Gabe at Penny Arcade: Does videogaming help?

[amerigoV]

I agree video games are good inspiration. Boss fights in particular as useful, as they tend to have an enviromental aspect to them. You have to do certain things and not just button mash. Usually you cannot port them directly to pnp, but they provide inspiration to think beyond just "is this the right CR/XP monster?" I know an instance in WOW inspired me to redo the end of Eyes of the Lich Queen to very good effect. Hell, playing Deadspace got me into running horror - Expedition to Castle Ravenloft kicks off this weekend.

As others have said, many things provide inspiration. Being open to what you read, watch in movies, play in video games, and experience in life all add to the GM's toolbox.

 

[Pig Champion]

I agree, I think videogames are just one piece of the puzzle. I personally came into DnD from videogames but when I started DM'ing there was a huge pool of influences I had to draw from to create an enjoyable game. Although it isn't a weakness, I can't see videogames by themselves being much of a help.

 

[2020]

I'd say it was a helpful influence but certainly not the be-all-and-end-all of his repertoire. I'd also say this is par for the course for most players and DM's. People will draw on whatever experiences they have regardless of the source.

 

[FireLance]

Think about it. People always compare D&D to fantasy novels, but for the most part, while they do share superficial similarities like elves and wizards, when you look closer they aren't actually that close, structurally speaking--there are virtually no fantasy novels with anywhere near as much combat as any edition of D&D, for instance.

...

Similarly, there are almost no fantasy novels or movies in which the heroes acquire power at the constant and extraordinary rate that they do in D&D.

On the other hand, the two tropes mentioned above (combat and rapid advancement) are fairly common in the wuxia (Chinese martial arts) genre of books, television series and movies. A history of exposure to such stories as a child is probably what predisposed me to like D&D.

 

[awesomeocalypse]

On the other hand, the two tropes mentioned above (combat and rapid advancement) are fairly common in the wuxia (Chinese martial arts) genre of books, television series and movies. A history of exposure to such stories as a child is probably what predisposed me to like D&D.

Interesting. While I know virtually nothing about Wuxia beyond the films that have broken through in the west, I nevertheless almost qualified my original statement by pointing out that, while western fantasy novels share only superficial similarities with D&D in terms of structure, there are other types of fiction beyond games which are more similar.

Shonen manga/anime is a big one. A party of badasses with diverse skills and crazy backgrounds (the D&D cliche of a party consisting of nothing but one-in-a-lifetime geniuses, racial anomalies like good drow, and other zany backgrounds, is pretty much de rigeur in shonen manga anime, where every important character has some crazy unique background and skillset), who essentially do nothing but wander around fighting and growing stronger. The main difference there is that loot is typically much less important, and fights are typically all against powerful groups of opponents (which meshes with 4e and to some extent with 3e, but flies in the face of the random encounters of previous editions).

Superhero comics share some similarities as well, especially with 4th edition. I'm fond of pointing out that the oft-maligned at-will/encounter/daily power structure almost perfectly parallels how superheroes like Superman use their powers--they have their go-to basic moves (flying, being super strong and fast) which most of their fights primarily consist of; they have somewhat more obscure powers (freezing breath, heat vision), which show up with regularity in a lot of comics, but are essentially never spammed throughout entire fights, even when it might be useful to do so; and then you have the moments where the character goes all out and just throws the enemy into space or pushes the moon at him or something, which probably will only ever happen once a story arc or so. Never mind that Superman could, theoretically, just throw *every* enemy with some degree of invulnerability into space, or that he could simply go into orbit and use super-sight, x-ray vision and heat vision in conjunction to snipe his enemies for every fight. That might be "logical", but it doesn't make for good drama or interesting fights, so he simply doesn't do it, he is limited by the conventions of the plot to only using his powers in a frequency of inverse proportion to how effective they are. This is EXACTLY what 4e does--it recognizes that 1 trick ponyism is boring, and that using a really cool power which wins the fight for you is great once in a while, but destroys the game if spammable. So classes like Fighters function just like Superman--they use a few reliable moves at will, some cooler moves once a fight, and their really devastating ones once a day.

Other kinds of fiction can definitely be useful in helping us understand D&D, and to both play and dungeon master more effectively.

 

[Doug McCrae]

Excellent points, awesomeocalypse.

 

[MrMyth]

Gabe definitely draws influence from things like video games but his success as a DM is more a function of his overall creative talent.

Yeah, i think this is really at the heart of it. Gabe is an artist, creative by nature, and likely has more resources to put his ideas to the test than most DMs.

 

[Silverblade The Ench]

yes PC games do help D&D, as a DM, playing Everquest and other games, way back, helped build ideas on true 3rd nature of combat, and mechanics of party interaction.

as an "always DM", being a magician in EQ gave you good feeling for being a supporting character in a group , well played EQ mage was IMHO, the best class for helping a group kill things quickly. Just about every party I was in said that, partly the class, partly learning to be a damn good player. It takes work to achieve that level of efciency, and you can still have fun...
using your elemental pet, buffing the tank with damage shields, mod rods for all the casters (converts health to spell energy), teleporting back "Pullers" in danger or new players across dangerous zones striaght to you all, etc. Ah, fun!

(Redorious, the crazy red mage of Karana server back in old days, that was me

it's what frustrates me in D&D is that some players simple won't use their bloody imaginations and tools of the character. If in EQ, which lacked all the nuances of D&D and a direct DM feedback/choices etc, I could pull stuff off, why the hell can't Butt _Lazy_Player_001 in a D&D group not do better?

why alll the nitwit solo-glory-grabbing, DPS Drizzt characters, eh? I don't mind 'em, but nto all the damn time! I like PARTY players, too! fun players! (nothing wrong with a daft gnome illusionist) Using the terrain to advantage players (well played 4th ed warlord is truly awesome sauce)...you know?
Ah well, least my 2 pals are great roleplayers AND group players, just hard to put up with players who can't compare to them, hehe

 

[I'm A Banana]

That might be "logical", but it doesn't make for good drama or interesting fights, so he simply doesn't do it, he is limited by the conventions of the plot to only using his powers in a frequency of inverse proportion to how effective they are.

Which is a much, much bigger problem in a game than it is in a passive narrative. Part of the fun of a game like, say, GTA3 is using the logical world that has been set up as your own playground for what you think is fun, not for what some designer told you was fun. It may be pretty boring to go around hiring prostitutes and then killing them, but the game doesn't tell you you can't (though it doesn't provide much incentive for it, beyond the fact that you are able to).

Suspension of disbelief has higher requirements when the narrative requires you to engage with it, rather than simply observe it, I've found.

I think that can be helpful in DMing by really encouraging "say-yes" DMing, and it can also help achieve that suspension of disbelief. Railroading is generally bad form in both, so someone with a good grasp of the amount of freedom that makes a game fun without being overwhelming might also have a keen grasp of how to deliver that to players.

 

[N0Man]

I don't think heavy video gaming has made him a better DM near as much the fact that he's obviously a very creative and expressive individual. He is part of a very successful web comic team after all, right?

Heavy involvement in any kind of gaming can certainly give insight and exposure to gaming ideas. Expansive knowledge of history could benefit a DM. Being a good storyteller can help make a good DM. Being very empathic and reading people well could probably help make a better DM.

There are so many skills that can help create good DM'ing, and of many different styles of DM'ing.