#svrse

[the-waste-of-time]

I guess I better tell you about Classpect now

So, you’ve started playing the game. Yep. Told you it was going to happen. It was never not happening, honestly. The time-loop started well before you even knew it existed and once it’s in place, you’re stuck with it. But that’s all in the future/past. In the present, that is the time passing as you read this for the first time, I need to talk to you about two topics your Sprite will inform you about. Unless your sprite was not prototyped, in which case bad luck, you’re all doomed. I’ve heard some refer to the combo of Class and Aspect as ‘Classpect’, lumping both together like a pile of mashed potato and peas. There’s a reason for that, but you can’t hope to understand this stuff until you figure them out on their own first.

‘Class’ and ‘Aspect’ are pretty overpowered.

At least, most of the time. Personally, I would never want to be a Hero of Blood. You can only do so much with ‘the Bloody Thing’ and it makes a lot of mess. Basically, all the magical stuff you can do? Yeah, that’s from Classpect, save for a couple of loopholes. But those are mostly bad. Use your Aspect wisely. If you stuff up, it’s your own damn fault. Most of the time.

‘Class’ is less important than ‘Aspect’.

There, I said it. Feel free to disagree. We have this discussion sometimes and it’s rather healthy, for the most part. There are a few ‘grey areas’ in The Game, but we can agree on one metaphor.

Imagine you’re in a story.

That’s what The Game is, really. A game. A really, really big game that tells a story about you and the other players. For once, everything really does revolve around you.

That’s a bad thing.

Because it means that all your problems and all your failures are important and you will experience all the consequences. Welcome to growing up. It sucks.

Anyway, back to ‘Classpect’.

So, you’re a character in a story. Not the only one, mind you. There are others stuck in there with you and you better take bloody good care of them. Now, like most stories, there’s a bit of a plot running behind the scenes with a beginning, a middle and an end. Stuff is going to happen, basically.

‘Aspect’ is the events of your story.

Think of how a story tends to unfold. The events of that story determine what kind of story it becomes. You know, like genre and such. You can’t escape them; they just happen. By events, I mean that you will be given a series of challenges, quests and objectives related to your Aspect. The Game assigns its ‘Aspects’ based on your personal strengths and weaknesses. Nobody can tell HOW it does that. You’d need to be a godlike programmer to even try and scratch the surface of the code around that shit. I’m not going to do it, because firstly; programming isn’t a thing I do and second, I have almost all the time in the world on my hands and even I don’t have the time to mess around with it.

You have a job. Do it.

If you’re a Space player, you’re in charge of those silly frogs. It’s a thing that you do and nobody else can, really. Other players might help, but that’s more or less it. If you’re a Time player, you’re the team’s temporal babysitter and if something goes wrong, it’s up to you to go back and fix it. No, you will not forget the team’s failures, they will linger in your mind like a scar, a tear that just refuses to heal, no matter how much they might fade over the years. It’s there, you can see it and you never not see it, even if you can hide them from others.

But I Digress…

Space and Time are serious business, but not the only ‘Aspects’ that matter. If you’re not one of those two players, you still have jobs. They’re not as crazy important but you better help those two out. It’s only fair. Some roles are pretty innocuous and some are only a big deal depending on how big the team is. Doesn’t matter. You still do them.

‘Class’ is how you react to that story.

Every time something happens in a narrative, the characters must decide how they’ll respond. Think of what a Hero usually does when the villain or whatever screws something up. They figure out how to fix things up and then they do it. That’s what ‘Class’ is. It gives you the tools you need to influence events and do whatever you need to do to ‘win’. Or at least make it to the end of your story. No guarantees, but odds are that if you made it this far, you’ll at least be able to ensure your own creation through some crazy time shenanigans I’ll leave for later. I can’t tell you because trying to mess with it on purpose can really mess things up. You may as well ask your Guardian though. Assuming they’re helpful.

You are better at some things, but you can help in other ways too.

So, even if you are a Thief or a Rogue, you should try and find ways to use your aspect that don’t involve theft, though if someone needs to get thieving, it should probably be you. All that Class tells you is what you excel at - and maybe a little bit of what you don’t as well. Focusing on it is a good idea, but don’t be afraid to explore outside it or think of other ways to interpret your ‘Class’ and ‘Aspect’ duties. Every time people play, it seems to be different and as far as I can tell, you as a player determine those limits, moreso than The Game.

 TL;DR - Things happen and you respond. That’s ‘Classpect’.

It sounds simple, but you wouldn’t believe how much bullshit people wrap around both of those things. I could also go into all this nonsense about how every story has the same sorts of things happen and how everyone has similar arcs and whatnot but that doesn’t really help. It took me a long time to work all of this, believe me. But even if I knew everything I do now, I don’t really know if it all helps in the end. Far as I can tell, the more you’re prepared for The Game, the more it seems to go out if its way to make everything harder for you, specifically. Are you a powergamer? Congrats, you just booked yourself a date with the biggest, most ill-tempered monster it can offer. If you’re a Page of Heart, then you can breathe a little easier but just because you’re useless doesn’t mean you can relax. You still got enemies to deal with and more importantly, teammates to help out.

It is also a bit like ‘Classes’ in Roleplaying Games, but those are for silly nerds.

I should know.

[the-waste-of-time]

Devblog Guide & PAQ

This whole account is dedicated to a single project that aims to create a Tabletop Roleplaying Game based on the Homestuck universe.

If you’ve read the rest of my posts, you’re probably a little confused about what exactly is going on here. It’s natural; Tumblr is not really the typical go-to for easily-navigable, text-based content. Without further ado, I’d like to address some potentially-asked questions to pre-emptively explain some of this whole dealio.

What is Svrse?

It’s a project I’ve started to make a game about a game within a webcomic. Probably sounds pretty convoluted, but It isn’t as complex as some might think. For those unfamiliar with Homestuck, it’s basically a story about kids that find a game that changes reality, turning it into a space fantasy rpg that destroys the home planet if its players, but gives them a bunch of mystical powers and promises a huge reward at the end. There are two version of the game within Homestuck, one called ‘Sburb' and another called ‘Sgrub’ (played by another species, but that’s irrelevant for the sake of explanation). The name is basically a portmanteau of ‘Sburb’ and ‘Multiverse’, by the way.

Are there other Homestuck RPGs?

Yup. I’ve collected a whole stash of links to attempted RPGs, some more successful than others (expect a post or page on this in the future). This is just the latest attempt to turn Sburb into a pen and paper RPG. There have been many other attempts and the ones with some measure of success have been based on existing rolepalying games, but with an altered ruleset. There are some aspects of Sburb that make it hard to ‘run’ in that medium, which is probably one of the reasons most existing RPGs focus on online roleplaying rather than in-person.

If there are other RPGs already, why create Svrse?

There’s a bunch of reasons. Most of them condense down to design choices, style, content and professionalism 1. Design Most existing games - particularly those designed for online roleplaying, have elements that don’t translate well to the tabletop. This is sometimes due to Sburb itself; for example, the kids in Homestuck don’t meet each other in-person until rather late in the story and mostly rely on dreams and online communication. Most traditional RPGs assume you’re in the same room as each other and working as a team, rather than individually. Another design issue is the evolution of Homestuck and the volume of speculation involved. Because everyone can interpret the webcomic differently, designers generally choose one specific perspective and build the RPG around it - without labelling canonical, semi-canonical and fanfiction content. Svrse is gonna try and address that by making sure people are aware of subjectivity within the setting and having a design that can be modified to fit many alternative universes. That requires a generic, modular base design. 2. Style & Professionalism I will freely admit, I’m a bit of a snob about writing. There’s a particular kind of approach to it that I try to look for and I generally lean towards a mix of really verbose wordage. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from Tertiary education, it’s how to write an essay and explain complex stuff to fellow students.The quality of Homestuck RPGs has been extremely variable and not the sort of thing I could really latch on to. Furthermore, the RPGs they’ve been derived from tend to be disagreeable as well. One of the advantages of using a custom game engine is that it also makes it far easier to develop professionally; my dream is to actually be able to take something like this, work on it with What Pumpkin/The Hussmeister (woo, licensing!) and come up with something that can end up on a shelf in your Local Game Store without ludicrous copyright issues. 3. Content I’ll admit it up-front; Homestuck is weird and like a lot of weird things, it’s a real weirdness magnet. Some of the homestuck RPGs I’ve really enjoyed reading during research have been pretty damn odd, either due to their thematic tone, or the author writing-in their own issues into the game, or a variety of other stuff along those lines. Sure, it’s cool to come up with your own setting and tone, but it needs to be segregated from most of the core content, so potential players and GMs can play and run the kind of game they want. That kinda necessitates having multiple game documents, so that’s the sort of approach I’m leaning towards. At this stage, I’m planning for there to be one straightforward document for players, one for the GM - with most, if not all of the spoiler-y content, with an optional third document written as an in-universe guide that can be used to explain the compromises made to Sburb to adapt it for the tabletop.

Huh?

Because reasons.

Ok, but what is with this blog and its posts?

Like I mentioned, Tumblr is an odd place for this kind of project, but it’s the epicentre of the Homestuck community. To make it somewhat navigable, there’s an index that links to important posts. There’s also some tags I’ve used to categorize content. Posts with #svrse tags are obviously related to the RPG in some form. Some of these will have other tags indicating what part of the game they relate to, such as #classpect or #intro (yes, this post is part of the intro). #IC posts are in-universe lore posts by the Waste of Space - these will become part of Book 3 and will be used to frame drier game content, toy around with weird plot shit and have a little bit of fun.

I want to help! Can I help?

Probably! I do intend to keep in control of design and planning right now, but there’s a lot of room for assistance on homestuck lore or RPG design. The best way to help is probably to join the discussion on the Omegaupdate forum thread and chat about game stuff there. I’ll be posting short snippets there and if there’s something in particular I want feedback/advice/help on, odds are I’ll ask for it there.

I have more questions! THIS EXPLAINS NOTHING!

There’s an ask button, mate, no need to textually shout all over the place. As long as your questions are relevant and respectful, you should get a reply. The more people share and question this stuff, the more likely it will eventually be completed. Please be respectful, though. This is a part-time, unpaid venture and not a job of any kind! And with that, I’ll be signing-off. It might be a while before I update this page, due to real-life studies, so until then, welcome to Svrse. You’re in for a wild ride.

[the-waste-of-time]

Ok, a real introduction. For realsies.

Yes, this is a Thing. It could be happening.

I’m The Waste of Time and this is a story about you. And by you, I mean Teenage You. The one that’s all nerdy and up in all the emotions and pubescent dealies. You*, who is about to embark on a journey of potential creation that has already begun. I know that it has already begun because otherwise you would not be reading this page. Spooky huh? Well, you better get to linearity being a thing of the past (literally).

The Game has already been played, is being played and will continue to be played.

This is not The Game. You may or may not find out about it later. This is a game about The Game. If you do play The Game, it may or may not look something like this game. I can’t say for certain for a heap of reasons.

But mostly because The Game is always different.

Every time some bunch of rubes starts getting all into it, there’s some changes here and there. There’s some constants, don’t get me wrong. But I’ve seen a lot of Players and trust me, you’d be surprised how hard it is to tell if something is the same all the time, or the same most of the time, or some of the time, or if you’re very lucky (or unlucky), an actual, real unique something.

This is a game to play before The Game. Or during it. Or afterwards.

But you probably won’t make it that far, so sooner is probably a better idea rather than later. The whole point of this game is to be a primer for The Game. Or a potential timewaster once you are all stuck in that game and have some downtime. If you mess up The Game of course, that could be forever. Or at least, the best estimate of forever that I can think of, which is a very long time. So long that I can’t remember when forever started for us. Wait. Did I say us? I meant me, the person that is entirely singular in nature.

This is a game best played among friends. And maybe an enemy or two.

But not too many. That can get messy. Especially if said enemy happens to become an overpowered, angry, hormone-addled sack of walking, talking horse manure. If you’re a huge nerd and know what tabletop roleplaying is, then yeah, it’s one of those. You form a party, make some bases, go on quests, fight monsters and become cool heroes with fancy uniforms and keep doing adventure stuff until you eventually realise that everything you were doing up to and including the epiphany may have been a colossal waste of time.

Ha.

But I’ll let you figure that out for yourself when you get there. Or, if you get there. Maybe. *Ok, maybe not you in particular. It could just be someone else but based on how I’ve shared this game, there’s a pretty damn high/100 chance it’s you. Especially if you start playing this game. But no matter who it is, someone will play The Game. I guess it’s up to you if that person happens to be you, or some people that are not you.

[the-waste-of-time]

Classpects - Intro

Class & Aspect

The following text is the current introduction to Classpect. I’ve got more detailed pages on Aspect and Class, which wiill be updated progressively with new info. This content will be within GM documents; players will have less information available to them and will learn about Aspects, Classes and the like during the game.

Class and Aspect are best understood as two separate components of one’s heroic journey. Aspect reflects the thematic core of the journey; the goals, destinations and perhaps also its complications. Classes represent the path by which the journey is taken and the way the hero responds to their quest. Each combination of Class and Aspect produces a different manifestation of powers and a somewhat unique combination of strengths and weaknesses. Some combinations may be stronger or weaker than others depending on the state of the Game, but there is no one formula for success or failure.

Class and Aspect are bequeathed by The Game through incalculable, impenetrable logic. While often closely aligned with each Player, they are rarely representative of their state upon entry. Instead, it can be considered a challenge and an ideal. The more other Players there are, the less likely one’s title is representative of the player’s ‘true nature’ – assuming there even is such a thing!

A Forewarning

The causality of events in Homestuck is thoroughly convoluted. While it often may appear as if the behavior of the kids and trolls is representative of (and caused by) their Classpect, this is by no means the case. They may however, be a ‘reasonable fit’ based on character traits as interpreted by the Game. As both Class and Aspect are poorly-defined by design, this section is strongly dependent upon speculation and interpretation of sources that are not always accurate (especially when it comes to anything from Calliope).

Due to their vagueness, both Classes and Aspects should be interpreted broadly, but not so broadly as to grossly overlap. While they may influence access to specific abilities and actions, the manifestation of powers depends mostly on Player choice. The wisdom of pushing against Classpect specialties notwithstanding.

[the-waste-of-time]

Roleplaying and SVRSE

Understanding Roleplaying

What is Roleplaying?

Many times has this question been asked. Is there one true answer? Like many other questions, there is no one answer. Instead, there are many opinions and perspectives of what Roleplay is, or what it is not. These are important, because how we look at roleplaying will determine how we design roleplaying games.

‘Traditional’ Roleplaying

Generally, roleplaying has a character-based perspective. Roleplaying is about becoming another person and living out that person’s life in whatever setting and scenario they are in. In this sense, it is a form of acting. Roleplaying games generally favour fictional settings, with many features far estranged from reality as we know it. For example, things like magical powers, futuristic technology, supernatural phenomena and many otherworldly environments. They may take place in their own unique universe and setting with its own rules.

These kinds of settings tend to encourage a focus on character ‘success’ or ‘failure’. The concept of ‘wish fulfilment’ – of using roleplaying to play out personal fantasies or desires, can influence the approach to both the setting and the interactions with others. This can be fun and engaging; the heroic struggle of a peasant to a noble warrior, for example could be one of triumph against the odds. However, there is also a trend towards playing merciless, egotistic killers; looting everything in sight, solving problems with violence and constantly moving around, looking for trouble.

This kind of approach is possible within the setting of this game setting. However, they will likely have significant implications for gameplay, in the spirit of Homestuck’s parody and subversion of ‘traditional’ roleplaying games.

Roleplaying in SVRSE

Because there are many different styles, approaches and perspectives on roleplaying, SVRSE is designed for some degree of flexibility in mind. This game is geared towards ‘collaborative storytelling’. This perspective is more group-oriented – everyone in the game is helping to craft a sequence of events which gradually forms a narrative of its own. The nature of that story and the highs and lows are a natural product of the action. Roleplaying as ‘collaborative storytelling’ is therefore about the journey, rather than the destination.

It’s okay to fail a test, it’s perfectly fine if something goes horribly, horribly wrong and to suffer along the way. The biggest sin in this style of roleplaying is to be boring. A snore-inducing story is quickly forgotten; it’s the entertaining, gripping, climatic ones that we usually remember. No matter how good or bad.

SVRSE places more emphasis on player-driven action, but it is worth understanding that most games will feature carefully-crafted settings and a large array of rules and conventions which can limit player actions. However, in the spirit of Sburb, there are many ways to exploit these rules, so long as the player is prepared for the potential consequences. Whereas most games feature a single ‘game master’ responsible for dictating the game experience, SVRSE sees this role as a ‘director’ or ‘storyteller’ that pieces together the action and works to develop a coherent and gripping narrative. The level of control they take over the action is best tailored to the players and agreement should be reached on this before playing to ensure roleplaying is done respectfully and coherently.

This approach has some drawbacks. For example, there is a higher expectation of players working together, or at least coming to some agreement on events within the game. Being respectful is necessary for an enjoyable experience. If any player is upset or becoming detached from the story, then the experience will suffer as a result. The director and players should try to work with each other and come to agreement on events in the game. Players should try to avoid excessive attachment and allow their creations to have a life of their own. Despite the name, directors should look to guide rather than lead and allow their plans and setting change alongside the events of the game.

Of course, becoming a villain is always an option and inter-party tension and conflict can greatly enhance the story – again, provided players are comfortable with this approach. However, it is something best treated with moderation. Most characters SHOULD be striving for good in one way or another. Of course, everyone can have a different idea of what ‘good’ means or how to be ‘good’…

Why Roleplay?

There are three simple reasons to explore roleplaying games. The first and foremost, is for personal enjoyment. Second, is to heal. Third, to learn.

Enjoying Roleplay

Humans love playing games. We like to be creative, to think, to explore and to feel new sensations, even ones that might be painful. These are not the only things we can enjoy. We enjoy receiving things from other humans. We like talk, love, admiration, respect, power, and control; even the illusion of these things drives a lot of human society.

Roleplaying allows us to explore and experience many of these things without having to do so in ‘real life’. The illusion of being someone – or something – else can be thrilling and perhaps even intoxicating. However, there is another joy beyond this illusion.

We can also enjoy the stories and events that are created by roleplaying. We can enjoy making friends outside the game. We can enjoy watching the way the characters we create take on a mind of their own and are transformed from their original selves. These are the kinds of collective enjoyment this game strives for.

Healing Through Roleplay

Many things happen during our lives. Some of these things we might find understandable, comprehensible, rational. Of course, there are many times when this is not the case. We cannot ever really hope to see, feel and know everything. These limitations can be painful and traumatic on their own. Uncertainty, helplessness, doubt and fear have driven many people to a fateful and tragic end. There are many ways we can try and plug these holes in our psyche. One way of doing so is to create a special, safe space to explore these feelings. Roleplaying can provide this space.

Like many roleplaying games, SVRSE will often touch upon these elements of life. This is unavoidable, but Players and Authors can and should decide carefully what extent they are comfortable with exploring such dark territory. These emotions lie behind most of the traumatic parts of life and can manifest in many troubling and life-changing ways. While it can be painful, it can also be relieving to be able to talk about and act out such things in a more comfortable environment, protected by the unreal nature of roleplaying.

Learning from Roleplay

Across history, humans have learned in many ways. One of these is by doing – by acting in various ways and discovering through trial and error. Another is by listening to each other or otherwise receiving instruction based on the experiences of others. Over time, these methods have been refined, investigated and expanded into education as we understand it today. One of the discoveries we have made has been in the discovery of the value of simulated experiences. We can learn from things that are not ‘real’, but imagined to be so through the power of our minds.

Roleplaying in the context of games, is the creation of characters, places, events and stories that are ‘fake’. However, our imaginations are bound by the limitations of our minds and of what we can imagine. In this sense, roleplaying is very much like being part of a ‘living’ fictional novel. Like any author, we have sources of inspiration and our creations often reflect our own questions, ideas, concepts and visions. However, unlike a novel, these creations of ours exist in a shared space and interact with those of others.

Roleplaying is in some ways a learning experience and there is a lot we can learn about others – but most distinctly, ourselves – from playing games where creations of our mind intersect with the fruits of another. These discoveries can be incorporated into ‘real life’ and change us in ways we cannot always perceive.

Is Roleplaying Dangerous?

No, and Yes. Roleplaying of itself is only as risky as its content. The dangers of roleplaying mostly stem from the people engaging in it or the conventions of any particular roleplaying game and not the act of roleplaying itself. Where these risks are properly managed, it can be a safe and rewarding experience.

However, there are dangers worth recognising. Fiction reflects reality - who we are, what we do and things we know/believe WILL be reflected in roleplaying. This can be confronting to not just ourselves, but to others and must be considered. This process is not one-way. Just like how a book or a film can make us think or act differently, so too can roleplaying. Many people have remarked on how some aspects of the characters created during roleplaying may become part of one’s personal identity. This can have clear negative consequences for our mental health but can also be mitigated.

The popularity and spread of roleplaying games is indicative of their primarily positive impact on our lives.  However, mindfulness about the nature and risks of roleplaying is worthwhile, especially when roleplaying reaches into dangerous territory.

[the-waste-of-time]

An Intro:

What is Homestuck?

Homestuck is a hybrid webcomic/animation/musical experience/online adventure/multimedia work written/directed by Andrew Hussie about four kids playing a game.

What is Homestuck?

Homestuck is a story about growing up.

Homestuck covers a huge variety of themes and features incredible variation in tone and presentation. Ludicrous amounts of content are wrapped around a core theme of adolescent struggles with adulthood, self-identity and change.

What is SVRSE?

SVRSE is a customised pen-and-paper game system featuring the use of dice rolls and descriptive statistics designed to allow players to explore and experience worlds/universes inspired and/or derived from Homestuck.

What is SVRSE?

SVRSE is a game about growing up.