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General Tabletop Discussion
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RPG Evolution: Are RPGs Art?
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<blockquote data-quote="Dire Bare" data-source="post: 9017903" data-attributes="member: 18182"><p>The line between art and craft is fuzzy and subjective. But appendixes like those in Tolkien's books are art (IMO, of course) as they are world-building, they are fictional, they are creative parts of the larger work.</p><p></p><p>An essay <em>about</em> Middle-Earth may not be art, but an appendix expanding on the fictional world of Middle-Earth from an in-story perspective, that's art . . . to me.</p><p></p><p>A lot of fantasy door-stopper novels include pronunciation guides, lists of characters and places, explanations of magic systems . . . these types of appendixes, <em>out-of-context</em>, might not be considered art, but they are part of the larger artistic work of the novel and again, IMO, count as part of the artistic work.</p><p></p><p>I look at most RPG books in the same way. They most often attempt to describe a world or story for the players to engage with in their games, but the world-building and story-crafting in RPG books are most definitely art. Even the creation of rules elements for the players to engage with are a form of artistic expression, to me.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Dire Bare, post: 9017903, member: 18182"] The line between art and craft is fuzzy and subjective. But appendixes like those in Tolkien's books are art (IMO, of course) as they are world-building, they are fictional, they are creative parts of the larger work. An essay [I]about[/I] Middle-Earth may not be art, but an appendix expanding on the fictional world of Middle-Earth from an in-story perspective, that's art . . . to me. A lot of fantasy door-stopper novels include pronunciation guides, lists of characters and places, explanations of magic systems . . . these types of appendixes, [I]out-of-context[/I], might not be considered art, but they are part of the larger artistic work of the novel and again, IMO, count as part of the artistic work. I look at most RPG books in the same way. They most often attempt to describe a world or story for the players to engage with in their games, but the world-building and story-crafting in RPG books are most definitely art. Even the creation of rules elements for the players to engage with are a form of artistic expression, to me. [/QUOTE]
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