The Calling
One of the fundamental things that has become integrated into the way I see the Walkabout RPG is the idea of "The Calling". This has come from both my work with indigenous communities in the last few years, and my development of the alternate game "The Law".
But what is "The Calling"?
Let's give the easy description first...
In "The Law", characters are given a rating in their Rank. The Rank is symbolic of how competent they are and how others view their degree of competency. When players can quickly reference the source material that inspired the game (Judge Dredd, Robocop, Ghost in the Shell, etc.) They can see specific examples of characters at different levels of competence and gain an understanding of how their character fits into the scale. Rank is designed to be something that increases gradually, perhaps a single increase at the end of a multi-session story arc. The ultimate embodiment of the law in Megacity One is Judge Dredd, he could be the stereotypical avatar of the calling that is "The Law" within that setting. He still struggles with what it means to embody those principles, and it is when those struggles relate to other elements of his personality that some of the most iconic stories appear. It could be argued that other Judges in that setting aren't as strongly connected to that calling, or perhaps they simply have different struggles because their personality elements interact with the core calling differently.
When applying these sorts of ideas to "Walkabout", the stereotypical hero might be Max Rockatansky... as one of ths last police officers in a post apocalyptic wasteland, his calling becomes more confused as civilisation crumbles around him.
Yet the desire to do right, and to bring justice to the world is a part of the essence of his character. When he flees his calling, things go badly, he barely survives, the world gets chaotic, and the oppisition gains the upper hand. It is when he is fulfilling the agenda of his calling, accepting that he needs to make a stand to make a change, that the final confrontation can be dealt with.
The more complicated description comes from the time I've spent working and socialising with elders of Australian Aboriginal groups (notably, the Tharawal, Kamilaroi, and Wiradjuri). There is no particular universal word for a person's calling, but many elders talked around the point. In various forms it was mentioned that younger generations had lost their way because they had no identified sense of self-purpose, this was considered one of the many deliberate ways that Indigenous culture had been assaulted over the last two centuries. Breaking the cycle of initiations into adulthood and rites of passage, and systematic breaking up of families has led to lost generations who were never taught what needed to be done, and therefore had no knowledge of the old ways to impart to a new generation. This leaves the following generation even further removed from the culture and heritagte of their blood.
It's not just an Indigenous thing, the younger generations of other cultures have become just as dispossessed, and there are numerous theories for this too. Opportunistic agents like Jordan Peterson offer their own opinions, and provide paths for impressionable young minds to cling to. Al Qaeda, ISIS, the US Military, redneck militias, gangs... they all do something similar by offering their own twist on an initiation, and a path to provide some direction in a world that they claim is otherwise without rhyme or reason. Those who embrace these ideals into their core gain a sense of purpose, but also become intrinsically linked to the flaws inherent in the path. Such flaws might include things like fanaticism, religious extremism, scarification/tattooes, criminal history, being sworn to secrecy, racial/ethnocentric hatred, upholding sacred or social duties; these all define the path as much as any virtues they may aspire to. The irony is that many of these modern callings function almost exactly the same way as the initiations and rites of passage of Indigenous groups, while calling those rites primitive and uncivilised. It's all a grand power play... but to what ends?
The elders use the term "great white saviour" dripping in sarcasm and occasionally malice. They talk of Captain Cook and the Gubbas (short for "government people") as a catalyst for the death of their people, the destruction of their culture, and the devastation of their land. These are embedded into stories as much as the kangaroo totem, the rainbow serpent, or the bunyip... the stories of the dreamtime now include these elements, because the dreamtime is a living breathing thing to those who've managed to retain some connection to it. Many elements of the various Indigenous cultures across Australia are about connections and relationships. You can't bring something new into an ecosystem without impacting existing elements of the ecosystem, and these impacts are embedded and remembered in stories.
The calling in "The Law" is that of an Agent, a bringer of justice to a sprawling city. The calling in "Walkabout" is that of a Wayfarer, a bringer of spiritual balance and restoration to a post apocalyptic wasteland. The idea of the calling will probably filter through to a lot of my other game designs too.
But what is "The Calling"?
Let's give the easy description first...
In "The Law", characters are given a rating in their Rank. The Rank is symbolic of how competent they are and how others view their degree of competency. When players can quickly reference the source material that inspired the game (Judge Dredd, Robocop, Ghost in the Shell, etc.) They can see specific examples of characters at different levels of competence and gain an understanding of how their character fits into the scale. Rank is designed to be something that increases gradually, perhaps a single increase at the end of a multi-session story arc. The ultimate embodiment of the law in Megacity One is Judge Dredd, he could be the stereotypical avatar of the calling that is "The Law" within that setting. He still struggles with what it means to embody those principles, and it is when those struggles relate to other elements of his personality that some of the most iconic stories appear. It could be argued that other Judges in that setting aren't as strongly connected to that calling, or perhaps they simply have different struggles because their personality elements interact with the core calling differently.
When applying these sorts of ideas to "Walkabout", the stereotypical hero might be Max Rockatansky... as one of ths last police officers in a post apocalyptic wasteland, his calling becomes more confused as civilisation crumbles around him.
Yet the desire to do right, and to bring justice to the world is a part of the essence of his character. When he flees his calling, things go badly, he barely survives, the world gets chaotic, and the oppisition gains the upper hand. It is when he is fulfilling the agenda of his calling, accepting that he needs to make a stand to make a change, that the final confrontation can be dealt with.
The more complicated description comes from the time I've spent working and socialising with elders of Australian Aboriginal groups (notably, the Tharawal, Kamilaroi, and Wiradjuri). There is no particular universal word for a person's calling, but many elders talked around the point. In various forms it was mentioned that younger generations had lost their way because they had no identified sense of self-purpose, this was considered one of the many deliberate ways that Indigenous culture had been assaulted over the last two centuries. Breaking the cycle of initiations into adulthood and rites of passage, and systematic breaking up of families has led to lost generations who were never taught what needed to be done, and therefore had no knowledge of the old ways to impart to a new generation. This leaves the following generation even further removed from the culture and heritagte of their blood.
It's not just an Indigenous thing, the younger generations of other cultures have become just as dispossessed, and there are numerous theories for this too. Opportunistic agents like Jordan Peterson offer their own opinions, and provide paths for impressionable young minds to cling to. Al Qaeda, ISIS, the US Military, redneck militias, gangs... they all do something similar by offering their own twist on an initiation, and a path to provide some direction in a world that they claim is otherwise without rhyme or reason. Those who embrace these ideals into their core gain a sense of purpose, but also become intrinsically linked to the flaws inherent in the path. Such flaws might include things like fanaticism, religious extremism, scarification/tattooes, criminal history, being sworn to secrecy, racial/ethnocentric hatred, upholding sacred or social duties; these all define the path as much as any virtues they may aspire to. The irony is that many of these modern callings function almost exactly the same way as the initiations and rites of passage of Indigenous groups, while calling those rites primitive and uncivilised. It's all a grand power play... but to what ends?
The elders use the term "great white saviour" dripping in sarcasm and occasionally malice. They talk of Captain Cook and the Gubbas (short for "government people") as a catalyst for the death of their people, the destruction of their culture, and the devastation of their land. These are embedded into stories as much as the kangaroo totem, the rainbow serpent, or the bunyip... the stories of the dreamtime now include these elements, because the dreamtime is a living breathing thing to those who've managed to retain some connection to it. Many elements of the various Indigenous cultures across Australia are about connections and relationships. You can't bring something new into an ecosystem without impacting existing elements of the ecosystem, and these impacts are embedded and remembered in stories.
The calling in "The Law" is that of an Agent, a bringer of justice to a sprawling city. The calling in "Walkabout" is that of a Wayfarer, a bringer of spiritual balance and restoration to a post apocalyptic wasteland. The idea of the calling will probably filter through to a lot of my other game designs too.
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Comments
I like this idea. Calling is important, and I particularly like your deeper thinking behind it, especially "The calling in "Walkabout" is that of a Wayfarer, a bringer of spiritual balance and restoration to a post apocalyptic wasteland."
Nice one.