el-remmen
Moderator Emeritus
So I spent some time thinking about the different kinds of story hours, and broke them down into the 7 categories detailed below. I am curious to what the breakdown of story hours might be according to this criteria.
Please read the categories carefully before voting. And yes, some story hours may not fit exactly and nearly into one category or another - but I tried to keep them fairly open - so it should not be hard to choose the closest category. It is for this reason that I did not include an "Other" choice in the poll (to come), as I want people to choose one of these seven, but if you do feel like I forgot a category please describe it in the thread after you make your choice.
The Straight Campaign Log
This kind of "story hour" is a only a "story" in the loosest of ways. It is just a re-telling of the events of a campaign with little or no characterization or view into the internal states of the characters. Nothing is added or taken away. This type of story hour usually has a lot of references to game mechanics as a way of explaining what happens (though not neccesarily).
The Straight Narrative Re-Telling
Similar to the log, this kind of story hour just tells it like it is. If the PCs spend three hours bickering, the story tells of three hours bickering. If the characters make a foolish assumption that sends them after a red herring for three sessions, we learn of the events of those three sessions even if they have nothing to do with nothing. While every scene or event may not get equal coverage, they are all at least mentioned. Unlike the log, the events of the campaign are woven into a narrative, and may have elaborate descriptions of people or scenes, and some insight into character internal states by means of dialogue, or perhaps even OOC explanations of character motivations. This type of story hour may or may not include references to game mechanics.
The Good Parts Version Story Hour
This is similar to the "Straight Narrative Re-Telling" as the events of the campaign are presented as a story as opposed to a simple log of events, but it is edited to make it more of a novelization of the campaign. Scenes may presented out of order, may just simply be referred to briefly, or even cut out completely for the sake of the continuity of the story and stylistic concerns about the presentation. It may even have cut scenes of the actions of NPCs when the PCs are not present. This type of story hour may or may not include references to game mechanics.
The Journal/First Person
These kinds of stories are written from the perspective of a particular character, and thus the events of the campaign being re-told might be skewed based on that perspective. This might ostensibly be a straight re-telling, or a "good parts" version, but the fact that it is told in this form prejudices the POV to some degree. In some cases, it is obvious that the version the reader is getting is VERY skewed and perhaps purposefully so - or it may be generally faithful with more subtle indicators of the POV. Note that if you are writing a story not based on actual campaign play, use one of the three categories below, even if it is also a first-person perspective.
Game-Based Fiction (Mark I)
These story hours are not based on actual campaigns at all. Instead, the author is writing a story framed by game mechanics. So for a D&D-based story hour of this type, for example, we would still find the typical types of classes and monsters and limits on what characters can do based on level. Sometimes these stories are based on specific modules/adventures/settings, sometimes not.
Game-Based Fiction (Mark II - The Hardcore)
Much like the above, except while there is no "campaign", the author is still using mechanics to determine what happens. So he or she actually rolls out the battles and skill checks and the like to determine the outcomes of the situations the story's characters are placed in. I am not sure that there are many of these, but I know there used to be at least one.
Total Fiction
This is just a story someone is posting in this forum. It is not game-based, and while it may have some fantasy or sci-fi or pulp tropes that are seen in some games, it makes no effort to follow the rules/mechanics of any particular game system.
Please read the categories carefully before voting. And yes, some story hours may not fit exactly and nearly into one category or another - but I tried to keep them fairly open - so it should not be hard to choose the closest category. It is for this reason that I did not include an "Other" choice in the poll (to come), as I want people to choose one of these seven, but if you do feel like I forgot a category please describe it in the thread after you make your choice.
The Straight Campaign Log
This kind of "story hour" is a only a "story" in the loosest of ways. It is just a re-telling of the events of a campaign with little or no characterization or view into the internal states of the characters. Nothing is added or taken away. This type of story hour usually has a lot of references to game mechanics as a way of explaining what happens (though not neccesarily).
The Straight Narrative Re-Telling
Similar to the log, this kind of story hour just tells it like it is. If the PCs spend three hours bickering, the story tells of three hours bickering. If the characters make a foolish assumption that sends them after a red herring for three sessions, we learn of the events of those three sessions even if they have nothing to do with nothing. While every scene or event may not get equal coverage, they are all at least mentioned. Unlike the log, the events of the campaign are woven into a narrative, and may have elaborate descriptions of people or scenes, and some insight into character internal states by means of dialogue, or perhaps even OOC explanations of character motivations. This type of story hour may or may not include references to game mechanics.
The Good Parts Version Story Hour
This is similar to the "Straight Narrative Re-Telling" as the events of the campaign are presented as a story as opposed to a simple log of events, but it is edited to make it more of a novelization of the campaign. Scenes may presented out of order, may just simply be referred to briefly, or even cut out completely for the sake of the continuity of the story and stylistic concerns about the presentation. It may even have cut scenes of the actions of NPCs when the PCs are not present. This type of story hour may or may not include references to game mechanics.
The Journal/First Person
These kinds of stories are written from the perspective of a particular character, and thus the events of the campaign being re-told might be skewed based on that perspective. This might ostensibly be a straight re-telling, or a "good parts" version, but the fact that it is told in this form prejudices the POV to some degree. In some cases, it is obvious that the version the reader is getting is VERY skewed and perhaps purposefully so - or it may be generally faithful with more subtle indicators of the POV. Note that if you are writing a story not based on actual campaign play, use one of the three categories below, even if it is also a first-person perspective.
Game-Based Fiction (Mark I)
These story hours are not based on actual campaigns at all. Instead, the author is writing a story framed by game mechanics. So for a D&D-based story hour of this type, for example, we would still find the typical types of classes and monsters and limits on what characters can do based on level. Sometimes these stories are based on specific modules/adventures/settings, sometimes not.
Game-Based Fiction (Mark II - The Hardcore)
Much like the above, except while there is no "campaign", the author is still using mechanics to determine what happens. So he or she actually rolls out the battles and skill checks and the like to determine the outcomes of the situations the story's characters are placed in. I am not sure that there are many of these, but I know there used to be at least one.
Total Fiction
This is just a story someone is posting in this forum. It is not game-based, and while it may have some fantasy or sci-fi or pulp tropes that are seen in some games, it makes no effort to follow the rules/mechanics of any particular game system.
