Maybe posters who think the thread is not worthwhile, or is overly cluttered, could cease posting in it?
And if the OP was The Old Man and the Sea then I might have won a Nobel Prize
In my 4e game, when the player of the Deva Sage of Ages recalls his days in the heavens, he is warming us up for some potentially unorthodox deployment of one of his memory-oriented abilities.
Though sometimes, "just another creepy monster" - something new that the PCs (and players!) haven't seen or heard of before - is exactly what's required at the time. As in:So the Qallupilluit is quintessential bogeyman mythology.
For bogeyman mythology to be thematically potent, it has to have some way to hook into the PC's childhood or folklore, otherwise, its just another creepy monster.
And it doesn't even have to have anything to do with someone's sister in order to make it a) a threat and b) interesting, if the DM does it right."Your little sister was lost so many years ago but your mother's words echo in your mind nonetheless; 'look after her while we're gone or the Qallupilluit will take her.' The frozen forest gives way to clearing. The babe's soft cries give way to gentle parting water. A mask of sharp teeth and oily hair disappear with it."
Where I wouldn't mind some of this.Having said that, generally speaking, I find high levels of player narration to be annoying. I don’t mind a bit, and I certainly like when players are engaged and talking about the situation. But when it’s a player’s turn and they start in with something like “Recalling his days on the high plains of Valinor, the stoic ranger Aspar presses on, undaunted by the challenges ahead....” I want to smash my head into the table. It just often seems so self indulgent. There’s a time and place for incorporating backstory, you don’t need to jam it in at every chance. Especially when other people are waiting to take their turn, too.
Yes.Was I entirely mistaken, in my theory that your OP was related to experiences in which GMs used pretentiously florid narration, as "icing" in a vain attempt to compensate for half-baked "cakes"?
I posted an answer to this, or a very similar question, upthread about a fortnight ago:Have you accomplished the goals of your OP?
Since then, there have been more interesting posts and profitable exchanges of ideas.What about me? Do you mean, what did I hope to get out of the thread?
One's never sure in advance beyond "interesting conversation". But the discussion about storytelling and various modes, driven mostly by [MENTION=5142]Aldarc[/MENTION] and [MENTION=6785785]hawkeyefan[/MENTION], has been interesting.
[MENTION=6787503]Hriston[/MENTION] and [MENTION=1282]darkbard[/MENTION] have helped refine my framing of my point. That's helpful. And also led it in the direction of "advice to GMs", which led to some fruitful discussions with [MENTION=8495]uzirath[/MENTION] whom I've not engaged with very much before as a poster.
And [MENTION=6696971]Manbearcat[/MENTION] has pushed with some challenging posts about pacing that I haven't replied to yet.
Ultimately, the reason I post on a discussion board is to have discussions.
at the heart of good GMing in a RPG is framing situations: the emotional heft of the RPGing situation is generated by the call to action and the invitation to respond as a protgaonist; not the evocative power of the narration.