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Hey there, and welcome to another edition of Character Creation, with me, your host, Michelle. ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
innocent_man and I are doing another joint character creation, this time for a game called MSG. MSG was written by Wood Ingham and Becky Lowe, with additional writing by Ben Baugh.
MSG is a corporate satire, wherein you make characters who work for the Company. Everyone takes turns and plays The Company first, while the rest who work for the company make Reps, who work for the Brand but the Brand doesn't actually employ them, which means you're contingent staff, I think, which is giving me flashbacks to my time at MGS (Microsoft Game Studios), frankly. Dear Lord.
I may have misunderstood this somehow. I haven't fully read through the book yet. I can say there's not really a clear explanation of the game's purpose or overall through-line up front, which I find makes me a bit sad. It looks cool, and I'd like to feel I'm understanding it a bit better up front so I have clear expectations. I think that's not to be, though. Matt chose this to do tonight, however, and thus we shall move forward.
The Game: MSG (tm).
The Publisher: John Heron Project
Degree of Familiarity: No idea, though perhaps too much from real life carries over.
Books Required: Just the one.
Step One: The Intro
Character creation for MSG is ideally done in a group. At this point you're supposed to introduce yourself to your group.
"Hi, my name is _______."
"Hi, _______."
You then provide a brief, superficial overview.
With that in mind... my character's name is Kelly Black.
"Hi, Kelly."
She's in her late twenties with a degree in business from State U, which isn't a bad school. She's caucasian, has brown hair, is reasonably diplomatic, has an earnest desire to move up in the company, and likes to wear slacks, simple blouses, and silk scarves (her collection is vast). There is always candy at her desk.
Step Two: Freelancer or Asset
You now have to choose whether you're a freelancer or an asset. Freelancers have a lot more freedom -- they work for Marketing -- and are effectively deniable assets. Assets get all the perks and benefits and gear, but they're nearly half owned. Kelly would aspire to be an asset, so that's where she is. She likes her cushy, deceptively stable job and hopes to be there until she keels over for good, her stock options vest fully, or she requires major medical disability, whichever comes first.
Step Three: Expertises
In this step you pick two other things you're good at. Well, Kelly should be a project manager, but that isn't a category on this game. That said, the two that come closest are Business Stabilisation Strategies and Executive Management. BSS is a bit more... well, actively bloodthirsty than your average project manager, but the strategies are much the same, only with somewhat more torture. Executive management is oddly about the same as real life.
Step Four: Relationships
Now you pick relationships, because no man is an island, especially when you work overtime with these people. You get an "iLove," "iHate," and "My Secret Tragedy." These do have to be people. You get one love, two hates, and a bad thing from your past.
Hmm. Kelly loves Roger Burns, an old flame who ended up marrying her boss's boss, Rhonda Walker (she kept her name). Roger and Kelly were in the same Delta Sigma Pi chapter in college and were both on the newsletter committee. They had a brief relationship, but ended up breaking it off because she wasn't Jewish and he was afraid of his mother.
Kelly hates Rhonda Walker, who is aware of that Kelly is an ex of her husband and never lets an opportunity pass by to subtly kneecap Kelly's projects in any meeting where their two worlds intersect -- which since Rhonda is the boss of Kelly's boss, Harold, means that it comes up with depressing regularity.
Kelly also hates Ryan Peterson, the latest marketing golden boy. He's not even remotely asset material, but somehow he ends up working on her projects as often as not, and always with an eye to what's going to make him look good in the next six months. She would love to kneecap Ryan figuratively or literally, but she doesn't have the juice yet to make that happen. His time will come.
My Secret Tragedy. This is something that is sort of a secret, except that everyone there knows it. Kelly went on "sabbatical" two years ago for six months, which she spent in a lovely rehab facility on the coast drying out and getting clean, courtesy of the Company, as her drug of choice was not only interfering with her HeadSpace but caused her to completely lose her shit at Rhonda in a meeting the day before her unexpected Leave of Absence.
Step Five: Unique Selling Point. This is the thing that makes your character a special, unique snowflake of a person. It can be professional, personal, or just wacky. Kelly's USP is Mastery of MSG(tm) Project(tm), the mandatory project management software made by the Company that few understand, much less make useful. Her ungodly gift with this program is the key to her job security, frankly, because no one else the Company has found has been able to come close.
Step Six: Resources, such as they are. Divide 11 points between Compassion and Self, with neither side being less than 4. Compassion is your ability to relate to others and your conscience (such as it is). Self is your confidence and your ability to stand up for yourself. I'm going to rate this as Compassion 6, Self 5. Over the course of the game you spend these and hopefully win more, with the Rep who has the most Resources at the end of the game winning. He Who Dies With The Most Toys, evidently. Boo Yah.
And we're done! Poor Kelly. I need some candy now. *wanders off*
innocent_man and I are doing another joint character creation, this time for a game called MSG. MSG was written by Wood Ingham and Becky Lowe, with additional writing by Ben Baugh. MSG is a corporate satire, wherein you make characters who work for the Company. Everyone takes turns and plays The Company first, while the rest who work for the company make Reps, who work for the Brand but the Brand doesn't actually employ them, which means you're contingent staff, I think, which is giving me flashbacks to my time at MGS (Microsoft Game Studios), frankly. Dear Lord.
I may have misunderstood this somehow. I haven't fully read through the book yet. I can say there's not really a clear explanation of the game's purpose or overall through-line up front, which I find makes me a bit sad. It looks cool, and I'd like to feel I'm understanding it a bit better up front so I have clear expectations. I think that's not to be, though. Matt chose this to do tonight, however, and thus we shall move forward.
The Game: MSG (tm).
The Publisher: John Heron Project
Degree of Familiarity: No idea, though perhaps too much from real life carries over.
Books Required: Just the one.
Step One: The Intro
Character creation for MSG is ideally done in a group. At this point you're supposed to introduce yourself to your group.
"Hi, my name is _______."
"Hi, _______."
You then provide a brief, superficial overview.
With that in mind... my character's name is Kelly Black.
"Hi, Kelly."
She's in her late twenties with a degree in business from State U, which isn't a bad school. She's caucasian, has brown hair, is reasonably diplomatic, has an earnest desire to move up in the company, and likes to wear slacks, simple blouses, and silk scarves (her collection is vast). There is always candy at her desk.
Step Two: Freelancer or Asset
You now have to choose whether you're a freelancer or an asset. Freelancers have a lot more freedom -- they work for Marketing -- and are effectively deniable assets. Assets get all the perks and benefits and gear, but they're nearly half owned. Kelly would aspire to be an asset, so that's where she is. She likes her cushy, deceptively stable job and hopes to be there until she keels over for good, her stock options vest fully, or she requires major medical disability, whichever comes first.
Step Three: Expertises
In this step you pick two other things you're good at. Well, Kelly should be a project manager, but that isn't a category on this game. That said, the two that come closest are Business Stabilisation Strategies and Executive Management. BSS is a bit more... well, actively bloodthirsty than your average project manager, but the strategies are much the same, only with somewhat more torture. Executive management is oddly about the same as real life.
Step Four: Relationships
Now you pick relationships, because no man is an island, especially when you work overtime with these people. You get an "iLove," "iHate," and "My Secret Tragedy." These do have to be people. You get one love, two hates, and a bad thing from your past.
Hmm. Kelly loves Roger Burns, an old flame who ended up marrying her boss's boss, Rhonda Walker (she kept her name). Roger and Kelly were in the same Delta Sigma Pi chapter in college and were both on the newsletter committee. They had a brief relationship, but ended up breaking it off because she wasn't Jewish and he was afraid of his mother.
Kelly hates Rhonda Walker, who is aware of that Kelly is an ex of her husband and never lets an opportunity pass by to subtly kneecap Kelly's projects in any meeting where their two worlds intersect -- which since Rhonda is the boss of Kelly's boss, Harold, means that it comes up with depressing regularity.
Kelly also hates Ryan Peterson, the latest marketing golden boy. He's not even remotely asset material, but somehow he ends up working on her projects as often as not, and always with an eye to what's going to make him look good in the next six months. She would love to kneecap Ryan figuratively or literally, but she doesn't have the juice yet to make that happen. His time will come.
My Secret Tragedy. This is something that is sort of a secret, except that everyone there knows it. Kelly went on "sabbatical" two years ago for six months, which she spent in a lovely rehab facility on the coast drying out and getting clean, courtesy of the Company, as her drug of choice was not only interfering with her HeadSpace but caused her to completely lose her shit at Rhonda in a meeting the day before her unexpected Leave of Absence.
Step Five: Unique Selling Point. This is the thing that makes your character a special, unique snowflake of a person. It can be professional, personal, or just wacky. Kelly's USP is Mastery of MSG(tm) Project(tm), the mandatory project management software made by the Company that few understand, much less make useful. Her ungodly gift with this program is the key to her job security, frankly, because no one else the Company has found has been able to come close.
Step Six: Resources, such as they are. Divide 11 points between Compassion and Self, with neither side being less than 4. Compassion is your ability to relate to others and your conscience (such as it is). Self is your confidence and your ability to stand up for yourself. I'm going to rate this as Compassion 6, Self 5. Over the course of the game you spend these and hopefully win more, with the Rep who has the most Resources at the end of the game winning. He Who Dies With The Most Toys, evidently. Boo Yah.
And we're done! Poor Kelly. I need some candy now. *wanders off*
