Storium Theory: Tell The Story Of The Characters

I've written in the past about the responsibility of the narrator to use the details provided by player characters, and to set up challenges for the player characters chosen for the game. Today, I'd like to delve into that same general idea, but from a slightly different angle.

As narrator, you're responsible for setting up the story. You're responsible for figuring out possibilities for the game arc - the way the game will start, how it will progress, what variations could come up along the way, how open things are to being altered by the player characters and by how much, and where the story is likely to go. I've written about these concepts quite a bit, as the responsibility the narrator holds for defining the game as a whole is pretty huge.

But don't forget that as narrator, your job is also to help the stories of the player characters - the main characters, the stars - emerge.

I wrote about this in brief a while back, when I discussed game arcs vs. character arcs - a story, ultimately, is not about what happens to the world at large, but what happens to the characters we are following. Therefore, the narrator's job is not just to define the world's plot, the game arc. The narrator's job is also - in fact, arguably more importantly - to help draw out character arcs and issues.

It is all well and good to have a grand, epic game plot, or events that will affect the fate of the world, or other things that will affect a great many people beyond the main characters. That's fine. In many genres, in fact, it's pretty darn essential.

And it's fine to have a structured story, plotted out to some degree in advance, with some events set reasonably in stone. Some narrators use looser setups with greater player influence, others use more defined ones with less player influence, and those are just a matter of the narrator's particular style. As I said in my discussion of said styles, they're all pretty much fine - it's just a matter of narrators and players who like similar styles finding each other.

So that's all fine.

But what's essential, no matter how you're running the game, is that the story needs to relate to the main characters. It needs to tie in with them. Not just involve them. Any story involves its main characters. What I'm encouraging you to do is more: Go beyond involving them. Go beyond just having them affect events in the story and be affected by them.

The story needs to be about them. It needs to relate to them. Even if there are events in the tale that would have happened without them, there need to be major, major elements of the tale that directly relate to the main characters.

Elements of the main characters' pasts should impact how the story develops. Who the main characters are should matter to the tale. Who they are should be tied intricately in.

Don't just set up events that would work with any group of characters. Look at the characters you have and design events, or at least twist events, to work specifically with them. The tale should never, ever feel like it would happen precisely the same way with another group of player characters. Sure, there can be certain broad strokes that could potentially come out regardless, but the intricate details of the story, the motivations and drama? That should all emerge from who these particular characters are.

And while the responsibility for that falls in part on the players - these are their characters, after all - it can't rest entirely on their shoulders. You, the narrator, must help them. You, the narrator, must make efforts to connect your tale to their tales.

I don't think I'm always successful at this, myself, but when I narrate a Storium game, I want the players to feel like it ended up tied in very strongly with their characters. I want them to feel like their characters' personal problems, issues, subplots, nemeses, and more all got involved. Even when the events start out not directly tied to them, I want them to end up tied in. I want the story to be the story of these characters, not the story of the situation.

That's the sort of mindset I encourage you to have.

Characters have their own subplots (they even have cards for those), their own issues, their own relationships, their own details. And these are not side elements to the story. These are the heart of the tale. These are what gives a tale meaning and drama and emotion.

Do not look at the individual character elements as the things to let players do when the main plot takes a break. Do not look at them as the things players can pull in if they want, so long as they don't get in the way of your primary tale. Do not look at them as "side" elements. Do not look at them as things to be covered "between" major threats.

These are not side elements. These are not less important. These are the very center of your story.

Some narrators plot out a lot in advance. Others take things as they come. Either is fine. But in either case, let the characters guide your story. You can plan events. But plan events around the issues raised by the main characters. Maybe you have things plotted out in advance. That's absolutely fine. But plot them out around the main characters.

There should never be a point in your tale where you say to yourself, "Well, this would be a good point to let the players go explore their personal plots, because I need a break between things for the main plot." That's because the personal plots and the overall plot should be interwoven sufficiently that pursuing the personal plots is pursuing the main plot, or vice versa.

If a player character has a villain in their background who kidnapped their brother, finding that person shouldn't be a side story. That person should be intricately tied to the main story, so that by pursuing the overall plot, the character plot is also explored, and by pursuing the kidnapper, the overall plot elements are revealed.

If a player character was accused of a crime they didn't commit, witnessed a foul deed, murdered a rival, sought approval from a parent, idolized a mentor...those are not things to leave on the sidelines or just explore when you have time. Those are things to tie into the tale. Those are things, in fact, to build the tale around as much as you can. The actual culprit is involved. The murdered rival had information that could've helped. The idolized mentor tried and failed to solve the problem...or maybe is involved in it.

Again, that doesn't mean you can't have an outline to start - having an outline to start is a great narration style. But the outline should be modified by the player characters. The story should fit their stories, and call to their themes.

Remember, you aren't just telling a story - you are telling the story of the characters. Don't build a generic story and then slot them in, or fit their tales into the breaks. Interweave the characters with the tale, and the tale with the characters, as much as you can manage.

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Ashen is a 3rd person, action RPG about forging relationships. You are a lone wanderer in a sunless land. The only light to be had sputters from an age-old lantern at your side. There is a rumble in the distance, and then a light. Through leaking eyes you make out a peak on the horizon, choking the land in a cloud of ash. Nothing ever shone so bright. The first dawn turns to dusk and finally recedes into familiar blackness. A GAME BY AURORA44. This is the tale of a bygone world. Choose a path and hold on to those you trust. Players can choose to guide those they trust to their camp, encouraging them to rest at the fire and perhaps remain. Together, you might just stand a chance.
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Suikoden (PSX)

Developer:

Konami

|

Release Date:

1997 (1995 in Japan)

|

Systems:

PlayStation, Saturn, Windows

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This week on Super Adventures, I'm finally getting around to Suikoden, a game that's been sitting on my shelf for ages. I borrowed it from a friend a while ago and he moved away before I could give it back, so it's just been lying there ever since, unplayed. Until today!

I knew the game was an JRPG when I borrowed it (one of the earliest RPGs on the PlayStation in fact), but I had no idea what the title was about. Typically Japanese games will get an English title when they're released in the West (except for games like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest which had an English title from the start), but for some reason this has remained Suikoden.

Turns out that it's loosely based on a novel of the same name. Well, that's the name it has in Japan anyway. It's actually a Chinese novel called Shui Hu Zhuan, one of the four great classic novels of Chinese literature (along with Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Journey to the West and Dream of the Red Chamber), and in English the title translates to... Water Margin. Probably for the best they left it as Suikoden.

Read on »

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Valfaris Review (PS4)

Written by Anthony L. Cuaycong

Title: Valfaris
Developer: Steel Mantis
Publisher: Big Sugar
Genre: Action
Price: $24.99
Also Available On: Switch, Steam, XB1

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Touted as a spiritual successor to the underrated Slain: Back from Hell also developed by the two-man Steel Mantis Games, Valfaris packs the heavy in heavy metal and thrives as a two-dimensional action platformer. It's a classic side scroller packed with contemporary goodness; the soundtrack successfully serves to pump up the adrenaline and helps gamers prep for swath after swath of enemies. Appropriately diverse, the latter keep coming, and their onslaught is interrupted only by the appearances of mid- and end-level bosses; they're fodder for mayhem, and provide benefits for even more mayhem by way of their loot drops.

Valfaris sets up the proceedings with a paper-thin narrative about the titular planet, whose disappearance from galactic charts and reappearance to orbit a decaying star sends lead character Therion on an adventure to find and defeat Vroll, the ruler with evil machinations who also happens to be his father. Steel Mantis Games deserves props for continually feeding the story via bits and pieces of interactions between the principal protagonist and his enemies, inhabitants of the planet, and, for the most part, Hekate, his trusty artificial-intelligence assistant.

Make no mistake, though. Valfaris' biggest come-on is its gameplay. Certainly, it makes no pretensions on its primary — okay, singular — intent. Which, creditably, it manages to deliver well. It gives gamers the standard three weapon types to use in encounters: one with infinite ammunition, but whose refresh rate leaves much to be desired; one for melee, which, for every sword swing, likewise serves to replenish an energy meter; and one that cuts through the hordes the best, but requiring, and quickly depleting, said meter to use. A shield at hand can turn defense into offense; activation shortly before an enemy projectile's impact allows for deflection and redirection.

In Valfaris, all the tools of combat are upgradable through Blood Metal, in-game currency found around the planet and gifted by downed enemies. Meanwhile, Resurrection Idols enable gamers to make use of — or, to be more precise, pay for — checkpoints or, when collected and kept, increase health and energy levels. Implicitly, the alternatives encourage rational thought and strategy to get through platforms with efficiency and purpose. Any deliberate assessment is a challenge at best in light of the sheer number of enemies to down, and made even more challenging by the absence of evasive commands.

Valfaris makes no pretensions. In fact, it proudly wears its intense difficulty in its sleeve. That said, it's no Dark Souls, and it does strive to stay fair throughout its 15-hour-or-so runtime. For good measure, Steel Mantis Games has released a patch that adds Full Metal Mode, essentially a "new game plus" option that gives gamers the pleasure of carrying over all weapons and items collected throughout a completed campaign. In other words, they're fully equipped from the get-go should they decide to relive their experience.

Admittedly, Valfaris isn't perfect, and frustration can set in. For instance, its eight-direction aiming occasionally feels inadequate, leading to crucial misses. And while constant respawns aren't new to the genre, they can make for sudden unexpected battles that render immaterial even the best-laid plans. Even boss fights aren't immune to the odds being stacked too high for comfort; a few have final, at-the-point-of-death attacks that prove the folly of close combat, not to mention minions that take attention away from the most important task at hand.

That said, Valfaris is well worth its $29.99 sticker price. Featuring retro pixel-art visuals and booming sounds that add a sense of urgency to Therion's exploits, it comes off as a polished blend of aesthetics and action designed to kee gamers coming back for more. Highly recommended.

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THE GOOD:

• Complementary audio-visual elements
• High on variety
• Tons of options on offer
• Extremely challenging but fair
• Full Metal Mode

THE BAD:

• Occasionally inadequate aiming
• Random respawns can lead to unexpected battles
• Cheap deaths courtesy of a few bosses with sneaky parting gifts

---

RATING: 8.5/10

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Finance And The Great Unknown (Tradecraft)

As my book was hitting the shelves, I had this sinking feeling as the store struggled. This would be my comeuppance, the game store owner who wrote a book and promptly went out of business. 2018 was the year we had an honest conversation about debt and finances and the various tricks used to get through a month. Cash flow in the beginning of 2018 was usually enough to cover a handful of days. Being a week behind on bills was normal. Worst of all, I didn't want to acknowledge it.

When our construction project was underway and the months slowly ticked by with its business disruption, I borrowed money to pay for the work, and the decline in business. Then I borrowed a little more. Then ... a little more. All in, it was over $100,000. Could I pay it back? There were no bank loan actuaries to put on the brakes and say I had enough debt. There was me, with a modest income projection, with a make or break project. If I stopped borrowing now, I would fail. There's not really a choice here. So I kept looking at the numbers I needed to achieve while in the back of my mind, laughing hysterically. Because I have a bit of imposter syndrome and part of that is never believing my own bullshit.

So in 2018, just a year ago, I took matters into my own hands and did what I said I would never do again, and took out a home equity loan. It's amazing anyone would give me one after flipping Citimortgage the bird, and re-negotiating my mortgage on my own terms, but it had been enough years, and all was forgiven. I refinanced one of my loans and infused extra cash into the business. The problems were finally acknowledged and as nobody else wanted to loan me money to do this thing, I did it myself, paying myself a reasonable interest rate, much to the chagrin of my investors.

I paid off a loan that had the most stringent terms, a security interest on my furniture, fixtures and equipment (which I am grateful for), with a loan from me, with the least stringent terms. Legally, as an owner, if the business fails, I am last in line to be paid. That's why my investors were reluctant to loan money. It's a crap position, as opposed to other personal lenders who took on senior positions, or security interests, or whatever made them comfortable.

The ironic thing is I get mail every day offering to loan me hundreds of thousands of dollars. None of my loans are on a credit report, they're all private. Sometimes I take the time to talk to lenders on the phone explaining, "Look, I don't need any more money. Money is cheap. I need revenue. Call me when you have a plan to increase my revenue." It amuses me because it's a large corporate position. Sears doesn't need another hundred million dollars, it needs a plan to be a better Sears. If you come up with one of those, well, you've got something they want to buy.

Coming up with a better Black Diamond Games is at the end of the day, my job. But for a while in 2018, I was looking around, hoping to maybe find someone who could take me up on that offer. The guy who wrote a book on starting a game store, looking for someone to do his job. That was 2018 in a nutshell. Thankfully, we're in much better shape in 2019, in all the ways possible. It's chaotic and stressful. Good material for a second book.