Mercurius
Legend
While reading the NH Gameday thread, I followed baradtgnome's link to his blog, Gnotions and read his excellent creation myth. At the end he wrote:
First off, I agree entirely with the first paragraph and as both a DM and player I greatly prefer when the DM puts that sort of background work into a campaign--it really makes the world come alive (This is also a major reason why The Lord of the Rings was so evocative; it was build upon the foundation of The Silmarillion, but that's another subject).
That last sentence is what inspired me to write this post however. It got me thinking about just how much of my interest in RPGs has to do with stuff that isn't actually used in game sessions, or minimally so, and is really more interesting to me than it is to players. In other words, there is a disconnect between my love of world design and RPGs in general and the common level of interest among the players in my group. I think this is a common experience for DMs (or GMs in general) and points to a strong bifurcation in the gamer populace, between the "casual" majority and the "serious-to-hardcore" minority, most of whom are DMs.
Now certainly, all of my players find backstory and setting stuff interesting, although probably not to the same degree as I do. And, as casual gamers who don't read or think about D&D outside of our twice-monthly session, most of them look forward to game night as what I like to call a "Poker Night for People with Imaginations," no more or less. Most of the guys in my group (and it is all guys) are fathers, in their mid-30s to early-40s with busy lives, and for them playing D&D is more of a way to have fun with friends, drink some beers, laugh, and kill things and take their stuff. Some of them take it a step further, if only by getting really into their characters; only one or two have a strong interest in fantasy and science fiction beyond the game session.
And there is nothing wrong with that! I enjoy my group and our sessions are always fun, if not deeply immersive. But it has also made me wonder what it would be like to play in a group where everyone, or at least a few others, had similar levels of interest as I do, were "serious-to-hardcore" gamers who designed worlds, thought about different RPGs and game design, participated in discussion boards, were interested in what was going on in the industry, maybe interested in writing or art or miniature collecting and painting...In other words, a "DMs group"--an RPG group composed mainly of DMs/GMs and serious+ gamers.
Perhaps it is a bit of an RPG Holy Grail for me: A group in which there were at least a few DMs, with some form of co-DMing, perhaps even in the same world and with the same characters.
Thoughts? Does anyone have, or have had, a situation like this? Have you experienced both situations, a group of serious+ gamers and one serious+_gamer with a bunch of casual players?
I feel that a creation legend is critical for the flavor of a campaign (at least one, there can certainly be more than one - in fact this is the human creation legend other humanoids have their own). More than just color, I use mine to telegraph my spin on good vs. evil as you many note the seeds in the legend above.
What do you think? Is a creation legend useful to players or just the DM exersizing creative juices that no one reads more than once and never considers again?
First off, I agree entirely with the first paragraph and as both a DM and player I greatly prefer when the DM puts that sort of background work into a campaign--it really makes the world come alive (This is also a major reason why The Lord of the Rings was so evocative; it was build upon the foundation of The Silmarillion, but that's another subject).
That last sentence is what inspired me to write this post however. It got me thinking about just how much of my interest in RPGs has to do with stuff that isn't actually used in game sessions, or minimally so, and is really more interesting to me than it is to players. In other words, there is a disconnect between my love of world design and RPGs in general and the common level of interest among the players in my group. I think this is a common experience for DMs (or GMs in general) and points to a strong bifurcation in the gamer populace, between the "casual" majority and the "serious-to-hardcore" minority, most of whom are DMs.
Now certainly, all of my players find backstory and setting stuff interesting, although probably not to the same degree as I do. And, as casual gamers who don't read or think about D&D outside of our twice-monthly session, most of them look forward to game night as what I like to call a "Poker Night for People with Imaginations," no more or less. Most of the guys in my group (and it is all guys) are fathers, in their mid-30s to early-40s with busy lives, and for them playing D&D is more of a way to have fun with friends, drink some beers, laugh, and kill things and take their stuff. Some of them take it a step further, if only by getting really into their characters; only one or two have a strong interest in fantasy and science fiction beyond the game session.
And there is nothing wrong with that! I enjoy my group and our sessions are always fun, if not deeply immersive. But it has also made me wonder what it would be like to play in a group where everyone, or at least a few others, had similar levels of interest as I do, were "serious-to-hardcore" gamers who designed worlds, thought about different RPGs and game design, participated in discussion boards, were interested in what was going on in the industry, maybe interested in writing or art or miniature collecting and painting...In other words, a "DMs group"--an RPG group composed mainly of DMs/GMs and serious+ gamers.
Perhaps it is a bit of an RPG Holy Grail for me: A group in which there were at least a few DMs, with some form of co-DMing, perhaps even in the same world and with the same characters.
Thoughts? Does anyone have, or have had, a situation like this? Have you experienced both situations, a group of serious+ gamers and one serious+_gamer with a bunch of casual players?