Casting Shadows

This is the 16th day of #RPGaDay2026 and we are now finishing the weekend in which we segue into the second half of the 13th run of this celebratory event. Today our prompt is Composure. Our weekly filter is the last day for ‘Associates,’ and our daily filter is the one that all the other days get jealous about, ‘blessed,’ despite the obvious propaganda by the Ra Foundation.

In a world as unpredictable as that of a dream, the team member who can maintain a state of calm is one to be valued. In WILD, what would that look like? As we have made our way through this week we have looked at several emotional stances, such as ambition. What would a person be like who became known for their composure? This is different from being unaffected by what madness should happen at work, but rather the person who can set their normal reactions to a lower priority than what they need to get done.

Stirred, but not shaken.

There is a sentiment that, “It’s just a dream,” but with the ALIS technology the experience is fully-immersive, personal, and can have lasting and even physical effects in the waking world. Depending on the characteristics of the Dreamer who receives the Oneironauts, a dreamscape might be very fragile and unforgiving of changes, ready to break apart at any discrepancy that registers to the host. It might instead be very resistant to those changes, or perhaps be very flexible as the host’s imagination accepts what happens. Importantly, there are a variety of ways consequences of a misstep might come to matter.

For training purposes, an imaginative and self-aware character able to compartmentalize their reactions and their actions, would be a huge boon in the early days as a Primary Dreamer who hosts the others. As a team member in real dives, who wouldn’t want someone that can keep their head on their shoulders and isn’t bound up in bravado or self-delusion?

For the Persona, let’s not mess around. Let’s simply choose Key 14: Patience (Temperance) and its general interpretation of calmness. For fun, though, let’s draw for the Shadow.

The deck served me the Ten of Control reversed, meaning Risk. Perhaps our character has a sort of need for the action, or at least some serious external drive compelling them to take risks as a solution to that problem? We could spin this into a sort of adrenaline addict who needs the thrill to escape boredom and exert control. Instead, we could spin this as a person who is in over their head but more capable than we initially take them for. Perhaps this is not their first dreamtech rodeo and they are not here to learn in the internship but rather to steal or sabotage the tech or perhaps undermine the company itself…

The criminal version of the character could make sense as a PC if helping them out of their situation was to be a focal point of play, but runs the risk of making sessions all about the problems the concept itself demands. As an NPC, that is the sort of draw we want, but as one of several characters played by one of several people, it’s harder to justify without making it part of or the entire point.

The adrenaline addict on the other hand, has strengths and weaknesses like each of the other characters explored this week, and how that comes to influence the conversations which are play and those which arise around play, is a factor of the interests and decisions of the group.

Were I to go for the adrenaline addict concept, I would be tempted to focus on Passion and Focus, but I think it works better to have all Attributes be equal at 3. They have an experience of competence in all directions of their lives. Sometimes they get over their head or meet people who outclass them, but in general they have grown up feeling like they can at least make a good showing of themselves no matter what task arises. Confidence is a core component of composure.

For Abilities, I would lean a little toward Visionary and Guardian. The former for the imagination to understand a problem and think of ways around it, and Guardian to express that solution in ways that benefit others.

Well, that wraps up the look at WILD. For what is essentially a quick start with a scenario, there is a lot of game packed into the square covers. Play doesn’t remotely have to stop when the scenario has been played, and the cards can keep serving up inspired characters over and over and over again~

The third full week of seven days in #RPGaDAY2026 starts tomorrow with Monday, August 17th. This means we say farewell to WILD and shift to a different game to share cool details from and explore characters and characterization. We will change the weekly filter to ‘Instinct,’ return to Monday’s ‘fair of face’ filter, and explore the prompt ‘Intensity.’ Some folks have noticed that the alternate question for today uses integrity instead of intensity. What will you do with that difference? How will it inspire you? Which will you choose, or will you choose at all?

See you then!