The Dragon’s Breath #11

23 April 2003

The World Around You

By Mike Johnstone

I cannot promise today any sort of truly organised thought - I feel in a rambling mood, particularly because I still suffer from a mild case of vacation hangover. Yes, imagine spending ten glorious days in Rio de Janeiro, hosted lavishly by Claudio and Paula Pozas, only to return to unseasonable winter-like weather, more snow, and another cold. Ah, amazing how in just a few weeks those bright, warm days lazing in the sun by the beach seem but a dream, and a faint one at that . . . .

We were lucky to stay with Claudio and Paula in Rio. They showed us the city in a way that we might never have experienced just on our own. I don’t travel much, so I tried to approach my time in Rio with openness, with a willingness to listen, see, smell, touch, and taste - not to judge, but to learn and understand if even just an iota of what makes up the carioca spirit. Wow! What a city!

As the days passed, I became more aware of the many little distinct qualities that trickled through daily life in Rio, qualities that residents of Rio likely never consider consciously because they come naturally, unbidden. Something of a world builder at heart (not to mention dabbling a bit in gaming), eventually I wondered how to apply what I saw and discovered each day in Rio to what I might do in game design or even story writing. I hit upon it subtly, quietly. One way to bring different cultures to life in your gaming or writing is to employ all the sometimes overlooked elements that distinguish one group of people from another: body gestures, phrases, customs, traits, and so on.

The stuff that follows perhaps bears some connection to Scott’s 3-part article Playing the Numbers, so you might want to give it a look either before or after reading this article.

Take, for instance, how people in Rio signal "okay" and, hmm . . . "not okay": thumb up and thumb down. Sounds simple, but if you are used, say, to giving the "okay" by making a circle with your thumb and first finger, and then you find out that doing so in a certain manner can have, well, unsavory connotations in a carioca’s eyes, you might quickly adapt to using the thumb up. Seriously, this gesture took some getting used to for me. Along the way, however, I realised how much it sets cariocas apart from my own culture so simply and distinctly. A long time ago, I watched a documentary by some anthropologist who travelled throughout the world and discovered all the different ways people signal "yes" and "no" with their head. Most of us in North America know that nodding our head up and down means "yes," while turning it from side to side means "no." What if we ended up in a country where the signals mean the reverse? In any case, I enjoyed attempting to adapt to the use of thumb up and thumb down in Rio, to speak something of the body language of Rio.

On the rather turbulent plane trip home to Toronto, I thought (between violent lurches of the plane and my stomach) on how such an apparently minor detail could enhance the feel and atmosphere of a kingdom or city in a campaign world or in the setting of a (fantasy) novel. How would the people of a certain place indicate approval and disapproval, greeting and farewell, acceptance and distaste? Nodding one’s head up and down need not always mean "yes." Maybe somewhere else it means "no" or "I am not sure." One of the challenges of travelling to and living in another part of the world involves learning the physical language and codes of that place. So, next time your players enter a new kingdom, think on how its people signal something as basic as "okay." Next time you create a character from a far-off land, think about how she indicates "no," then see what happens when you act out the gesture. There’s a new sort of spice to give your gaming some variety!

One part about life in Rio that still caught me off guard even on my last day there - and Claudio will confirm this - was driving through the city. I am fascinated how the really big cities of the world can feel like chaos when I step into them for the first time, but how I slowly start see the order and flow of the city’s life. Somehow, everything works. Moreover, it works organically instead of owing to any imposed structure. In Rio, for instance, folks on motorbikes pay little heed to such trappings as lanes and traffic lights. I grabbed my seat in surprise (if not indignation) several times as bikers would speed past us in the tunnels, zipping in between the cars and beeping their horns if some car got in their way. (I mean, the nerve!) Not once, though, did I see an accident. Such is the way of life in Rio, and such is the way it will carry on.

Claudio told us several times that cariocas live to find ways around such things as laws and rules. He was right. Rio seemed not to suffer for such an attitude, but to thrive; even more simply, it just continued on with its days, no problem. I found myself constantly checking the urge to judge something as "wrong" or "crazy" or "strange." Instead, I reveled in the newness.

In the end, I guess, one way of bringing imaginary kingdoms and characters to life is looking to the world around us. I mean, what if giving the thumb up in the black, shadowy land of Malus told those slithery Malusians (to your utter surprise) that you would not mind getting involved in a particularly wicked summoning ritual . . .?

Next Week: In The Dragon’s Breath #12, Todd returns and this time offers some tips for GMing on the fly. What to do when your players veer left but you thought they’d go right, and you don’t have the Town of Mooa-Mooa properly detailed yet?(Hint: a bathroom break may be in order.) See what Todd has to say in "Improvisation: Game Mastering on the Fly"!

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