I bought rpgs tabletop books called Cha’alt, which I can best summarize as a mix of Zardoz and Dune (at least before I can sit down and read it). If you’re familiar with other tabletop games, think Dark Sun, with a decent chance the Kool-Aid man will break out of a random wall that you’ll have to fight. It contains a massive black pyramid dungeon as it’s main centerpiece.

Here’s part of a review: “If anything, the “Hail Gonzo!” room perhaps best exemplifies the dungeon: There, a statue of the great Gonzo can be found; lingering here has a half-demon show up, and whisper essentially a quest-hook to the PCs. Fumbling around with the Gonzo statue will open a secret compartment in the crotch, which contains a damaged trumpet. Blowing this one manifests Buddhist monks, who proceed to set themselves on fire, in a macabre way of lighting the room.” – Thilo G. https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product_reviews_info.php?&reviews_id=386813&products_id=284600

Cha’alt is categorized as gonzo. This means everything and the kitchen sink. It tends to have humor, be surreal at times, have tonal shifts, etc. For movies think Killer Clowns From Outer Space, Phantasm, Monty Python and the Holly Grail, Time Bandits, or Suspiria (the original).

This brought me back to the world of forum rp. We don’t have a lot of gonzo. When I look at various directories I see the same genre subjects done in the same way. Harry Potter, Supernatural, High Fantasy, Sci-Fi, are all ripe places to go crazy, but there’s a resistance to do so. I’m not entirely sure why. The biggest estimated guess I can give is the fear of loss of control by the creator(s) or the sad fact that most people just aren’t that creative. I’m told I’m creative, but it can take me months or even years to come up with a decent concept or idea. Once I get going, it’s better and more like a matter of weeks, but getting back into the habit takes me some time.

When I’ve looked at sites on directories, I often find myself feeling restricted. Most of my character concepts can’t work even with tweaking. I have characters that are humanoid plants, are the personification of nothing, etc. They don’t encourage true creativity. One such idea I want to return with is to bring back Agostina somewhere and have her meat tenderizer weapon have the soul of a vapid stereotypical valley girl named Tiffany stuck inside of it. Maybe make it teleport and so Tiffany can be separate from Agostina.

I’ve had some ideas knocking around for a few site concepts. I may write more about how or why I came to the results in future blog posts. I want to encourage creativity in potential future members as well as myself. I’ll write more about how I hope to do that and also have an open discussion with all of you so we can bounce off ideas.

Until then, don’t be afraid to go gonzo!

Cha’alt kickstarter: