Message Relay from the GM: Rifts®: Between Disaster & Atrocity
Game Announcement
Rifts®: Between Disaster & Atrocity is officially over. I don’t know if people realize this but I am
not an experienced Game Master. I have learned my storytelling from being a writer and learning how
to storyboard so it is sometimes difficult for me to deal certain novice issues—ESPECIALLY when I
am being pulled in MANY different directions at once.
My strength as a writer and a storyteller has always been my focus and when players are fracturing
that focus again and again and again… I’m going to be frank, I suck. My storytelling sucks, I can’t
shift my thinking from point A to point X and then to point D and then back to point A and still have
the focus I need to build drama and suspense. I cannot mentally do it. I can resolve events (dictate the
world around your characters, handle chronology, etc.) but only as it is relevant to the scene you are in
or the greater story.
That said, at the beginning I said “It is NOT my responsibility to tell you what your character can or
cannot do.” I understand that many of you are new but making game enquiries that break the flow of
play makes it difficult for me to perform as a Game Master. It is your job as a player character to do
the following:
1. Know your character: This means knowing how fast you are, knowing your abilities, and
having the mind and sense enough to read your abilities and know their limits and
applications. If you want to know if an ability you have can do something not listed there…
describe to me what you are doing… and try doing it. You are all low level characters and if
you do not explore your abilities you will not learn the limits of their uses.
2. Create an enjoyable game environment: It is your “job” and to make sure your fellow
players have fun just as much as it is my responsibility. If you think something your character
is going to do is going to disrupt play and ruin the game for others. Do not do it. This is a
social gathering and NOT an elite gaming club. If your ONLY priority is having the
strongest character, being the best, or the MOST POWERFUL this is the wrong group for
you.
I understand that it sucks when people are late and we have to wait but you are still among
FRIENDS. The game will happen and if I am stalling it or not running it because someone is
not there I am doing it for a good reason. Which brings me to…
3. Attend: I am a stickler for continuity. I want your actions to shape your character’s future. I
don’t want to just write stories any character could participate in. I want to write YOUR
character’s story. So when you do not attend, or fall asleep, it screws things up—not just for
you, not just for me, but for everyone else around the table. If you cannot attend the game,
if you are not going to be there please give me at least 3 days-notice. Likewise, if you
cannot commit to the timeslot or stay awake. Please, by all means, come on Skype and say
hello but respectfully bow out. I ONLY want players like Giant that are going to be there
every game session. How many TV shows do you see where half the main-characters just are
not there in some episodes? It’s the same principle. If you cannot commit, that is okay, but
that means you don’t play. Sorry but that is just how it is now.
4. Win: I am serious. I put you guys against some pretty serious **** but that is so when you win
you feel that incredible rush for being a hero. No, it’s not meant to be easy. A lot of the time
the solutions you need are not going to be on the end of a vibro-sword or written on your
character sheet. Think creatively. This is RIFTS® not Dungeons and Dragons®. Now, with Rifts®: Atlantis Rising I was lucky enough to have a group of players with whom I was
familiar with and although it started out clumsily the game proved very successful and everyone
involved had a lot of fun.
However, as a Storyteller (and a player) I had always disliked the fact that Player Character parties
seemed to be a patchwork of characters with no real reason to work (or stay) together beyond what is
convenient. So, when starting my Rifts Series I went to great lengths to ensure that the Player
Character party would have a good reason to bond with one another and form friendships that would
last a life time.
Unfortunately, I am not a player in the game and cannot control your player characters or FORCE
you to take opportunities. Nor can I expect players to peruse the story to its conclusion. Likewise, I
cannot make you care about your fellow player characters. However, when you do not… it makes the
story suck. Does anyone here want to be a part of a sucky story? I did not think so.
So when Cup (the man who had just hours before saved all your lives and rallied you together to
reseal the energy fluxes emitting from the Step Pyramid) dies and no one bats and eye or says or does
anything, you can understand why I might become a little… disillusioned with the group.
But putting that aside for a minute and getting back to the main point here—Some of you are
REALLY good players and are REALLY good MOST of the time and I am lucky to have you.
However, we are making this story TOGETHER. We are building lasting memories with one
another. You don’t need to care about your fellow players, you do not need to be considerate of their
lives or wellbeing, but when you are not… well… what if it was your character?
And to those who cannot regularly attend I ask that you respectfully resign. I have been most
perturbed with Zachary who has logged another game the same day, requested ours be cut short, and
then when I say “Not tonight it’s the final important story” magically falls asleep and stops
responding to messages. That is the kind of behaviour that I find very disrespectful, deceptive,
manipulative, and frankly, intolerable. Again, I cannot say this enough—!
If you cannot be there do not join the “new game” that I am going to be starting.
I’m not asking you all to hold hands and be a parody of the Super Friends but I am asking you to
care about one another (even if only as tools) because I design my stories with each of you being an
important part of the puzzle. Without that piece the team will likely not be able to achieve its goals
and things fall apart; we get holes in continuity, things are left unexplained, and in the grand scheme
things will become confusing.
In conclusion I will be posting the final scene of “the Shadow of Xy” Adventure as soon as I am
able (sometime later today). I think some of you will be interested in finding out how things
concluded and how they have affected your characters. There will be an opportunity to “salvage” and
replay your character in my “New Game” which will be my LAST attempt at running cooperative
storytelling online. However there is a large chance that many of your characters will be irrevocably
changed in ways you had not predicted. So be prepared.
I’m also surprised that no one stopped to ask themselves…
“Why would the ritual caster who has had his power source cut-off be forcing his minions to
mindlessly run to their death?”
Thank you for Time,
Liam Gray
(
AkashicSoldier@gmail.com)