Story Structure

One of the most important changes in my approach to RPGs since discovering the self-published RPG niche involves story structure. By story structure, I mean the framework and pacing of the events narrated in the game. Indie games like Primetime Adventures, Dread, and Fiasco have led me to reflect on how this pacing occurs in a game and have helped me address something I disliked about my previous game experiences.

(Now, in the interest of full-disclosure, I have an English degree, and my parents would say that I have been telling stories for a long, long time, so I have probably spent more time thinking about what goes into a good story that your average John Q. Half-Orc Barbarian. But I'm going to intentionally describe what I've learned without using technical terms like five act structure or denouement.)

Essentially, what I've learned about story structure is that it is always best to skip to the interesting part. By interesting part, I mean anything that actually involves tension for the characters and that is, therefore, fun for the players to work through. Anything that involves actual risk or reward is interesting. Anything that simply advances the timeline is not. Back when the neighborhood boys were playing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles the RPG, we assumed that the GM should narrate a story chronologically. If the characters had to wait for the big boss to arrive, the GM would describe how we sat around, not doing anything interesting. The players would say (in a Ben Stein-like voice), "and we're waiting, and we're waiting..."

It came to me as something of a revelation that we could simply cut scene and skip to the interesting part of the story. Assuming we had finished our preparations for battle, the GM could simply say, "Five hours later, you feel the earth begin to tremble and the door to your hideout begin to shake." This ability to cut scenes could have saved us from narration of boring events, and given us more time for mutant ninjitsu action!

Furthermore, games like Primetime Adventures, Dread, and Fiasco have story structure built right in. In Primetime Adventures, the players know the general shape of a campaign/season, and they know which player characters will be the focus for individual game session. Fan mail helps the players to encourage each other to be interesting storytellers. Players have an incentive not to spend time on the boring parts of the story that they could narrate, but instead to skip to the interesting parts. Similarly, in Dread, we know that the game will last for only one session. We know that tension will slowly increase throughout the story, and we can make educated guesses as to when characters are starting to risk death. Thirdly, in Fiasco, there is an explicitly drama-geek-esque pacing mechanic that tells us when the story is half over, and what will make the second half of the story more intense than the first. The structure of the game itself discourages players from describing anything except the moments of tension for the characters, when they have something to gain or something to lose.

Now whether or not I'm playing a game that specifically encourages skipping to the interesting parts, I try my best to do so. Certainly, were I to find myself playing TMNT again, I would do my best to push the story from one action-packed scene to the next. If the GM needs a break in order to gather his thoughts, that's great, but there is no reason to spend time on parts of the story that no one finds interesting.

Maybe you think it's silly that this was a revelation for me. Or maybe you have had a similar discovery about improving story structure in your games. Let me know.

Write it Right

Ambrose Bierce

I have recently been reading Write It Right by Ambrose Bierce, an American short story writer, punctilious grammarian, and wry wit. In this book, Mr. Bierce delineates a blacklist of improper, or at least misused terms. He states his intent as follows:

The author's main purpose in this book is to teach precision in writing; and of good writing (which, essentially, is clear thinking made visible) precision is the point of capital concern. It is attained by choice of the word that accurately and adequately expresses what the writer has in mind, and by exclusion of that which either denotes or connotes something else. As Quintilian puts it, the writer should so write that his reader not only may, but must, understand.

I highly recommend this list, as it is both helpful and humorous to writers who wish to improve the accuracy of their speech. Some of the blacklisted terms have become acceptable to professional English speakers in the past 100 years. It's no surprise that some terms considered slang in 1909 are now acceptable. For example "an hotel" and "an hero" have been replaced by "a hotel" and "a hotel" in American English. Here, however, are just a few of the blacklisted words which still vex careful editors today:

• Anticipate for Expect. "I anticipate trouble." To anticipate is to act on an expectation in a way to promote or forestall the event expected.

• Fail. "He failed to note the hour." That implies that he tried to note it, but did not succeed. Failure carries always the sense of endeavor; when there has been no endeavor there is no failure. A falling stone cannot fail to strike you, for it does not try; but a marksman firing at you may fail to hit you; and I hope he always will.

• Have Got for Have. "I have got a good horse" directs attention rather to the act of getting than to the state of having, and represents the capture as recently completed. [We Midwesterners are particularly guilty of overusing "get" -JJ]

• In for Into. "He was put in jail." "He went in the house." A man may be in jail, or be in a house, but when the act of entrance--the movement of something from the outside to the inside of another thing--is related the correct word is into if the latter thing is named.

• Occasion for Induce, or Cause. "His arrival occasioned a great tumult." As a verb, the word is needless and unpleasing. 

• Poisonous for Venomous. Hemlock is poisonous, but a rattlesnake is venomous.

• Ways for Way. "A squirrel ran a little ways along the road." "The ship looked a long ways off." This  surprising word calls loudly for depluralization.

• Unique. "This is very unique." "The most unique house in the city." There are no degrees of uniqueness: a thing is unique if there is not another like it. The word has nothing to do with oddity, strangeness, nor picturesqueness.

Plot Types Part Eight

Rebirth

This is the final basic plot type. In this plot type, the hero faces a powerful threat that eventually kills him (literally or figuratively). He endures this state of death until it seems that it has become permanent, but then, incredibly, he is reborn or revived. Some authors consider this to be the female equivalent of the male Epic Quest. (I don't buy that, but it does seem common to have a male hero on a quest.)

Examples: Sleeping Beauty, The Matrix

Stages

1. Awaking to Trouble

The immature hero falls under the influence of a malevolent threat.

2. Fighting For Normal

The hero’s life goes reasonably well, and the threat seems to have faded to the background.

3. The Sleep of Death

The threat asserts its power over the hero, so that the hero enters a living death.

4. Loss of Hope

This state continues until it seems that the power of the malevolent threat is completely victorious.

5. Kiss of Life

The hero is miraculously reborn or revived, often by an innocent character of the opposite gender. 

Plot Types Part Seven

Tragedy

The hero, who begins as part of the community, becomes increasingly separated from others, and in the process causes some others (and usually himself) to suffer.

Examples: Romeo and Juliet

Common Victims Include

A. The Nice Old Man

B. The Hero’s Rival

D. The Tempting Woman (who participates in the hero’s destructive path)

Stages

1. Dangerous Desire

The hero is incomplete/unsatisfied and hopes for some future unusual gratification. Some object/desire/plan appears, and his energies have found a focus

2. Dream

Hero becomes committed to his course of action, and for a while things go improbably well. He seems to be “getting away with it.”

3. Frustration

Things begin to go subtly wrong. The hero can’t rest, and may need to commit “darker acts” to ensure continued success. A shadowy figure may begin to threaten the hero.

4. Nightmare

Things are now slipping seriously out of the hero’s control. He feels threatened and despairs. Fate/opposition is closing in on him.

5. Destruction or Death Wish

Either the forces that the hero has aroused or his own final act of violence destroys him. 

Plot Types Part Six

Comedy

For those of you who remember your Shakespeare or your Greek history, you already know that comedies are not always funny.* A comedy is a story where the trouble starts strong early on, but eventually a happy ending is achieved. 
Examples: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Princess Bride
This plot type seems less like a neat line and more like a jigsaw puzzle. The story moves the heroes from some kind of division or darkness to wholeness or light. More concretely, the story builds on several conflicts that move the character from danger and disappointment toward happiness. The plot is a series of moments of “recognition” where any of the following may occur:

A. A dark or hard and unloving character experiences either a change of heart or punishment. Either way, the character will cause no more harm.

B. One or more characters reveal his identity, which had been previously concealed.**

C. Emotionally lost or incomplete characters identify and join up with their “other half.”

D. In general, separation is repaired and what was lost is found.

The happy ending cannot occur until all disguises are gone, and all characters are revealed for what they are.

Stages

1. People are confused, upset and separated.

2. The confusion grows until the climax of the story, when everyone is mixed up or messed up.

3. Suddenly the truth is revealed, so that people begin to perceive things in a different way. The situation is no longer gloomy, for the characters have been united.


*Anyone who has watched enough Will Ferrell movies can tell you that American comedies aren't always funny either.
** Once could certainly run a spy game that was essentially a comedy of mistaken identity.

Plot Types Part Five

Tale of a Voyage “There and Back”

Like the Epic Quest, the Tale of a Voyage involves the hero traveling great distances, but here it is the journey itself that is the focus of the story. The hero discovers a world very different from his own, so that when he finally returns home, his perception of his own life has changed.

Example: The Hobbit

Stages

1. Anticipation and “Fall” into the Other World

The hero and his companions stumble out of their familiar, limited existence into a strange new world unlike anything they’ve experienced before.

2. Initial fascination or Dream

Exploration of this new world may be exhilarating, though puzzling. However, it is never a place where the hero feels at home.

3. Frustration

Gradually the mood of the adventure shifts to one of frustration, difficulty, or oppression. A shadow begins to intrude, which becomes increasingly alarming.

4. Nightmare

The shadow becomes so dominating that it seems to pose a serious threat to the hero’s survival.

5. Thrilling Escape and Return

Just when the threat seems to be too much for the hero to bear, they make their escape from the other world back to where they started. The question posed at this point is, “how much has the hero learned/changed from the experience?” Has the hero been fundamentally changed, or was it all ‘just a dream?’

Plot Types Part Four

Epic Quest

The Epic Quest is the most well known plot type among gamers. The hero discovers a great evil, receives the call to stop it, and travels a great distance through harsh trials to meet his goal. (Perhaps one reason this story transfers well into a game is the ease with which it can incorporate allies for the hero. In fiction, this plot type is the one in which the main character is most likely to have traveling companions who are fully developed characters.)

Examples: The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars: A New Hope

Stages

1. The Call

Life in some “City of Destruction” has become oppressive, and the hero realizes only he can fix things by making a long, difficult journey. He is given supernatural/visionary direction toward his destination.

2. The Journey

Hero and his companions cross hostile terrain and overcome ordeals, each ending in a thrilling escape. Ordeals alternate with periods of rest and recovery, when hero receives help and advice.

3. Arrival and Frustration

Hero arrives at his goal, but sees a new and terrible series of ordeals/obstacle that must be overcome before he can secure his goal.

4. The Final Ordeals

The hero must go through a last series of tests (often 3) to prove he is worthy. This culminates in the last, great battle/ordeal that may be the most deadly.

5. The Goal

After a last thrilling escape, the hero wins the kingdom, princess, and/or treasure with an assurance of renewed life stretching indefinitely into the future.

Possible Ordeals:

1. Horrific monsters to be overcome

2. Temptations to be resisted

3. Need to travel between two deadly (but different) obstacles

4. Journey through the underworld (hero temporarily transcends the power of death and comes into contact with helpful guiding spirits from the past).

Plot Types Part Three

The next general story type in our series is the rags to riches story. I don't think I've ever seen this story play out in an RPG, but there's no reason it couldn't. Certainly many characters amass a great amount of loot over your typical dungeon crawl, but that is more a side effect of the exploration than a focus on the character's social status.

Tale of Tremendous Wealth

The humble young hero progresses from a state of obscure poverty to one of glory and riches, but not without trouble along the way.

Examples: Great Expectations, Aladdin

Stages

1. Initial wretchedness at home and the Call

Hero in lowly and unhappy state (at home) overshadowed by malevolent ‘dark’ figures around them, who scorn/maltreat them. Something causes the hero to be sent out into the world.

2. Out into the world, initial success

Hero is rewarded with first, limited success. May have first encounter with their Princess. Incomplete victory makes clear they aren’t ready for their final state of fulfillment.

3. The Central Crisis

Everything suddenly goes wrong. Hero is separated from what has become most important to him. Hero overwhelmed with despair. Because of the rise and fall, this is the hero’s worst moment.

4. Independence & the Final Ordeal

As they emerge from the crisis, the hero discovers an internal strength in himself, which must be put to the test against a dark figure that stands between the hero and his goal. When the crisis is fully resolved, the hero is able to move ahead.

5. Final Union, completion and fulfillment

The hero’s reward is usually a complete loving union with the Princess. The hero may also gain rulership of some kind of “kingdom,” which isn’t fully explained, but is implied to continue indefinitely into the future.

Plot Types Part Two

The Monster Tale

A cruel, inconsiderate, nearly unstoppable monster threatens the hero or his community. In the end, the reader (and possibly the hero) learns the monster’s blind spot or vulnerability.

Examples: Beowulf, Labyrinth

Stages

1. Anticipation & The Call

The hero glimpses the monster’s destructive power, learn of its fearsome reputation and the threat it poses to the community. Hero experiences call to confront it.

2. Dream

As the hero prepares for battle, all seems to go reasonably well for a while. The danger is still comfortably remote.

3. Frustration

Hero comes face to face with monster. Hero seems tiny and alone, seems to be slipping into the monster’s power.

4. Nightmare

The nightmare battle/ordeal arrives in which all the odds seem loaded on the monster’s side. Nevertheless, at the climax the character's newfound knowledge of the monster causes the reversal.

5. Thrilling Escape from Death, and Death of the Monster

The monster is miraculously dealt a lethal blow just in time. The community is liberated. The hero emerges to enjoy the prize he has won from the monster’s grasp.

Plot Types Part One

This is the first in a series of posts on the various basic plot types. For each plot type, I plan to describe the five acts that make up that story.

Game Masters have always desired to entertain their players by telling a story through the game, but innovations in roleplaying over the past twenty years have encouraged groups to intentionally structure their games in order to tell a good story. Scene framing and campaign-planning techniques enable groups to increase their enjoyment of the game by increasing the coherence of the story they are telling.

Fiction authors use certain planning tools that can be co-opted by roleplayers as campaign planning or scene framing techniques. The most important is the concept of the archetypical plot type.¹ Perhaps you’ve heard it said that there are only one or two stories out there, and that people keep retelling the same stories with different characters. This is a rather melodramatic simplification, but fiction authors do recognize that there are a handful of plot skeletons upon which many stories are fleshed out. I would encourage Game Masters or groups to plan the story of their roleplaying game based upon one of the following seven types of story. 

After choosing one of the following plot types, consider using each of its stages either as a separate gaming session, or as a separate scene in one longer gaming session. For example, if your group chose to model its campaign after the Monster Tale, perhaps your first gaming session, after making characters, would cover the stage “Anticipation & the Call.” Your next session would cover the “Dream” stage and so on. Your entire Monster Tale campaign would last roughly five sessions.

¹ This list is based upon Christopher Booker’s very helpful book The Seven Basic Plots.

The Secret Language of the Forest Moles

Check out Matthew Neagley's recent Gnome Stew post, The Secret Language of the Forest Moles, for a helpful reminder of how language can add a sense of wonder and mystery to your game. I particularly like the idea of a language that is secretly an alien virus. Perhaps the language overwrites your ability to speak certain words. Perhaps it is painful to speak. Or maybe speaking it slowly transforms you physically into another species.

Flashback

Framing Mechanic for One-Shot Tragic RPGs
Written by Josh Jordan
Edited by Levi Kornelsen

What is It?
Flashback is a method for framing tragic stories, for playing out one-shot and short-run character arcs that end with death… but without player removal, and without “chopping off” a game at some unsatisfactory point. The question here is: What if the first thing you did for your character was to narrate a spectacular death scene? The GM and players play out the story one scene at a time, but scenes are played in reverse order. The story plays out with each character needing five scenes (and characters may well share some or all of their scenes, depending on their setup), beginning with the end, in which characters most likely die or go insane. This was designed with horror in mind, but could work for any tragic storyline.

Setting It Up
In addition to whatever regular character stuff is needed (in general, this should be very little - Flashback  works best with extremely light rules systems or even none at all), every player should make a list with the following five items; some of them, they’ll flesh out at creation; others, they’ll discover in play.

• Desire: At creation, the player will note here a sentence or two about some item or goal their character wants, but which is dangerous to pursue. This desire should be tempting enough to encourage the character to make some bad choices.
• Dream: This is left blank at creation. During play, a note on how the character made early progress toward their goal will be placed here.
• Curse: This is left blank at creation. During play, a note on “compromise and near success” will be placed here.
• Doom: This is left blank at creation. During play, a note on “the low point” of the storyline will be placed here after than scene is played out.
• End: As the end of the creation process, a scene will be played out showing (but not fully explaining) the tragic end of the character, and notes on that will go here.

The Chain of Events
Use the following to guide you as you go into the five scenes. Start with scene 5: Death Wish, and move back from there. The list below shows is how the story would look if it were run in chronological order:

1. Desire: The character feels empty and incomplete. He hopes for some dangerous item or goal, which he believes will fulfill him and make life worthwhile.
2. Dream: As the character pursues his desire, he experiences major progress. It seems for a moment that nothing can stop him from attaining his goal.
3. Curse: Little mistakes and bad luck begin to catch up with the character. To prevent failure and to fight off his opponents, the character must make some painful or morally compromising choices.
4. Doom: The character begins to despair. It seems that his chances for success are almost gone, and the people around him are paying the price for his bad choices.
5. Death Wish: As a result of fate, his opponents, or his own choices, the character meets his tragic end.

The Nature of Conflicts
A game run in this fashion completely inverts one of the regular assumptions about roleplaying games. In play, the point of descriptions and actions is not to determine what happens next - you already know that - but, instead, how it came to pass, and what that says about the characters. This means that if there is a conflict of some kind, that conflict can, absolutely, contribute to the story - if the character was driven to the maddening sight of the diabolical beast out of fear of the things in the sewers, that’s not the same outcome as if they went there in full knowledge of their doom in order to hold it back long enough for someone else to plant the explosives that would seal it underground.

What Must Be Left Unknown
Given that conflicts and challenges work in this way, it means that a single hard rule should be kept in mind - you can’t explain how the characters got to the start of the scene that they're in. That’s something that will be figured out in the next scene to be played out.

The Scene Frames
What this results in is a game where each scene except for the last one played starts with a general overview (from the list of five steps), in conditions that are not explained, and that the scene doesn’t end until it can naturally lead to the last scene that was played. Explaining why the current scene started as it did? That’s the job of the next scene you play out. And remember, there should be several possible ways to get from the start of the scene to the end, so there’s room to make decisions and have conflicts over the “how”.

Foreshadowing
Since everyone already knows “what happens next”, everyone can drop little hints about it, and the GM can drop in odd obstacles when starting a scene. If the squarejawed hero is in the sewers with the spunky reporter, and we all know that the spunky reporter isn’t in the next scene… Then it needs to be determined just why that’s the case. Players can (and should) have a vision of how they’d like to solve these things, which they can reference and attempt, and the GM can (and should) challenge them.

Flashbacks
While the total contents of the next scene to be played (which is the previous one chronologically) must remain unknown, the GM can drop small hints. If the spunky reporter that has to be gone before the next scene is cursing that “bastard weasel of a shopkeeper”, that’s a hint of what came before - and, thus, of what will be played out next. The GM should be wary of overdoing this; a little goes a long ways.

I Speak A Little

A modular mini-game for foreign languages in RPGs

Description:

Two or more characters in the scene wish to have a conversation, but they do not share fluency in a single language. Perhaps one has studied the language of another. Perhaps both have studied, but have not mastered, a third language. This mini-game attempts to emulate (without any dice rolling), the limited communication that follows. Note: we assume that players are actually speaking the same language, e.g. English, but their characters are trying to have a conversation in game.)

What you need:

At least Two Characters

At Least Two Players

Pencil and Paper

How to Play I Speak a Little:

First, determine on a scale of 1-10 how skilled each character is at the language in which they will attempt to communicate. For example, player one, Ness, is playing Willis, who is fluent in Common, so Willis is a 10. Player two, Steven, is playing, Orknaught, who understands some Common, so Orknaught is a 5. Player three, Kris, is playing,Iluvriel, who knows very little Common, so Iluvriel is a 2. Now, for each character, consult the chart below:

How Much is a Little?

1. Pick 10 one- or two-syllable words. Write these words down. These are the only words you know in Common. Your sentences can be up to two words long. Good luck.
2. Pick 20 one- or two-syllable words.  Write these words down. These are the only words you know in Common. Your sentences can be up to three words long
3. Your vocabulary is still poor. You know all one- and two-syllable words in Common, except those that in English, use the letters D, U, C, H, or Y. If a word uses one of these five letters, your character doesn’t understand it. Your sentences can be up to four words long.
4. Your vocabulary is okay. You know all one- and two-syllable words in Common, except those that in English, use the letters U, C, H, or Y. If a word uses one of these five letters, your character doesn’t understand it. Your sentences can be up to four words long.
5. Your vocabulary is decent. You know all one- and two-syllable words in Common, except those that in English, use the letters C, H, or Y. If a word uses one of these five letters, your character doesn’t understand it. Your sentences can be up to five words long.
6. Your vocabulary is good. As long as a word has three syllables or less, you know it, except those that in English, use the letters C or Y. If a word uses one of these five letters, your character doesn’t understand it. Your sentences can be up to five words long.
7. As long as a word has three syllables or less, you know it. Your sentences can be, at most, six words long. Pick two letters, you often switch these letters in the middle of words.
8. As long as a word has five syllables or less, you know it. Your sentences can be, at most, seven words long. Pick two letters, you often switch these letters in the middle of words.
9. Your character often misunderstands figures of speech, but otherwise has good understanding. Phrases like, “put your foot in your mouth,” or “you scratch my back, I scratch yours” seem to confuse your character. He may use his own figures of speech.
10. You are fluent in this language. Your character is as good at this language as you are at English.

So in our example, Ness would play Willis like a normal speaker. Whenever Orknaught speaks, Steven must limit himself to using one or two syllable words, and do his best to avoid words with the letters C, H, and Y. Steven must also use sentences with five or less words. Kris on the other hand must stick to the list of twenty words she has written down.

Note: Some people might find it difficult to self edit quite this much. If these limitations slow conversation down too much, try this alternate list of 1-10.

Alternate List:

1. Pick ten one-syllable words. Write these down. They are the only words you know. Your sentences are one word long.
2. Pick twenty-one syllable words. Write these down. They are the only words you know. Your sentences are at most one word long.
3. Pick twenty-one syllable words and ten-two syllable words. They are the only words you know. Your sentences are at most two words long.
4. You know all one syllable words and twenty two-syllable words. Write down these two-syllable words. Your sentences are at most two words long.
5. You know all one- and two-syllable words. Your sentences are at most two words long.
6. You know all words with three syllables or less. Your sentences are at most three words long.
7. You know all words with four syllables or less. Your sentences are at most four words long.
8. You know all words with five syllables or less. Your sentences are at most five words long.
9. You know all words with six syllables or less. Your sentences are at most five words long.
10. You are fluent in this language. Your character is as good at this language as you are at English.

Publish Post

Salt and Light Sermon

I originally preached this sermon on Matthew 5:13-16 at Battle Ground, Indiana in the spring of 2010.

Thank you all for the chance to be here this morning. It is a great privilege to share with you from God’s message. My wife and I are excited to be here, and I’m thrilled to be able to speak to you all for a few minutes. Would you pray with me?

Holy Father in heaven, unimaginably perfect and just, we come before you by means of the access you have granted followers of your son Jesus, and we ask for you to watch over us this morning. We pray for protection for our loved ones who are not here this morning, and we pray for clarity and accuracy in my speech. I ask that your Holy Spirit would unplug our ears for the next few minutes so that we might commit ourselves to understanding and obeying your life changing words to us. We thank you in advance for the work you will do in us this morning. We pray these things by the power of your Holy Spirit within us and through the name of Jesus Christ who died to make us right with you. Amen.

If you ask for a piece of candy, you will not get one. If I give you a reward, like a piece of candy, say thank you, or I might take it back. If any of you uses the electric pencil sharpener while I’m talking (grinding noise), everyone else will point at you until you figure out you need to stop.

A day or two into each school year, my wife covers the standards of behavior in her classroom after she introduces herself, meets the students, and takes down their emergency contact info. These standards let the students know how they are expected to behave while they are members of the classroom. They learn things like, “If you call me hey, or teacher, or Miss, I will ignore you. If you call me Mrs. Jordan, I will be happy to help you.” It’s normal for a teacher to have rules for their students. It should come as no surprise that Jesus, early in his ministry, only five chapters into the New Testament, laid out a set of standards for his students. He taught the disciples how members of God’s kingdom were expected to behave.

This lesson by Jesus is called the Sermon on the Mount. You can find it beginning in the fifth chapter of Matthew. Today we will be looking at one part of this lesson, this set of standards, in order to answer the question what does a good member of God’s kingdom look like. More specifically, since I am a church planter, we are going to try to answer the question how does a good member of God’s kingdom behave toward outsiders, toward unchurched people. We find our answer in Matthew chapter five beginning in verse 13.

As you turn to Matthew chapter 5 verse 13, I want you to picture the setting of this sermon. Jesus is sitting on the side of a mountain with his disciples, whom he just recently called. In the background is a huge crowd of people, from all over Israel and beyond, who have heard that there is a new preacher, this Jesus guy, who can heal sick people and paralyzed people and even demon-possessed people. As Jesus is speaking to the disciples about the standard of behavior for members in the kingdom of God, a curious crowd of outsiders is listening just a stone’s throw away. This teacher Jesus, whom we follow, came with the power to heal, the power to forgive us of sin, so when he tells us how to behave, we better listen. I pray that you would join me this morning in learning a little more about what Jesus expects of us as his disciples.

In this passage Jesus uses two metaphors. First he uses a metaphor to teach what a good disciple is, then he uses another metaphor to describe what that looks like to outsiders. Let’s look at the first metaphor. Verse 13:

You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

The first metaphor that Jesus uses is that the disciples are salt of the earth. He goes on to explain that salt without saltiness is useless. What is salt without saltiness? Jesus is talking about one of two things here. Jesus may be talking about an inferior kind of crystal that was mined from the ground in Middle East. This crystal could be used as salt, because it contained some sodium chloride, or table salt, but it was easily drained of its sodium chloride, its table salt whenever it got wet. The other possibility is that Jesus is referring to a joke.  Later Jewish rabbis, after Jesus, recorded a joke about salt without saltiness. We’re not sure how old the joke is, but it’s possible that’s what Jesus is hinting at. The joke goes, to fix salt without saltiness, all you have to do is rub it with the blood of a mule’s baby. The punch line is that there is no such thing as a mule’s baby. Mules are sterile. So presumably, there’s no such thing as salt without saltiness. Hilarious, right. Well, sometimes jokes don’t translate well from one country to another. The point is Jesus could be saying, there’s no such thing as unsalty salt, because why would God create such a thing? Either way, whether Jesus is referring to that impure mined crystal or the mule joke, Jesus tells his disciples that salt without saltiness is useless. It’s pointless, it’s garbage. If you had some, you would throw it out. God created salt to be useful. Therefore the first metaphor Jesus uses tells us that the standard for members of the kingdom of God is that they be useful, that they do what God created them to do. If you are a disciple, you will do what God created you to do. And we know from Ephesians two that God created you to do good works. A good disciple will do some good works.

The only difference between us and the disciples in the original audience is that we stand on the other side of the cross. We understand that Jesus satisfied the Father’s standard of perfect good works for us. Now we aim for that high standard not in order to gain access to the kingdom of God, but in order to live as good members in that kingdom. In other words, like Paul tells us in Ephesians 2, we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus who died in our place, and now, having been saved, we must do good works which God created us to do.

Good salt is useful. Likewise, good members in God’s kingdom are useful. They serve God’s purpose. What does that look like? Doing good works is still a little vague. Is Jesus talking about the flavor of salt, its distinctiveness, or its preservative quality, its resistance to corruption? If members in the kingdom are useful like salt, what do their good works look like? What specifically is Jesus telling us to do here?

Let’s return to Matthew and read the second metaphor beginning in chapter 5 verse 14

You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

The second metaphor that Jesus uses to explain God’s standard for our behavior is that the disciples are light. Jesus explains that light is not meant to be hidden. We put light in obvious, visible places so it can shine.

Besides, it’s hard to hide light. I tend to read before going to sleep at night, and I just bought myself a book light so I wouldn’t keep Anessa awake. I used to just use the lamp on my night stand, but I finally felt guilty enough watching her put a blanket over her head while she tried to fall asleep that I bought a little book light that clips onto the book I’m reading. But now I’m self conscious and I try to hold the book so the light doesn’t accidentally slip and blast her in the eyes. It’s hard to hide light. And except when I’m reading at night, I don’t want to hide light. I put it somewhere obvious where it will light up the whole room. Jesus tells us that God’s standard for members of his kingdom is that they do the same sort of thing. A useful member in God’s kingdom lets his good behavior shine. He lets his good behavior point people toward praising God. We could say that God’s standard is that we act as ambassadors of God, letting our behavior shine in full view of other people, so that they may praise God.

Being a visible ambassador of God, shining a light that people can see, means more than doing good works inside the walls of your church and your house. We must be visible, obvious to outsiders. After all, ambassadors live in foreign countries. We must seek out non-Christians and show them love that can only come from God. This could mean babysitting for a single mom, donating emergency supplies to victims of a fire, or participating in a church plant. I’m not talking about doing good deeds and forgetting about the gospel of salvation in Christ. I’m saying that rubbing elbows with non-Christians and meeting their needs is an important part of earning their trust. And as you’re sharing the gospel, and sharing what God has done for you, they are more likely to listen to you if you’re an unusually kind person. We see this in the life of Jesus, in how people whom he healed always listen to his preaching, whereas the religious types wouldn’t even touch sinners, let alone befriend them enough to lead them to God. And we see it again here in the Sermon on the Mount. King Jesus teaches us that members of his kingdom must let their good works shine so that others will praise God.

Be a visible ambassador of God. Be useful to God by being an ambassador of his kingdom. This means living a self-sacrificing life like Jesus. God calls us to live so kindly, generously and sacrificially that our good behavior points people toward God. Are you a person who is habitually kind and generous to outsiders and outcasts, to dirty people? Jesus was kind like that, and people, all kinds of people, flocked to him. When was the last time you had a non-Christian over to your house? Do the non-Christians around you have any idea by your behavior toward them that you have good news from God? Can they tell by your kindness that you have something that they want?

Now everybody is different, so when I tell you to build relationships of supernatural kindness with non-Christians, some of you already have great ideas about how to start doing that. But in case you’re a more process-oriented type thinker, let me give you four ways you might start. I suggest you do all four whenever you build a relationship with an unchurched person. As you’re doing these four steps, you will have a chance to share the gospel, and you will probably have to share it more than once before someone trusts Christ. But here are the four steps that I would use, write these down:

• First, “G” give a gift. You could buy them lunch, make them some cookies, or bring them veggies from your garden. If you’re an artist or a craftsman, you could bring them something that you’ve made. It doesn’t have to be a huge gift. Most of us could take someone out to lunch occasionally. I can tell you personally, it is hard for me to dislike anyone who feeds me. Give a gift.
• Second, “I” invite them to a party. This could be some fun church event, or a game night, a concert, a movie night. Maybe you could combine step one and step two and invite them over for a BBQ. Invite them to a party.
• Third, “F” fill one of their visible needs. This depends on what they need. Maybe you could offer to babysit for them, or fix their car. You could help with their yard (as long as you aren’t the rude guy who mows his neighbor’s yard just because he hates how it looks). Maybe you can help them set up their computer. Find some need that they have, and offer to fill it for them. No strings attached. Fill one of their visible needs.
• Fourth, “T” tell them how God has filled one of your invisible needs. You could talk about the relief from guilt you’ve felt since becoming a Christian, or maybe the friendships you’ve made at church. Maybe God has given you new hope for the future or wisdom to deal with frustrating people. Tell them how God has filled one of your invisible needs.

These four steps, GIFT, in whatever order that you do them, will cause your light to shine. They are one process you might follow for being a visible ambassador of God, so that your good works will point people toward God, even as we continue to share with them the gospel message.

Whether or not a student obeys the standards my wife sets out in her classroom, they are still a student. She still lets them into the classroom every school day. But if they want to be good students, if they want to pass the class, and grow in their education, they must follow the teacher’s standards. If you have put your trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I’m not telling you to live up to Jesus’ standard out of fear for your salvation. I’m telling you that if you don’t strive toward that standard, you won’t grow, you won’t be a good Christian, and honestly your life here on earth will be useless and pointless. There’s a reason that God has kept you safe from death all these years. He has stuff for you to do and people for you to encourage. Be salt, be a useful member of his kingdom. And let your light shine, behave in such a way as to point outsiders toward God. Let your good deeds lead to unchurched people meeting and praising our Lord. Let’s pray.

Established Series Mash-Up

A brainstorming tool for creating RPG campaign settings

Together as a group, pick a TV show, comic book, movie, or book series with a setting that sparks the interest of at least a couple members of your group. Now think specifically of one episode or story arc within that series. You’re looking for something that either your group is already familiar with, or that can be read or watched in an hour. That means the group should not pick a whole TV series (like Supernatural), but a single episode (The first Trickster episode). If you are using a comic as your inspiration, don’t pick a whole title (The Walking Dead), but a single issue or graphic novel (like when they move into the prison). Not a whole book trilogy, but a memorable chapter or so.

Okay, got your source in mind? Now pick a second one. This second source should be from a different book, a different movie. Or maybe your first source is a movie, and your second is a comic book. The same rules that applied to the first source apply to the second. Pick something that perks the interest of most of your gaming group, and pick a section of story that would only take an hour to revisit (by watching or reading).

For our examples, we’ll use two TV shows. Our first source is the Dr. Who episode, “The Empty Child,” where people are turning into gas-masked zombies. Our second source will be the Heroes episode “Four Months Later…,” where Hiro Nakamura travels to feudal Japan and meets Kensei, an immortal Englishman.

Once your RPG group has picked the two sources of inspiration for your campaign setting, your job is to brainstorm together what the setting of the game will be like. Assume that the only thing we know about the setting comes from these two episodes. Nothing, for example, that happens earlier or later in Dr. Who and Heroes, will be a part of your campaign when the game begins. Maybe after a few sessions, the group will decide they want to add other story elements, but for now only these two specific stories are canon.

You are free to shoot ideas back and forth in a brainstorming session about the world and the characters in it. If you would like some further guidance to get the ball rolling, here are a few tips:

• Make a list of the organizations that appear in your two sources. Don’t write down character names, just the type of people who show up, and what groups they are a part of. For example, we have time travelers, aliens who look human, normal humans, super-powered people, heroes, and a mysterious evil force that can turn humans into monsters.
• Describe any supernatural or sci-fi elements in your sources, and decide as a group if there is a particular genre or set of tropes you want in your game. In “The Empty Child” and “Four Months Later…” we have a time machine or two, a person who can teleport and travel back in time, a reincarnating immortal alien, a regenerating immortal human, and a sort of zombie plague. We decide to include in our campaign various alien and supernatural powers that affect our interaction with time and history or affect our mortality.
• Describe the overall tone or look of the sources, especially in areas where your two sources overlap. For example, we have a dark creepy feeling of impending doom, a hero who is disappointed by his mentor, a small group of do-gooders, witty banter, and friendship. All of these seem important to the feel of our sources.
• Consider what kind of characters would be fun to play in this setting. Resist the urge to play main characters from your sources. Minor characters might be fun, but playing main characters makes it difficult to ignore the all the other episodes, issues, or chapters in your source material. In fact, I suggest that a couple of main source characters die during your first few games sessions. It becomes much easier for the group to know what to do in the setting when canon is a springboard for new adventures than when they are forced to play second fiddle to the characters in the established universe. So take it from me, Captain Kirk and Luke Skywalker kill each other, and the players are forced to figure out how to defend the Federation from the Sith. In our example game, Dr. Who becomes a gas-mask zombie, and in order to save Rose, Hiro teleports himself and the Doctor into the earth’s core. Now, Rose and the alcoholic immortal Kensei find themselves in charge of the TARDIS.

Whatever your sources, remember that half the fun of setting creation is setting up problems for the players to solve and mysterious places for them to explore, so leave things a little messy at the end of your brainstorming session. Leave loose ends. Load the setting with dynamite, and then throw your characters at it to find out what happens. Now, go play!

Powershop

A modular mini-game for shopping scenes in RPGs

Setting:

The PCs are shopping at a market or bazaar. The GM has determined that the players will be able to buy what they are looking for, but would like to spice up the results of the shopping endeavor.

You Need:

• A Game Master
• Two or more Player Characters (PCs)
• A deck of playing cards

How to Powershop:

1. The GM will briefly determine determine whether any players have advantages or disadvantages during this shopping trip. An in character advantage for this shopping trip compared to the other PCs might be higher charisma, better haggling skill, more familiarity with this store, etc. A disadvantage might be poor personal hygiene, bigotry of the townspeople, low intelligence, etc. (This whole determination should take no more than two minutes, though the players are welcome to make suggestions during that time about who should get an advantage or disadvantage.)

2. The GM will deal one to three cards to each player. Players with an advantage receive three cards. Players with a disadvantage receive one card. Other players receive two cards.

3. Players all reveal their cards. The player with the highest spade or club (aces are high) successfully buys the most expensive item he wants to buy, and discovers that it is of unusually high quality. (The GM should give some small in-game bonus to this high quality item.)

• The player with the lowest spade or club, or with no spades or clubs, successfully buys the most expensive item he wants to buy, and discovers that it is of unusually low quality (with some related, small in-game penalty for its use.)
• The player with the highest heart or diamond successfully buys the most expensive item he wants to buy, and only has to spend 75% the list price.
• The player with the lowest heart or diamond, or no hearts or diamonds, can buy the most expensive item he wants to buy, but only if he is willing 125% of the list price. The item will not be available at a lower price anywhere else during this game session.

In the case of a tie between two players, both players receive the appropriate shopping benefit or penalty.

A Beginner’s Primer on Probability

A Beginner’s Primer on Probability

Gnome Stew contributor Matthew Neagley has put together a good brief on probability in games. This is a helpful review, though I admit I needed a few more examples to wrap my head around arrangements.

Neagley is right that all players would benefit from a basic understanding of their chance of success for any given action.

Underdog

A card game for 2-5 players

You Need:

• 2-5 Players
• One deck of cards shuffled

Each Round:

Deal five cards to each player. Players examine their cards, turn face cards and tens face up in front of them, and place one other card face down in front of them. (This other card is called your Underdog card.) All remaining cards are placed in one big pile in the middle of the table with everyone else’s extra cards. This pile is the “Big Dog.” (So you have your 10s, Jacks, Queens, and Kings in front of you, along with one other face down card of your choice. All the rest of your cards go with everyone else’s in the Big Dog pile.)

Each player must then say whether they think “Big Dog” or “Little Dog”  will win this round. Big Dog wins if the pile in the middle of the table totals higher. Little Dog wins if all the players’ face up cards plus your Underdog card totals higher.

All cards are turned face up, and the Big Dog and Little Dog are totaled.

• Face cards and 10s are worth ten points
• Aces are worth one point
• All other cards are worth their printed number

Note: Since your Little Dog is equals everyone’s face cards plus your Underdog card, it is possible that one player’s Little Dog may beat the Big Dog, and another player’s may not.

Scoring:

• If you correctly guessed the Big Dog would beat your Little Dog, you win points equal to the Big Dog.
• If you correctly guessed your Little Dog would beat the Big Dog, you win points equal to your Little Dog.

Bonus Points: Compare the suit of your Underdog card to the suits of the cards in the Big Dog. If your Underdog suit is the least common suit in the Big Dog, or if there are no cards in the Big Dog with a suit matching your Underdog, you win points equal to five times the number of people playing.

Next Round:

Shuffle all the cards and play again. Play for at least three rounds.

Note: for the first few rounds, while you are learning the game, it may be helpful to put all the face up cards together in a second pile. That way you are guessing whether the face down Big Dog pile is the strongest or the face up Little Dog pile plus your one hidden card is the strongest. In playtesting, this decreased the new players' confusion.

Friendly – A Game of cards for 2-4 Players

This is a game about choices. First, players secretly choose whether to play aggressively or defensively (by picking either a black or red ace). Then, on each turn, a player must choose whether to increase the size of the two pots, or to take the smaller pot for himself.

Set Up:

You need two decks of cards shuffled together with aces set aside. Give each player a black ace and a red ace.

Each Round:

Each player must choose to place either the black or red ace face down in front of him. He should place the other ace off to the side. (See End of Round for the effects of choosing black or red.) The first player starts by dealing three face down cards to the player on his left and one face down card to himself.

Each Turn:

The player who has the smaller pile of cards in front of him must choose either to deal another face down card to each pile and then pass each pile one player to the left OR to end the round.

End of Round:

Once the round has ended, turn both piles face up. Each player must now reveal whether he chose a black or red ace.

•          If all players chose red aces, all players gain points equal to the smaller pile. This is called a “Friendly” round.
•          If all players chose black aces, each player gets points equal to the pile in front of him. This is called a “Vicious” round.
•          If some players chose black aces and some chose red aces, the losing player gets points equal to the smaller pile. This is called a “Rough” round.

Scoring:

Cards have a value equal to their number. Face cards are worth ten. Aces have been removed and do not have a value.

Next Round:

Each player must again choose to play either a  red or black ace. The rest of the cards are shuffled, and the player to the left of the one who ended the last round is the new first player.

Play at least two rounds and until at least one player has fifty or more points.

3 Ways the Church Fails the Mentally Ill

Imagine your daughter has a broken arm. For some reason, the doctor has determined that it would be unwise to put her arm in a cast. The wound is real, and it will take at least several weeks to heal, but for some reason, the doctor has chosen not to bind up the arm. Your daughter is old enough to understand how to take of her injury, and she must limit her activities just like anyone else with a broken arm.

There’s a problem. Without that cast on her arm, how will other people know that her arm is broken? How will her friends know that she can’t play softball, whether she wants to or not? Will Mr. Stephens, her gym teacher, believe her when she tells him that she is not allowed to do pushups? At the very least, we can guess that strangers will think your daughter is rude when she refuses to shake hands.

You know that she has a very good reason to avoid all these activities. She has a broken arm. She physically cannot do pushups, and she finds it painful to play softball or even to shake hands. But other people can’t see her injury. Even if she tells them about her arm, they don’t see a cast. Some may doubt her. Others will believe her, but will come back next week and ask her again to do these impossible tasks, simply because they don’t understand that this is an injury that will take time to heal.

Now, imagine that instead of a broken arm, your daughter has a mental illness. Your daughter suffers from a clinically diagnosed life-altering, long-term handicap that no one can see. When your daughter’s friends ask her to play on the swing set, her phobia of heights literally forces her to decline. When her teacher invites her on a class trip, her anxiety disorder prevents her from going along, even if it means her grades will suffer. When a stranger meets your daughter, they find her odd, even rude, because her autism spectrum disorder leads her to act in ways that they can’t understand.

I have a disability that you cannot see, and when I have described it to my fellow Christians, I have seen three responses by well-intentioned church members that, if you’ll pardon the pun, drive me crazy. I am a person in (at least) the second or third generation of my family to suffer from a clinically diagnosed anxiety disorder. I partially manage it with medication, and I’m doing very well, thank you. However, there are times in my life when I need to explain my medical problem to people. There are certain little things I do, like sitting on the end of the row in the movie theater, which help keep me comfortable, when otherwise, for no particularly logical reason,  I wouldn’t be. When I have described my condition to other followers of Jesus, I have had a mixed reaction. Here are three responses I consider failures:

1. Disbelief – some people act as if my anxiety disorder is not real. Or perhaps they believe that my condition is so minor that I am complaining with no good reason. After all, most people consider themselves pretty good observers, and if they’ve never noticed my anxiety disorder, it must not be that bad. To me this response demonstrates a lack of mercy. Such a reaction fails to hear Jesus’ words, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy” Matthew 5:7.
2. Demonology – some Christians assume that mental illness is the result of demonic influence in my life, or the result of some ongoing sin issue. This person’s gut reaction is to first figure out whose fault the mental illness is, and then to overcome it with prayer. Though it is clear in scripture that illness is sometimes the result of sin or even supernatural influence, it is just as clear that illness is not always someone’s fault. Jesus addressed this issue when “his disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned,’ said Jesus, ‘but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life’” John 9:2-3.
3. Disregard – some people believe me that I have a mental illness, and genuinely feel bad for me. But after a week, or a couple of weeks, or a month, they become irritated that my mental illness has not yet gone away. It’s as if they treat me like the victim of a crime, who at first deserves their sympathy, but after a while they wonder, “Shouldn’t he have gotten over this already?” Besides a disregard for my feelings, this irritation at my weaknesses seems to me to come from a disregard for one’s own weaknesses. I realize that I am not perfect, physically or spiritually. But neither are you. Just as I may inconvenience you from time to time, so you may inconvenience me, and yet you are still worthy of my respect and deserving of my kindness. In fact, we have been commanded, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves” Philippians 2:3.

These three responses are failures because they hurt. I know perfectly well that these people did not wake up and decide to behave rudely to people with mental illnesses. In fact, these are all examples drawn from my friends’ and family’s behavior. These are people who care for me, but who have responded in ways that hurt. I mention this not in order to garner sympathy but in order to educate. Other mentally ill people I know have experienced the same sorts of snubs and rude comments. Let me give you an alternative. Let me suggest the following as a better response. Treat this person as if they have an injury you cannot see. Treat them like you would your daughter with the broken arm. A mentally ill person who tells you they are mentally ill is generally well-informed enough to tell you what they can and can’t do.

1. Believe them. If I tell you I can’t stand being in a traffic jam when someone else is driving, I am telling you that my body will do strange things to me if I put myself in that situation. (Specifically, this situation would cause my body to release chemicals which cause feelings of pure panic. There is no logical reason for these feelings, but I have observed myself enough to know that I ought to avoid this situation.) I do not suggest catering to a mentally ill person’s every whim. They don’t get to pick what kind of pizza you order. But if they explain their limitations for you, believe them. You can only see them on the outside, but God knows that they may be suffering. “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” I Samuel 16:7b.
2. Encourage them to live healthy normal lives. If they are taking care of themselves and figuring out how to live a full life, treat them just like you would any other person with a limitation. If my friend with food allergies finds a good cookie recipe he can eat, I encourage him. If my blind friend makes himself some Braille dice so he can play games, I tell him how awesome that is. As long as a mentally ill person is getting his or her needs taken care of, treat them with respect and encourage their efforts toward a normal life. If a mentally ill person refuses any kind of medical help, tell them they are shooting themselves in the foot. Like any handicap, temporary or permanent, professionals can help. Just as you wouldn’t want your daughter to play softball with a broken arm, you wouldn’t want your manic-depressive brother to go off his medication without talking to his doctor. “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing” I Thessalonians 5:11.
3. Be patient. Some mental illnesses eventually go away. Some can be completely conquered with therapy. (As I understand, phobias can often be reduced or overcome with the right help.) But some mental illnesses are long-term. If your friend has seen a doctor, and is doing what he can to manage his handicap, be patient with him. Making him feel guilty for not getting better is illogical and counterproductive. If I made you feel like a failure because you still couldn’t see out of your glass eye, I would be a huge jerk. Don’t be like that, be patient. “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer” Romans 12:12.

Ultimately, how you choose to respond to someone with a mental illness says more about you than it does about them. My goal in this essay has been to point out a blind spot that has caused hurt feelings inside the Christian community. My hope is not that you feel guilty. My hope is that you choose to change the way you respond to the mentally ill, so that you behave more like Jesus Christ, who loved and challenged and encouraged people whether they were sick or well, rich or poor. My desire for you is that you will know the joy God has in store for you, and that you will share it with your mentally ill friends and loved ones in a way that shows no rudeness or ignorance. I strongly suggest that you ask your friends directly if there is a way they would prefer to be treated, or if there is something you do that shows disrespect for their handicap. After all, these have been my opinions, and I might just be crazy.