Traditional and Dynamic Portals in RPG

TRADITIONAL VS. DYNAMIC PORTALS Portals—whether they function traditionally or dynamically—play an important part in the process of storytelling for role-playing games. You detect a slight draft in the south junction of the temple, and in an alcove at the south-east corner of the oratory you can see a faint beam of light touch the head of Abraxar upon the altar of Arathor. Typically, a game master will decide on whether to make a portal visible or to merely hint at the presence of a portal. The decision to make a portal obvious may have everything or nothing to do with the sequences of events and encounters that the game master has planned out for players. Yet, making this distinction between the obvious and elusive portal is the craft of the cunning game master. (The process of declaring a portal is predetermined in the master control document, or it may be annotated on the portals router with a simple hash mark or other indicator of the game master’s preference). Players who can see a portal may be tempted to enter the portal without having a better look around the environment. Perhaps, keeping the portal in the shadows will allow for a more likely encounter with pursuers coming up the rampart on the heels of the players. There are myriad reasons to consider forehand the nature of portals when plotting a router. In essence, portals are traditionally considered a magical passageway through space/ time between two places. For the most part, this default is largely agreed upon. Dynamic portals, however, greatly enhance the overall richness of fantasy-adventure storytelling. Fundamentally, dynamic portals are constructs of magic which are deeply rooted in ancient lore or elemental properties. To make more sense of such diversity in portals, the entire portal system is divided into a hierarchy of greater and lesser gates. The archetypal portals, those portals which existed in the beginning of the physical universe, are classified as Greater Portals or primordial portals. Within the category of the greater portals are the primary portals (ice/ fire/ water/ air), secondary portals (metal/ poison/ gas/ necro), and the one ultimate portal (earth). Lesser portals are those portals which are in common use, namely variants of the traditional portal. These portals include, but are not limited to, the following categories: chaos, techno, and supernatural. The greatest exception, and by far the most diverse of portals, is the chaos portal. While chaos portals are considered lesser portals, the power of such portals is unbound by the laws of order. This means that chaos portals do not heed any laws of the greater elemental portals, and can be used to move from anyplace on one map to anyplace on the same map or any other map. Thus, chaos portals can act as a conduit between realms of extreme opposites, or simply teleport a wizard from his front door to the local tavern on the same map. Diversity in portals procures consequences in game play, particularly for the player characters. There are as many mutations and psychological effects from some portals as there are various gifts and experience points which may be earned or bestowed upon player characters. …

Portal Plots and Routing for Storytelling in Role-Playing Games

Utilize portal routing charts across multiple maps--and blend genres with confidence! Nine Portals was created to expand the ordinary role-playing game into the extraordinary collaboration of story telling RPG’s. To accomplish the impossible, 9 Portals makes use of nine greater portals of power and an infinite range of lesser portals, thus greatly expanding the potential for mixing, merging, and configuring RPG genres. Portals are the bridge between maps. Each portal is plotted on a portal router document. The portal router document allows the game administrator (the portal master) to access different maps quickly and accurately. In a sense, the game is micro-managed behind the scenes by a series of controlled documents. In the event that some players venture through a portal, while others do not, the game administrator will have little difficulty in maintaining a steady game flow. This is because each map and portal is documented on the portal router diagram/ portal matrix. Mechanical levers, switches, catapults, spacecraft, and just about anything else can be plotted onto the document as a reference document. The document is given a number or short name, for example Mechanical Documents 101. Portals may be considered mechanical constructs, particularly when a mechanical means of activating, accessing, or powering a portal is required. Complex thresholds like the fire portal may require some specs for operation, skills, combat, and other rules of which can apply to portals in various RPG's. (Attributes, hit points, weight, and dimensions of a portal's threshold are outlined in Ultimate Portal Master's Guide). The portal master knows where to find the document containing the fundamental information about a mechanical apparatus, such as a lever which shuts down a portal from a completely different map. That's because it has been documented well, and more importantly, it is easy to find from the portal matrix! However, Nine Portals offers more than a means to manage maps, documents, and cross referencing charts. Nine Portals is all about the creative imagination of The Storyteller's Thesaurus . Portals offer a means to greatly expand a game beyond the ordinary box and lid of your basic or advanced game set. Mixing and merging becomes easier, because the portals are redefined by 9Portals.com/portals (more information in our books, however, is necessary to play 9PRPG style games to their full potential).