fusangite said:
What seems to have happened on this thread is that some have decided that storytelling has a narrower definition than I believe it does in practice.
You are correct.
(a) Predetermined: Some are arguing that for an activity to constitute storytelling, it must relate a predetermined series of events, or at least have a predetermined outcome. In my view, this is not a necessary feature of storytelling. Most storytelling has this property but some does not.
Absolutely right. Storytelling in gaming is something that only appears after a given session or adventure is concluded; it's an on-the-fly creation of a tale. When someone refers to a game emphasizing storytelling over some other element of game, they refer to the fact that the game encourages player and GM decisions to "Make things interesting"
during the game. This means that, for instance, your character will do something not in their best interest if it is in character, or they will do something purely irrational, or simply for their own motivations rather than the metagame motivations of XP and treasure. It means the GM might not simply think of "How can I make this difficult, but not too difficult", but how to make it interesting. Humor, moral ambiguity- putting a focus not merely on a combat challenge the PCs have to overcome, but perhaps mental, emotional, social or moral challenges as well.
Not every adventure, for example, needs to actually pose a threat to the PC's lives, property or health, but instead give them a difficult ethical problem to solve.
One of the most common-and most important- storytelling situations is inter-party conflict, which is frowned upon in many groups and games. Handled carefully, it can really add to the experience.
This is by no means at the cost of other gaming considerations, like the tactical "game" elements of combat strategy; if you're a fan of that stuff, then storytelling can provide context for it, bring in an emotional investment that augments the purely aesthetic pleasure of victory and strategy.
In fact, and this is important, attempting to force a predetermined outcome (as opposed to letting it happen naturally or influencing events in that direction) is never a good idea, and hurts what makes RPG storytelling unique (the unpredictability.)
(b) Single Writer/Narrator: Some are arguing that for an activity to constitute storytelling, it must have a single author or narrator who has absolute final authority over all aspects of the story.
You are right; this is not the case. People who say that "storytelling" is just shorthand for a GM "railroading" the game are tragically misguided. Gaming is a collaborative effort- to create a story it requires input and cooperation from the PCs.
Here is an important bit. The GM and the players are not opposed to one another. The GM does not win when the players lose, and vice versa. One way to employ this in practice is the "hat trick", or the secret collaboration between a GM and a particular player to create a situation for the other PCs to respond to. Something like...
GM: "You noted in your backstory a brother who turned to crime. Next week I'd like to involve this somehow; but instead of doing the logical thing and involving the rest of the party, do you think you could play the stubborn I-want-to-handle-this-myself type?
Player: "Not really in character, but what about if I..."
The two of them conspire. It goes the other way, as well.
Player: "Hey, next week, I was thinking- remember that villain from way back we imprisoned in that castle?"
GM: "Vaguely. Why?"
Player: "Well, didn't we just destroy the castle? Wouldn't it be free?"
GM: "Huh, right, I forgot all about that..."
Player: "I had this idea for how it could really screw with us..."
GM: "Go on..."
If the GM and players did not trust and work with each other, the players would be happy that the GM forgot all about their old foe. Is that better for their characters survival and road to power? Sure. Is it interesting? Not really...
(d) Audience: Some are arguing that for storytelling to take place, those involved must be divided into two categories: narrator and audience. Again, while this is common in storytelling, it is not a defining characteristic.
It is not the case at all in RPG storytelling, and only mostly so the case in most other storytelling. Reading a novel, for instance, requires input from the reader as much as the author, as every reader will have their own individual visualizations and interpetations of the story.
Storytelling can and does take place without being any of these things.
Absolutely.
