Bricoleur text

[muckefuck]

I'm not sure if anyone's attempted to write a definitive account of the "gamer mindset", but I think one of the defining characteristics would have to be an affection for bricolage. It seems I don't ever read or see anything interesting without thinking about how I could incorporate it into a game scenario.

Case in point: I'm currently reading Faulkner's If I forget thee, Jerusalem, which is a fascinating and masterful novel. Actually, it's two novellas in alternating chapters; they don't appear to interlock in any way, but I'm sure voluminous texts have been written on the way on story can be seen to comment on the other. For a long time, I found the one story, "The Wild Palms", the more fascinating. It's forced me to reconsider what it means to love another and to commit yourself to that love. The second, "Old Man", takes place during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927. The chief character (only referred to as "the tall convict") is sent to rescue a woman who gets washed downriver and then pigheadedly fights his way back.

The description is the second narrative is so vivid and overwhelming, I remember thinking to myself I can use this in something while reading it. Then I would catch myself and say, This is high literature! I can't believe I'm considering how to adapt it for use in an RPG. Besides, I couldn't really think of any way to fit it in.

I was working on my aforementioned minotaur character Saturday night. I had only vague ideas what I wanted to do with him; for fun, I'd told bunj he would be a Mithraist and I'd spent a little time imagining what minotauran Mithraism might be like. I started considering the kind of personality I wanted to give him and it was much like that of the Antillian halfling Barbarian character I had originally considered running: Peaceable but tough as iron, stoic, laconic, slow to anger, persistant.

Then it hit me: It was almost exactly the personality of the tall convict in "Old Man". This also presented a solution to another dilemma: How could a monster whose race's predominate alignment is Chaotic Evil turn out Lawful Neutral? Obviously, the first step is to take him out of that culture at an early age. The next is to put him in a situation where blind obedience and following a strict regime is rewarded, whereas free thought, spontaneous action, and other rebellious traits are severely punished.

In a word, slavery.

From the brief background given, it sounds like the tall convict was a wild youth, but not a bright one. He gets caught the first time he tries to put his romantic notions of banditry into practice. But rather than fighting the system inside (à la Cool Hand Luke), he adapts to it and gains a simple satisfaction from his forced labour. Once outside, the thought of running away and starting a new life never seems to enter his head; he even doggedly refuses to abandon the skiff he's in because he's afraid of catching hell for returning without it. This, during the flood of the century!

So now I have the sketch of a past for my minotaur. It'll take a little back-and-forth with the GM to settle the details. And my mind is still swimming with bits from Faulkner (I've also been reading his short stories) that may just stay bits, or may find a way into some other character I'm playing or campaign I'm designing or both.

Comments

[aadroma.livejournal.com]

It's a sign of excellent literature when it inspires you to DO something with what you've read, and not just sit there and go, "That was a good story." Sure, others might not use it in an RPG setting, BUT there are other aspects of life where that literature will be reflected.

[prilicla.livejournal.com]

Have you read Knight's Gambit? It's a collection of 6 mystery short stories by Faulkner ("Six masterly whodunits," says the blurb from the New York Times), and as you might expect, reading mysteries written in Faulkner's style is just bizarre.

The minotaur sounds interesting. Is the slavery just part of his backstory, or will he still be a slave when you start playing?