level fashion so that initial access to it is guaranteed for those who want it. What happens after they get their foot in the door, though, is up to them.
(b) Attempting to structure plot in a non-linear fashion, so that it tosses normal rules of plot development out the window, while structuring the conflicts in ways that haven't been seen before.
(c) Strongly tie in all of the plots to a given context that goes beyond the location of the con, but plays to a narrative unity which holds all the pieces together and drives the non-linear resolution in new directions.
(d) Structure plots so that they contain resolution paths for low, moderate, and high power PCs - this is also part of the non-linear resolution mentioned earlier.
Questions to you:
(a) What methods for introducing plot have you seen that have worked well, and which have not worked so well? Has plot seeding far in advance of a convention worked well in the past, and what specific tools have you seen used effectively?
(b) What sort of plot do you enjoy? Do you enjoy plot that evolves with player action, or plot that evolves due to some external stimulus, or a mixture of both? What place does Deus ex Machina have in Cam storytelling?
(c) Do you think a 'plot stew' where all of the elements of a given plot are commingled and are being resolved simultaneously and side-by-side can work? Do you think that it will make things more interesting for players, who can throw plot A at plot B if they want?
(d) What do you see as the key to making plot accessible and solvable for PCs of varying power levels? What have you seen done in the past that has worked well, and what has not worked so well?
(3) ST Education:
I've been reading the OOC e-mail lists for Awakening lately, and have noticed a great deal of focus on the misconceptions of many STs regarding the rules we are using in the Camarilla Awakening venue. Given that, I've been tasked with educating US Awakening STs about the particulars and the general principles of the rules in Awakening.
I'm looking at a few, specific things to educate people on at first, like:
(a) How to use ST discretion when faced with potentially unbalanced uses of improvised casting, and even some cases of rote casting
(b) How to encourage a diverse cast of characters when opinion holds that some arcana are more powerful than others
(c) How to track and enforce mana costs in order to maintain fair and balanced play for high and low Gnosis PCs
(d) How to handle pre-cast effects at game start in order to give reasonable power but not an open door to power-mongering
(e) How to evaluate Legacy applications, including checking for pre-requisites (and what the pre-requisites are) and staying inside of paradigm
(f) How to handle cross-venue without endorsing unbalanced uses of magic or unduly restricting the actions of PCs
Questions to you:
(a) How have you dealt with potentially unbalanced interpretations of rules in the past? What strategies have worked with your players, and which haven't?
(b) Have you found that people make mostly the same kinds of PCs, or that a diverse cast of character is the inevitable result of a player base as large as the US Awakening venue?
(c) What methods for tracking mana have you seen/used which worked best? Which have worked worst, or not at all?
(d) What pre-casting methods have you used which have worked well for your PCs in the past? Which of the methods in common use presently are you most fond of, and least fond of?
(e) What standards have you used/seen being used in the past? Which did you feel best played to the needs of the Camarilla Awakening chronicle, and which didn't?
(f) What guidelines do you think should be used for managing cross-venue to/from Awakening?
Now, all that being said, I'd love to hear your responses. I'm going to be doing a whole heck of a lot in the coming days and weeks, and I want to make sure that I act with your mandate to help shape the chronicle that you want to play in, rather than act solely on my vision of the chronicle and my ideas of how it should be run.
But now, I must be off to read applications. Take care!
Sincerely,
Luke Hill
US2004031302
US ANST-Mage
First, I'd like to introduce myself. I'm Luke Hill, your new US ANST-Awakening. I'm certain that some of you know me, and I'm equally certain that some of you don't. That being said, I'd like to pontificate for a moment on my past as a storyteller, my take on the present state of affairs in the Awakening venue, and my vision for the future of the Awakening venue in the United States.
The past (or, 'who I am and why'): I've been playing Mage in various forms since the mid-late 90s, though I only heard of the Camarilla in 2002 when I entered college in Ruston, Louisiana. I joined the Camarilla in 2004, primarily to play Ascension. I played for about 9 months before I ran - and was elected - Ascension VST of Ruston. In March of 2005, just after SCaRE, I was hired as ARST-Mage for the SC Region of the US. In May of that year (a bit prior to NEGLECt 2005) I was hired as GSA: Entropy, an assistant to the AAMST-Mage at the time, Jessi Hixon. When the big venue reset button got pushed I was retained as SC ARST-Mage and as a GSA under Jessi, though my job title changed to GSA: Antagonists & Realms. When Kevin Drugan took the job of AAMST-Awakening I was retained, though my job title was changed to GSA: Antagonists & ST Support. I stayed there for a couple months before the global reorg released me along with all of the other GSAs. Recently I've been re-elected as VST-Awakening in Ruston (after stepping down in March of 2006), and as I'm sure you're well aware by now, selected by Jon Hermann as his US ANST-Awakening. So, that catches us up to now...
The present (or, 'what I see and think'): I see the Awakening chronicle right now as being in a state of transition, from the beginning of the chronicle into the middle. This means that we're now seeing the development of what will be the face of the Awakening chronicle, and I believe that the face we're seeing is something that people will enjoy (and are enjoying). Interpersonal (vP) and environmental (vE) conflicts are taking place on several levels, and that's keeping things entertaining and people engaged. The power level in the chronicle is high (higher than some would like, I venture), but I don't believe that to be a destructive force in and of itself; rather, I think it is an identifying element of our chronicle, of our take on the open-ended world that White Wolf has given us. So, from here, I want to look at what we're given and shape from it a chronicle that will be entertaining and engaging, that will draw people in and help them to have fun while staying true to the themes, setting, and flavor of Mage: the Awakening.
The future (or, 'what I plan to, and not to, do'): First things first, I want to look at the rules we've added to those in the published literature of Mage: the Awakening (i.e. the Camarilla General and US National Addenda), and determine with your help whether they add to or detract from what we are seeking in the Camarilla Awakening chronicle. As they add to it, I will keep them; as they detract from it, I will revise or remove them. After that, I will introduce plot that stays true to the themes of Awakening while providing new and interesting avenues for conflict of both an environmental and interpersonal nature. After that I will work to educate storytellers up and down the chain about the eccentricities of the rules of Awakening, of the unique challenges the venue presents, and of how to develop plots that are suited to the unique face of the Camarilla Awakening chronicle.
So, all that said, here's what I'm looking at right now:
note: feel free to comment on any of the following issues either publicly on this LJ or in private to my e-mail at auronculari63 yahoo com - I'm happy to hear commentary of all stripes, and I very much want your input on issues relating to my office in order to help me make sure that I'm working with, rather than against, the desires of the US Awakening venue
(1) The US National Addendum:
I'm considering the following changes: (a) Drop the general legacy approval level to that set by the Cam Addendum, (b) Raise the approval level of new (not pre-existing) self-initiated and NPC-inducted Legacy PCs one step above the general level (High in most cases, Global in a few), (c) Raise the approval level of certain Legacies (my pet example being the Perfected Adepts) by a step or two in order to compensate for their over-abundance.
Justification for the changes:
(a) I have little fondness for restricting the access of US Awakening players to a given item over and above that of players in other nations without a compelling reason rooted in the demographics of the US player base. Since I don't see one, I see no reason for this provision.
(b) The player base in the US is large enough to support this, and I feel that it would encourage PC tutorship and thereby encourage tutor-student RP. That seems to me to be an important enough factor to raise the approval level one step - making it more difficult to acquire, but far from impossible. In other nations this would be problematic, as the player base in all other affiliates is much smaller than in the US and therefore the pool of legacy tutors is much smaller, making the acquisition of a PC tutor much more problematic.
(c) Simple over-abundance in the case of the Perfected Adepts; there are enough already, and so I want to stem the tide on subsequent approvals.
Questions to you:
(a) What justification(s) would you see as sufficient for raising the approval of a given Legacy or class of Legacies in the United States?
(b) Do you believe that making Legacies more common will be constructive or destructive to the Awakening chronicle in the US, and why do you think so?
(c) Are there any other items that you would like to see changed in approval, what are they, and why?
(2) SCaRE and USCC Plot:
I mentioned above that I was selected as SC ARST-Mage some time ago, and so it merits mention here that I am still acting as SC ARST-Mage until SCaRE, this upcoming March 14-18. Because of this, I will be Venue Lead for Awakening at both SCaRE 2007 and USCC 2007. As such, I'm looking to develop plot that will carry over from one con to the other in a fluid fashion (mostly to lessen the work load, though I also think that some plot continuity between cons would be nice). In addition to designing fluid plot that transfers between the conventions, I'm looking to solve a few, basic problems with convention plots that I've perceived in the past year or so.
These problems include:
(a) Plot monopolization by a select cohort of PCs, at the expense of the fun of other players
(b) Seeming predictability of plot (i.e. the '10 o'clock monster') and unoriginality of design
(c) Narrative disconectedness of plots that happen at the same convention
(d) Inaccessibility of plot by either less or more powerful PCs, depending upon design
Proposed solutions:
(a) Provide plot access greatly in advance of the con in an even, level fashion so that initial access to it is guaranteed for those who want it. What happens after they get their foot in the door, though, is up to them.
(b) Attempting to structure plot in a non-linear fashion, so that it tosses normal rules of plot development out the window, while structuring the conflicts in ways that haven't been seen before.
(c) Strongly tie in all of the plots to a given context that goes beyond the location of the con, but plays to a narrative unity which holds all the pieces together and drives the non-linear resolution in new directions.
(d) Structure plots so that they contain resolution paths for low, moderate, and high power PCs - this is also part of the non-linear resolution mentioned earlier.
Questions to you:
(a) What methods for introducing plot have you seen that have worked well, and which have not worked so well? Has plot seeding far in advance of a convention worked well in the past, and what specific tools have you seen used effectively?
(b) What sort of plot do you enjoy? Do you enjoy plot that evolves with player action, or plot that evolves due to some external stimulus, or a mixture of both? What place does Deus ex Machina have in Cam storytelling?
(c) Do you think a 'plot stew' where all of the elements of a given plot are commingled and are being resolved simultaneously and side-by-side can work? Do you think that it will make things more interesting for players, who can throw plot A at plot B if they want?
(d) What do you see as the key to making plot accessible and solvable for PCs of varying power levels? What have you seen done in the past that has worked well, and what has not worked so well?
(3) ST Education:
I've been reading the OOC e-mail lists for Awakening lately, and have noticed a great deal of focus on the misconceptions of many STs regarding the rules we are using in the Camarilla Awakening venue. Given that, I've been tasked with educating US Awakening STs about the particulars and the general principles of the rules in Awakening.
I'm looking at a few, specific things to educate people on at first, like:
(a) How to use ST discretion when faced with potentially unbalanced uses of improvised casting, and even some cases of rote casting
(b) How to encourage a diverse cast of characters when opinion holds that some arcana are more powerful than others
(c) How to track and enforce mana costs in order to maintain fair and balanced play for high and low Gnosis PCs
(d) How to handle pre-cast effects at game start in order to give reasonable power but not an open door to power-mongering
(e) How to evaluate Legacy applications, including checking for pre-requisites (and what the pre-requisites are) and staying inside of paradigm
(f) How to handle cross-venue without endorsing unbalanced uses of magic or unduly restricting the actions of PCs
Questions to you:
(a) How have you dealt with potentially unbalanced interpretations of rules in the past? What strategies have worked with your players, and which haven't?
(b) Have you found that people make mostly the same kinds of PCs, or that a diverse cast of character is the inevitable result of a player base as large as the US Awakening venue?
(c) What methods for tracking mana have you seen/used which worked best? Which have worked worst, or not at all?
(d) What pre-casting methods have you used which have worked well for your PCs in the past? Which of the methods in common use presently are you most fond of, and least fond of?
(e) What standards have you used/seen being used in the past? Which did you feel best played to the needs of the Camarilla Awakening chronicle, and which didn't?
(f) What guidelines do you think should be used for managing cross-venue to/from Awakening?
Now, all that being said, I'd love to hear your responses. I'm going to be doing a whole heck of a lot in the coming days and weeks, and I want to make sure that I act with your mandate to help shape the chronicle that you want to play in, rather than act solely on my vision of the chronicle and my ideas of how it should be run.
But now, I must be off to read applications. Take care!
Sincerely,
Luke Hill
US2004031302
US ANST-Mage