02-18-2024, 02:22 PM
"Slobin Threshwater... what the heck kind of name is that?" He said, looking over the sheet of paper in his hand. Tim had never done this before and was uncertain how important this detail was.
"It's yours, ... be grateful I didn't choose something like Haxxen Paxxen" she said, frowning at him. Tabby was new to "introducing" people to role-playing games and hadn't foreseen the eventuality of people being resistant to the framework.
"Why can't I just use my own name?" Tim asked.
"Because your name sucks!" Joshua interjected to a smattering of chuckles... even Tim chuckled at that.
Tabby proceeded, "Look Tim..., the entire point of this is for you to experience 'being someone else' within the context of a story that is entirely not in your control... it's called "roleplaying", and it can be a lot of fun... with the right story." She became concerned that she couldn't actually pull this off with a newcomer.
"And the right storyteller," added Joshua.
Joshua then said, "Think of it as acting or pretending." He quickly added, "Haxxen Paxxen? What is that? ... Dutch, Swedish maybe?" he then quickly added using an over-the-top pronunciation, "Haxxen Paxxen!" with a strong affectation of an American mimicking a Northern European accent.
Gable, who almost never spoke in the 'set-up' stages of a 'session' said, "I think I've heard 'Haxxen Paxxen' before... but I can't place it... maybe it's mythological?"
"Enough." Tabby said, eager to get to the actual gaming part of the exercise. "Now Tim, understand that you don't have to call yourself by that name... as in real life you could make something else of it... like how I'm Tabitha, but I encourage people to call me Tabby, or how Gable is actually a nickname for Gabriel."
Joshua said, "Yeah, we can just call you "Slob." Tim flashed the "I am not amused" face back at him, while Gable and Jules chortled.
Tabby defused the exchange... "How about we just refer to you as "Bin?" Which she hoped ended the faux contention.
Jules, ever the diplomat, segued into "A rose is a rose by any other name;" ... "What matters is that you will decide what Bin does during the story."
"Within reason." said Tabby. Simultaneously, Josh and Jules both gestured to towards Tabby, as Josh said, "Meet reason."
Tim tried to hide hesitancy, (or so he thought.) He had been acquainted with roleplaying in the real world, where many chose to characterize it as a relatively "childish" exercise, enjoined mostly by prepubescent basement dwellers, or insane young adults - an escapist activity much like comic books and binge drinking. Nerd stuff.
He had been quite surprised to learn that most of the people in the analysis group indulged in roleplaying together, sometimes multiple times a week. He was interested in understanding why.
The thing that sparked his interest was an exchange he witnessed between Tabitha and Logan. He could have sworn that Logan was angry with Tabitha. Tim observed that Logan was brooding over something, and speculated it was a personal friction between him and Tabby. Tim hadn't heard many words exchanged, only sensed Logan's unease. But he soon realized that the apparent friction was entirely theoretical... "You were not in character, and when that happens, I will always impose consequences..." Tabby had said. "How so?" Logan asked. "How so what? Being out of character, or consequences?" Tabby responded. The remainder of the conversation was lost to Tim, he did not want to engage in unwelcome eavesdropping. He later learned that Tabby and Logan would have jumped at the chance to explain the matter to him.
During a brief casual encounter at work, he had spoken of roleplaying with Gabriel, a relatively senior supervisor within the group. Gabriel had explained that many years ago, several intelligence agencies had "discovered" that roleplaying could be an extremely valuable exercise for the analytically inclined. That it could be used for military planning, as well as legal analysis... it was a valuable tool, as well as an effective way to enhance teamwork and security functionality. Gabe said that once he began to explore it, he came to appreciate all the ways it was useful, even including on-the-job relationship development. And he discovered that he enjoyed it personally. Gabriel said, "I learned that the multiplication of minds leads to greater outcomes... with the added benefit of great fun... better than movies or TV, and often even better than books." He, alone among his peers, embraced the exercise.
So here is Tim, learning to 'roleplay' and realizing that it was not, by any means a simple escape, nor a trivial undertaking. He learned that a significant investment of research was required. He soon understood that there was a subtle art at play here.
How this encounter arose, was a surprising development to Tim. While the group was pondering the particulars of an analysis problem, so many instances of the group members referring to a fictional encounter to flesh out the discussion occurred that Tim found himself nearly jealous that he was 'missing' something that was informing the session. But the result of the discussion was a novel approach to the analysis... and one which proved to be not only effective, but impressive to the leadership. Apparently, this group had achieved this success before, so well, and so many times, that they had established a reputation for unravelling mysteries that others seemed incapable of doing. Tim decided he wanted in.
[stay tuned for part 2]
"It's yours, ... be grateful I didn't choose something like Haxxen Paxxen" she said, frowning at him. Tabby was new to "introducing" people to role-playing games and hadn't foreseen the eventuality of people being resistant to the framework.
"Why can't I just use my own name?" Tim asked.
"Because your name sucks!" Joshua interjected to a smattering of chuckles... even Tim chuckled at that.
Tabby proceeded, "Look Tim..., the entire point of this is for you to experience 'being someone else' within the context of a story that is entirely not in your control... it's called "roleplaying", and it can be a lot of fun... with the right story." She became concerned that she couldn't actually pull this off with a newcomer.
"And the right storyteller," added Joshua.
Joshua then said, "Think of it as acting or pretending." He quickly added, "Haxxen Paxxen? What is that? ... Dutch, Swedish maybe?" he then quickly added using an over-the-top pronunciation, "Haxxen Paxxen!" with a strong affectation of an American mimicking a Northern European accent.
Gable, who almost never spoke in the 'set-up' stages of a 'session' said, "I think I've heard 'Haxxen Paxxen' before... but I can't place it... maybe it's mythological?"
"Enough." Tabby said, eager to get to the actual gaming part of the exercise. "Now Tim, understand that you don't have to call yourself by that name... as in real life you could make something else of it... like how I'm Tabitha, but I encourage people to call me Tabby, or how Gable is actually a nickname for Gabriel."
Joshua said, "Yeah, we can just call you "Slob." Tim flashed the "I am not amused" face back at him, while Gable and Jules chortled.
Tabby defused the exchange... "How about we just refer to you as "Bin?" Which she hoped ended the faux contention.
Jules, ever the diplomat, segued into "A rose is a rose by any other name;" ... "What matters is that you will decide what Bin does during the story."
"Within reason." said Tabby. Simultaneously, Josh and Jules both gestured to towards Tabby, as Josh said, "Meet reason."
Tim tried to hide hesitancy, (or so he thought.) He had been acquainted with roleplaying in the real world, where many chose to characterize it as a relatively "childish" exercise, enjoined mostly by prepubescent basement dwellers, or insane young adults - an escapist activity much like comic books and binge drinking. Nerd stuff.
He had been quite surprised to learn that most of the people in the analysis group indulged in roleplaying together, sometimes multiple times a week. He was interested in understanding why.
The thing that sparked his interest was an exchange he witnessed between Tabitha and Logan. He could have sworn that Logan was angry with Tabitha. Tim observed that Logan was brooding over something, and speculated it was a personal friction between him and Tabby. Tim hadn't heard many words exchanged, only sensed Logan's unease. But he soon realized that the apparent friction was entirely theoretical... "You were not in character, and when that happens, I will always impose consequences..." Tabby had said. "How so?" Logan asked. "How so what? Being out of character, or consequences?" Tabby responded. The remainder of the conversation was lost to Tim, he did not want to engage in unwelcome eavesdropping. He later learned that Tabby and Logan would have jumped at the chance to explain the matter to him.
During a brief casual encounter at work, he had spoken of roleplaying with Gabriel, a relatively senior supervisor within the group. Gabriel had explained that many years ago, several intelligence agencies had "discovered" that roleplaying could be an extremely valuable exercise for the analytically inclined. That it could be used for military planning, as well as legal analysis... it was a valuable tool, as well as an effective way to enhance teamwork and security functionality. Gabe said that once he began to explore it, he came to appreciate all the ways it was useful, even including on-the-job relationship development. And he discovered that he enjoyed it personally. Gabriel said, "I learned that the multiplication of minds leads to greater outcomes... with the added benefit of great fun... better than movies or TV, and often even better than books." He, alone among his peers, embraced the exercise.
So here is Tim, learning to 'roleplay' and realizing that it was not, by any means a simple escape, nor a trivial undertaking. He learned that a significant investment of research was required. He soon understood that there was a subtle art at play here.
How this encounter arose, was a surprising development to Tim. While the group was pondering the particulars of an analysis problem, so many instances of the group members referring to a fictional encounter to flesh out the discussion occurred that Tim found himself nearly jealous that he was 'missing' something that was informing the session. But the result of the discussion was a novel approach to the analysis... and one which proved to be not only effective, but impressive to the leadership. Apparently, this group had achieved this success before, so well, and so many times, that they had established a reputation for unravelling mysteries that others seemed incapable of doing. Tim decided he wanted in.
[stay tuned for part 2]
