darksirensally

( Current games I'm in )

( Current games I'm running )

I think I really need to branch out from playing Exalted, because it's all I really know (well, I know L5R pretty well, but it's been slow-going, and Jon knows it better than me). I'm kind of shy about going into a new game system though, particularly if it's with people I hardly know. I think that's the hard part... finding both the right system and the right group to play it with. Exalted has been relatively safe because I've built up a small group of people I actually do like playing with, and I feel reasonably confident running it, as well -- except for those bouts of anxiety that mess me up now and then. *sigh*

I've also built up some expectations when it comes to RP. Online, at least, I like to experience a certain level of immersion with a character and game. I like to play with people who are serious about portraying their characters and histories... I like games with involved plots that tend towards the dark, even bleak, a sort of 'RP as social commentary' perhaps, or even questions of morality involved. It's hard to find this, because everyone RPs for different reasons. Many do it for an escape from reality, and like more light-hearted, uninvolved games. Me? I RP to create a story with my fellow players and GM. In Exalted games, particularly, I take the moniker of "Storyteller" very seriously. I'm weaving something less of a game, I think, and more like an interactive novel with combat and social rolls now and then. That kind of play, I think, requires a certain amount of commitment, trust and common tastes/interests among all those involved. So... it's harder to find players for me. Sometimes frustratingly hard.

There is, of course, the worrying potential of TOO much immersion. I have found myself at that threshold before, and at least once have stepped past it, and regretted it. I think that *because* of mistakes like that, though, I am better able to keep that separation between reality and fantasy intact. I do NOT by any circumstance ever believe that RP should be more important than RL.

That's all for this rare IJ post of the moment... Maybe I'll write again soon!