Make It Yourself

[Autumnal]

The thing is that I have an advantage in fairly discrete, identifiable problems. Many people I’ve known are dragged by things they haven’t yet been able to name but which are just as significant.

Some really do just need to tell them that they can do it, and therefore that they should. Others need someone to tell them that right now they can’t, and that therefore they shouldn’t torment themselves in doomed efforts, and to illuminate what’s dragging so yet they can get the right kinds of help. And we genuinely can’t know from outside who’s whom.

(And I’m confident you’d agree that in practice most of us need both - part of doing it is knowing how to avoid the minefields and quicksand and all.)

 

[bloodtide]

I don't really buy this. It isn't rocket science. If something in the book isn't working for you, change it. Or if it isn't there, add it. Or mod it from another game.

A lot of people can't do this.

There has always been a sub culture of people that can only accept "official" things. Only if someone scribbled it in an offical book is it real: everything else is meaningless. And this subculture has really been over fed by some companies like WotC that often suggests and even outright says sometimes "only what we make is real game products".

And there is a much bigger issue: only about 20% of people in general are idea creative. The vast majority of people simply don't have the ability to think up of ideas and create things. It's just like any other skill.

And when it comes to just Gamers, nearly all players and more then half of the GMs lack the skill. They can't create stuff even if they wanted to.

And for RPGs you do add one more huge hurdle of game/rule/system mastery. Of the few that can be creative, only some of them can make anything about "average".

Really, idea creativity is much harder then rocket science.

 

[Reynard]

A lot of people can't do this.

There has always been a sub culture of people that can only accept "official" things. Only if someone scribbled it in an offical book is it real: everything else is meaningless. And this subculture has really been over fed by some companies like WotC that often suggests and even outright says sometimes "only what we make is real game products".

And there is a much bigger issue: only about 20% of people in general are idea creative. The vast majority of people simply don't have the ability to think up of ideas and create things. It's just like any other skill.

And when it comes to just Gamers, nearly all players and more then half of the GMs lack the skill. They can't create stuff even if they wanted to.

And for RPGs you do add one more huge hurdle of game/rule/system mastery. Of the few that can be creative, only some of them can make anything about "average".

Really, idea creativity is much harder then rocket science.

I have never heard of "idea creative" before, much less a suggestion that only 20% of people are capable of generating ideas. Frankly, it sounds like a made up statistic, but if you have a link to an actual paper or something?

 

[bloodtide]

I have never heard of "idea creative" before, much less a suggestion that only 20% of people are capable of generating ideas. Frankly, it sounds like a made up statistic, but if you have a link to an actual paper or something?

I just made it up....as I'm Idea Creative!

I'd support it by: life. I say "Idea Creative" to separate from General Creativity...as in the best of Romper Room yes: "everyone is special and has something they are good and creative at (mostly)."

But creation ideas from scratch is hard. You see very few people do it ever.

The vast majority of players and many GMs just want to pick and play. They want the 'perfect' list of options to pick from to make whatever they need or want.

And you will see this every day:

Sad Gamer: "I wish there were more fire spells for my character......"

The Creator: "Um, say, why not just make some?"

Angry Gamer: "No!" "Maybe someday someone will put out a book of fire spells...oh well....."

 

[Reynard]

I just made it up....as I'm Idea Creative!

That's what I thought. For the record, I think it is complete hogwash.

 

[JRich]

I am sorry that is happening to you but I don't think it is fair for you to imply that I am being generally dismissive of people's hardships when what I said was: You can do it. I believe in you.

I grant that you closed your opening post with the encouraging words, "You can do it. I believe in you." However, prior to that sentence, your post included a statement that you find it "frustrating" when people say that they don't like something from a publisher. I think that sentence could be seen as being dismissive of the reasonable complaints of people who (for whatever reason) choose not to create something themselves and who also express frustration when what the publisher provides is of poor quality.

To go back to my cooking analogy, for various reasons, I am not interested in doing a lot of high-end, gourmet cooking. I don't think a lot of people would be frustrated with me if I expressed disappointment, dissatisfaction, annoyance, etc. if a meal at a 5-star restaurant I paid lots of money for was of extremely poor quality. I would also feel like someone was being at least slightly dismissive of me if, after I expressed my dissatisfaction, annoyance, etc., someone said something to the effect of, "It's so frustrating that you are complaining about that meal because you know you can cook yourself a meal."

Just because I can do it myself does not mean that I cannot reasonably expect quality when I choose to pay someone else to do it for me.

 

[cranberry]

Why go through the trouble of making your own game, when it's so much easier to complain?

 

[Autumnal]

But if you make your own and then complain about the results, you open up the possibilities of far more focused artisanal, locally sourced complaints.

More seriously, I’m looking through my notes on writing and will put in some of the ones that may be useful. Here’s one that will seem strange but comes enforced by Richard Kadrey, S. M. Stirling, and many others.

Choose a work you really like, one that you think “I wanna do it like that” about. Fire up your usual writing tool - notebook, word processor, clay tablet, whatever. Now copy the work. Yes, seriously. In whole or part, as you wish.

The reason for this is to teach yourself what work you like feels like in your hands and arms, and your whole body, sitting where you sit, writing as you write. How much of a page as you write them does a good encounter look like! A good plot overview? A climactic scene? The nuts and bolts that turn a good idea into something well executed?

As you do that, you build up combined physical and mental expectations you can apply to your own work. It’s surprisingly helpful. Try it out, please! It’s something you can do at times that your own creativity is taking a nap. Life done oth with two different authors this year myself, despite the troubles I ranted about in an earlier post.

 

[Reynard]

I grant that you closed your opening post with the encouraging words, "You can do it. I believe in you." However, prior to that sentence, your post included a statement that you find it "frustrating" when people say that they don't like something from a publisher. I think that sentence could be seen as being dismissive of the reasonable complaints of people who (for whatever reason) choose not to create something themselves and who also express frustration when what the publisher provides is of poor quality.

To go back to my cooking analogy, for various reasons, I am not interested in doing a lot of high-end, gourmet cooking. I don't think a lot of people would be frustrated with me if I expressed disappointment, dissatisfaction, annoyance, etc. if a meal at a 5-star restaurant I paid lots of money for was of extremely poor quality. I would also feel like someone was being at least slightly dismissive of me if, after I expressed my dissatisfaction, annoyance, etc., someone said something to the effect of, "It's so frustrating that you are complaining about that meal because you know you can cook yourself a meal."

Just because I can do it myself does not mean that I cannot reasonably expect quality when I choose to pay someone else to do it for me.

Making stuff for your D&D game isn't high end restaurant cooking. It is throws burgers and dogs on the grill for your friends. Believing that creating elements of play is hard and something only the pros can do is a self-imposed limitation.

If you want to sell your work or otherwise widely distribute it, then you would certainly be wise to try and hold it to a higher standard. But if you are just trying to have a good time with your friends, give yourself a break. Grill the burgers and enjoy them.

 

[Irlo]

The better analogy might be that the D&D rules are like a cookbook, not meal at a restaurant. If you follow a recipe and find the results too garlicky, you can use less garlic. It's still valuable to have and follow a cookbook, but it's also pretty easy to make little changes to the recipes to get results you prefer.

My first 5e campaign I ran by the book. By the end, I had a pretty good idea what I wanted to change. The barrier to implementing the changes was player buy-in. They didn't care much about the things that had grown to annoy me, and it was more important to them to have easy access to the rules on D&D Beyond and in their books without tracking all my homebrewed alterations.