| layout | title | nav_order |
|---|---|---|
default |
The Fundamentals |
1 |
If you’re new to roleplaying games, this could be a pretty daunting concept to understand. Don’t worry, though. Roleplaying games are, at their very heart, easy to understand, at least conceptually speaking. Roleplaying games are games in which a group of players share a collective narrative, with plenty of challenges, character development, and exciting, pulse-pounding action. These collective narratives are guided by the Referee (REF), who interprets dice rolls, applies rules, and uses the inner storytelling genius we all possess toward specific storytelling milestones, but the REF is not God. Instead, the other players should assist the REF in creating an exciting, enriching, and worthwhile gaming experience. Milestones for gameplay might include simple tasks consuming only a few moments in game play or complicated ones that take several game sessions to tackle.
In essence, role-playing games require most individual players to take on a persona, who players have tailored for the game story they are playing within. For example, Winston “Quick Fingers” Putnam, a former space marine turned bandit, who loves good drinks and exquisite, exotic foods, might be the character you are playing in a Tears In Rain campaign. Playing Quick Fingers, we’ll use his nickname, you will interact with your fellow players and their in-game personas, along with the REF and her non-player characters (NPCs). You might also interact with the story world, using dice rolls to determine resolutions of given conflicts and work with your REF in how you will role-play a given situation, progress forward, etc. In all, you are indistinguishable from Quick Fingers. Everything Quick Fingers wants, you want. Everything Quick Fingers does, you have a hand in from the get-go. When the REF interacts with you, it is on the basis that you are acting in the interests of your character, Winston “Quick Fingers” Putnam.
Roleplaying games are about collaboration between multiple players, including the REF. Competition is usually at the heart of any game—the exception being role-playing games, where collaboration is favored over competition. It is best to think of collaboration as a form of entertainment and way to produce exciting outcomes and not boring, uneventful gaming. Quite the opposite, in fact. Collaboration between players is the best way to develop each player-character, explore the game’s universe, and craft wonderful stories and experiences that will stick with each player.
One of the many issues facing traditional (and often crunchy) roleplaying games is the overemphasis on rolling dice. Some games, they shall go unnamed, have players and their REFs roll for everything that takes place within the game. Dice don’t need to be rolled every time a character does something in-game, especially in Tears In Rain. Quite the opposite, in fact. Dice should be rolled at important times, when it is pivotal to determine the success of a given round of combat, an application of a particular skill, or even in tense social conflicts that require a bit of finesse. With that said, Tears In Rain encourages roleplaying over roll playing. Dice have their place here, too, but they shouldn’t suck the fun out of each gaming session. When in doubt, roleplay and then add the dice in to complicate things.
Tears In Rain moves away from the mathematical crunch that is often associated with the traditional TTRPG systems. Narrative is balanced with meaningful dice rolling and specific (streamlined) modifiers (i.e., where mathematics comes into role-playing). The job of the Referee (and even the group at large) is to balance these two in a way that suits the group’s roleplaying needs. Remember: Rolling dice for every action, and adding or subtracting modifiers along the way, isn’t a recommended approach to Tears In Rain gameplay. Instead, narrative should lead, and dice rolls should follow. To offer refreshing narratives, dice in Tears In Rain should be used to complicate the story world and the lives of those characters within it.
The Referee (REF) is the player who helps keep order over the chaos, both in-game and in-session. The Referee is not there to railroad storylines, stunt gameplay, and/or block player-player interactions. In fact, a good REF will embrace the chaos, using rules, meaningful (and constructive) player-player interactions, and specific moments in gameplay to help create an enriching experience for everyone, including themselves. The REF, like the laws of physics, and the game’s core rules, offer natural boundaries for acceptable play and fantastical fun to exist. Like gravity, the REF (and the game’s rules) is there not to dole out meaningless consequences for actions, but, rather, make consequences matter, make them fun, and, more importantly, make them consistent within the confines of the story and game world and the group’s expectations for realism.
For both of those who are playing as player-characters (PCs) and those who are acting as REF, there is a secondary role that must be fulfilled as well. Make this an enjoyable (collective) experience. In other words, Tears In Rain is best experienced and enjoyed as a collaborative storytelling endeavors, with everyone, not just the REF, sharing ideas and looking into opportunities to make game sessions exciting, entertaining, and a collective endeavor worth pursuing together.
Self-proclaimed realists will decry the lack of realism in this game (and in others). That is fine. Realism is in the eye of the beholder, meaning realism comes in different shades and is (often) subjective, particularly in a gameplay context. What is realistic to one is unrealistic to another. While realism is considered here, it is sacrificed in the name of good entertainment and exciting gameplay. It is best to remember that realism is incredibly difficult to nail down in gaming, and to simply obsess over all the things that should be realistic would present some serious design challenges, preventing this game from being in your hands. Overall, remember that realism, or the level or shade of realism desired, should be a group decision. In other words, the group, as a whole, should decide how far it wants to take realism in Tears In Rain.
Race has been a big part of the legacy of role-playing. In a game like Tears In Rain, race, a problematic social construct, has been replaced with unique (and more inclusive) backgrounds, which are comprised of four key components: Ancestry, beliefs, culture, and personal history. There are no modifiers specific to races, ethnicities, religions, etc. The purpose behind this is clear: This game wants to avoid perpetuating rather dangerous pseudo-science that promotes distinct differences and perpetuates whiteness and its superiority over others. The supremacy of whiteness has created systems of oppression built entirely on flawed social constructs such as race. Ancestries, cultures, and personal history have replaced traditional role-playing games’ use of monolithic (and very problematic) racial constructs. Ancestry, culture, and personal history are more inclusive than artificial social constructs that refuse to die. Moreover, ancestry, culture, and personal history offer players (and the REF) a plethora of meaningful (and respectful) roleplaying opportunities.
In roleplaying games like Tears In Rain, there exists a Golden Rule. This rule is simple, but it is often ignored by players who wish to be overly technical or wish to be rules lawyers or even realism fanatics. This is a game. As such, one should have fun. Moreover, players should remember the final arbiter of rules, realism, and boundaries is the REF, who is interested in making sure the game keeps from stalling or falling victim to rules lawyering, realism fetishes, and the like. In other words, the Golden Rule is really simple here: Don’t be an asshole and have fun. This is a game after all.
Tears In Rain is the brainchild of the Open Gaming Movement within the tabletop roleplaying games industry. Fate, Fudge, D20-OGL, and other open gaming systems helped make Tears In Rain possible. While Tears in Rain deals with (strictly speaking) a hard sci-fi-flavored space opera roleplaying setting. Genre-agnostic systems, such as Fate, Fudge, and even GURPS, must take on an approach that appeases a much larger gaming constituency than (say) Tears In Rain. This is a game that isn’t all things to all people. Instead, it offers very genre- and setting-specific rules and experiences. Tears In Rain is not for everyone—and that’s okay. Before you is a labor of love and obsession. It isn’t perfect, and that’s what makes it so exciting.
Also, Remember This, Folks: When dealing with any tabletop roleplaying game product, the Referee and her fellow players are the final arbiters as to what should happen in-game. In other words, this is merely a rulebook and not some sacred text to be held up high and venerated for what is written on its pages. Feel free to tweak, bend, break, and rewrite what you don’t like, what doesn’t work, and/or what doesn’t flow with your current understandings of your gaming universe.
{% include footer.html %}