Matt Frequencies

Took the Rave RPG to adelaide for AVCon over the weekend. Technically, the show worked really well! We had ok engagement both sessions (30-ish on the floor, for a cold crowd with no idea what's going on that's actually pretty good) but there's some mechanics that aren't serving the show well.

FIGHT has to go. From a story perspective, it doesn't actually help develop it out, and means I'm left with holes in characters or a genocidal crowd. There might be a few specific encounters where I leave fight in as an option, but it shouldn't be on every encounter.

The RPG element needs to be based on sample loops and beat patterns - the landscape and story are fine, but how it's told has to change to be more immersive.

My own dramatic storytelling while mixing needs work. With a hand held mic I'm forced to choose to mix or storytell, that's a bit awkward but less uncomfortable than the headset I've been using in the past so hm.

I need a regular space to perform it, ideally 10 times in a year, so I can really nut out any sticky points and develop and strong following with it.

I've bought the sampler I need to develop the beat loops and melodies, I'll be needing those later this year anyway.

First cab off the rank was deciding what songs to include or exclude on the basis of them being danceable or not (and does an emo singalong count as danceable!?)

Thankfully Hazbin Rave answered a lot of those questions and I now have a structure.

2-3 "level songs" - crowd picks the level from a choice of 2. These are mood setters or resetters. Establish the locale, let me tell some story. Let people grab a drink and recharge a bit.

1-2 "boss songs" - mechanics time! Each boss song has its own set of mechanics. Maybe you need to roll a total of 20. Maybe you need to roll three sevens! Maybe you need to roll 9 times for a total of less than 100 so you don't overload the system!

1 "reward phase" - a singalong, a well known track, Rave music, whatever. Something celebratory while I toss an item cube out. Item cubes will have either a macguffin to collect (think chaos emeralds, dragon balls) or an item of power - red star ring, "P" block - mode switch stuff. Plus some smaller cosmetic stuff like keychains and coins.

1 regroup song - something related but chill to recharge with, so the crowd can choose the next area, and the power item can be used to change the *theme*. For the chiptune RPG it's past/present/future, for Sonic its Sonic/Shadow/Silver. For the general Rave RPG it'll be party/rave/grunge.

Then the loop repeats until all the Plot-items (yeah I haven't sorted this bit out. Fragments of divergence maybe?) are out - then it's time to kick off the Final Boss! Bring all the fragments to the stage and the ultimate power will unleash, time for the Power Stage!

Power Stage - back to back big ticket Singalongs and well known big vibe instrumentals. During instrumentals, roll a total of 50 to keep the stage going. This can go as long as it needs to or I run out of time!

Afterwards, recap during an epilogue song and open the shop - people can buy some of the items used in the show using coins collected (not super open to using cash, I don't want this to be pay for reward stuff).

Cosplay encouraged, and in-game reactions for certain cosplay types etc - all very flexible. But so far so good! Also super themeable. Pokemon version? Easy. Hazbin option? Sure why not. The core version is rooted in gaming music, but it's easy to adjust it!

Last year it was "the book of divergence", this year it was "Divergence: can you save the Rave?"

Maybe next year we can finally just list it as "Divergence: The Rave RPG"?

Hundreds of hours of designing playlists, creating systems that let me be freeform but structured, designing methods of play that suit my ADHD, bringing the crowd in as much as possible, really redefining it to not be about ME, but about the Rave itself and the people within, absolutely paid off!

I'm so grateful for the people that came, supported, danced their hearts out, and connected with each other while smashing a giant inflatable rave dice off the roof (thank god for durability testing!)

I got to the point of integrating characters and theatre performance type stuff into it and had vote boards and tokens I designed with the story but the problem I had was... It just wasn't interesting people enough. What they thought it was, and what it actually was, were too different. What I'd created was Goosebumps when what they wanted was D&D.

So after performing it at PAX and Fringe in 2024 and finding it struggling to get traction every time, or people tuning out partway because the gap between choices was too long, I rejigged it in entirety.

I had an opportunity to play a D&D themed rave and I decided to rebuild Divergence as a truly interactive RPG. The shift? I wasn't putting the focus on me and my characters telling a story that demanded people's attention for 20 minutes between choices - instead, I put the focus on the environment the music said we were in. And then I built a choice point into EVERY SINGLE SONG.

There's about 400 songs in the playlist I use to run a 2 hour rave campaign. It's a one-shot system, and I won't play all of those songs - instead there's multiple tracks for each biome/region that I can pick from depending on the mood. There's some sequences that I enjoy playing so they're a bit easier to get to, but mostly it's freeform.

An example - I've got a beach, where there's a merchant, and the sandman is whipping up a storm. Give you two guesses what one of the songs is there! But will you stand and face the storm? Or will you seek shelter with the merchant? Hiding with the merchant gives options for trade to help you in your travels...

Or in the tower of psy, dark forces stir - and the cat of the tower may find you if you fail to navigate quietly!

But how would the cat know? Oh! Dice rolls!

Yeah, I built an inflatable rave dice. And made a map, to help orient myself (my partner is digitising it currently)

Had to make my own dice as the ones you can get on Amazon suck. One broke in 10 seconds at the D&D rave.

https://on.soundcloud.com/qYVKo

So I've been DJing lately and this was my first paid gig. I've been working on something of a unique style, and a new approach to DJing that offers the crowd more control over the course of the evening.