Issue #012: LiveTales of Digital Immersion

How immersive do people really want their digital RPG to be? I spoke with the creator of new tools for helping players get into character in a virtual world.

LiveTales of Digital Immersion

How far do players want to immerse themselves into a game? That’s the question my mind lingered upon while looking at LiveTale, an “online immersive platform that allows Creators to create worlds known as Tales; and for players to take on roles within these Tales in a roleplaying capacity to engage and play creatively with other users.”

The product, developed by the game developer UnPlay, uses AI to generate characters and then allows people to use camera tracking to animate the characters. Stories are often told by a “Taleweaver,” someone who controls the setting and NPCs and acts as a “moderator” for how the interactions go.

While the game is being partly marketed toward TTRPG players, UnPlay cofounder Faye Sylvan explained to me that the game more resembles "live-action roleplay” right now, where roleplay occurs outside of a set of complex rules for resolving events. Eventually, the product may have some mechanics that may (theoretically) allow a party in Pathfinder or 5e to interact as their avatars in LiveTale and play there. (UnPlay intends to incorporate some sort of ruleset into the game, but Faye did not specifically name what that ruleset might be.)

The goal of the new product is to offer tools to help encourage folks to engage in more play, Sylvan explained. They want people to be able to pick up this product, find stories, and interact more with one another for roleplay purposes.

I haven’t tested the product, so my ability to comment on how ‘immersive’ LiveTale will be is limited. But it’s one of a few products that have appeared on my radar in recent months, attempting to offer immersion in new ways during the digital experience.

See Faes AR, for example. It’s an augmented reality “fantasy outfit crafting app” that allows players to adorn themselves with digital outfits using features like Zoom or Discord video. The company is planning to raise funds on Kickstarter for a new collection of outfits.

Is this something consumers want? That’s the question lingering in the back of my head.

On one hand, there’s value in using technology to immerse one’s self in a character. If RP platforms like Grand Theft Auto 5 or Roblox indicate anything, then there is clearly a a collection of players who enjoy roleplaying on digital platforms, or who find the ‘mask’ of a GTA avatar or even a VRChat character a helpful outlet for expressing their character ideas.

At the same time, some market research from 2017 suggests that when offered either a physical or a digital product, people prefer the physical one more.

One could argue that certain VTTs are encouraging immersion. In my Foundry games, I add in a mixture of music, FX and visual effects to bring the game to life. Alchemy does the same with its built-in visuals. Is that any different than these other tools? I don’t think so. There’s a spectrum of immersion, and each person has the amount that they find ideal.

LiveTale is currently in pre-alpha testing, which people can assist with by visiting their website. Faes AR is also in alpha and available for anyone to test. I’m watching each with curiosity to see how they pan out.

But I want to hear from you! What do you do to immerse yourself into your TTRPG game? What tools do you like to use? What would improve that experience (if anything?)

THIS WEEK IN TTRPGS:

• The United States isn’t the only one getting stamps in honor of the 50th Anniversary of DnD. The UK Royal Mail also unveiled some very fancy stamps that I am a tad envious of. You can read about the design process here.

• Moonbeam, a proposed Twitch competitor with a focus on the TTRPG space, is raising funds on Backerkit here. I’ve a lot of thoughts that need processing here, but I feel it safe to say that I respect the vision and goal of what they’re proposing, but years of reporting on tech startups and product alternatives has me skeptical. Rascal’s Rowan Zeoli has a pretty solid interview for your scanning.

• This is less of a news item but a recently timely conversation in the TTRPG space. D&D Publisher Wizards of the Coast published The Making of Original Dungeons and Dragons: 1970-1977 earlier, a book that received some pushback for its lack of detail on D&D founder Gary Gygax’s views on women. Ben Riggs, author of Slaying the Dragon, offered more detail on this. EN World has a really detailed summary of the thread.

• The designer of the Stormlight RPG released details about how its game worked and its action economy. A lot of folks in the TTRPG space expect it to be a pretty big project this year. Sadly I’m not a Brandon Sanderson fan, but I’m keeping an eye on it regardless.

Game Deals

1. First Edition Pathfinder players will find a number of third-party products available to them in this week’s Humble Bundle.

2. The older fantasy game RuneQuestalso has several books on sale on Humble Bundle. I’ve a player in my Sunday game who cannot stop talking about this game and its setting, so I’m sure someone will enjoy it.

3. Quests from the Infinite Staircaseis officially out now! My editor reviewed it.

My Latest

• I reviewed Unknown Beast for The Fandomentals, a GM-less TTRPG published by an indie dev with some interesting ideas behind it.

• I also published a preview on Tales of Fablecraft, a virtual RPG published by Riftweaver Studios that offers a simple on-ramp for the TTRPG-curious.