Roleplaying: Community Building

Roleplaying: Community Building

Hey guys!

I just wanted to extend my heartfelt encouragement and congratulations to all of you for the recent explosion in community building (as evidence specifically in the Code discussions) going on around here.

Some of my favorite community segments have ended up with the least attention in the previously released lore. I've been able to lavish some of them (the Irekei, Elves, Amazons, and Holy Church) with lots of personal attention, but there's only so much of me to go around, and I've been slowly squeezed in the vice of our development schedule.

Let me cut to the point: bravo! Keep building the Old Faith's (that what I've been calling the Ranger-Druid religion) ethos. Don't constrain yourselves based on me, either - as I've told other groups, even if I can't incorporate fan-built things into the "official" game canon, I'll try to make sure that stuff I build in the future as part of the events and meta-plot doesn't totally contradict them (at least what I deem to be the best of them). You can always run things by me via e-mail: don't expect a voluminous answer or a fast one: those days are passed for the time being. But I will sound off if something strikes me as totally off base. Even then, follow it if you wish.

I want to acknowledge a godd buddy of mine who used to be a lot more active around here, good old Anshel. He's helped me come up with some of my core Ranger ideas, and he was the one who turned me on to the Kipling Laws of the Jungle. I was glad to see them make it in to the discussion, and intrigued to follow the creative process. Personally I liked the Way better than the Path (it evokes Elfquest's wolfriders, after all), but the Path is just fine. Whether you adopt a string of rhyming words, a litany of statements, or even a Kipling-esque poem - they're all fine by me (heck, I don't see why ALL of them couldn't be used as the Ranger/Druid credo).

Rangers, Druids, Barbarians... these are the factions that have gotten away from me so far. I hope to give them lots more love come gold.

Anyway - keep doing what you guys are doing. It warms my heart to see you building depth on to the existing lore, and forging community. I've tried to make the SB lore conducive to forging tight groups, and then the game itself will drive those groups to try to destroy each other. A fine dialectic, methinks, and good for generating many stories.

Keep it up!

M