Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Is RPGing a *literary* endeavour?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Hussar" data-source="post: 7614132" data-attributes="member: 22779"><p>Heh, I think I'll drop this in the pond and see where it ripples. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite7" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue :p" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":p" /></p><p></p><p>I've been cogitating the whole "literary" thing and I think I had a bit of an epiphany. It goes back to my example of the Vengaurak, many pages ago. Basically, I posted a couple of descriptions, one in modern jargon, and one in more "gamey" sort of speak to describe a monster from the Scarred Lands setting. It was [MENTION=42582]pemerton[/MENTION]'s reaction that led me to my current feeling of epiphany. He replied, and I'm paraphrasing here, "so what? Why should I care about this monster?"</p><p></p><p>And, really, he's right. Without context, that monster is just a stat block and a picture. It's no different or more engaging than any of a thousand other monsters that have graced the pages of D&D over the years when it's removed from context. But, see, that's where the literary aspect comes in - building context. World building, while certainly not limited to the literary, is a primarily story telling element. We don't do world building in a conversation. [MENTION=42582]pemerton[/MENTION] talked about how getting a letter from a relative has a viceral element and it's true, it does. But, that's because it's part of the real world and all the context is built right in. In a second world, you need to create that context for the reader, or, in the case of an RPG, the player. And, you create that context through literary conceits like world building.</p><p></p><p>A Vengaurak matters to a Scarred Lands player because Vengaurak are the spawn of the terrible titan Gaurak and we care about that because the setting posits that the Titans were these terrible beings that destroyed and remade the world multiple times before the gods rose up and destroyed the Titans. The current setting is a sort of post-apocalyptic place where the Titans war is only a century or so in the past and everyone is trying to rebuild. But, and this is a key element of the setting, the titans and the gods both created different races and different races sided with either the titans or the gods in the Titans war and finding a way to reconcile differences is a major part of the setting. Now, a Vengaurak is a mostly mindless eating machine as befits something spawned from the blood and effluents of the Glutton Titan, Gaurak. </p><p></p><p>So, right there, that's where the context comes. We care when we see ten kobolds on the hill because we've gamed so long that we KNOW what that is. We don't need it spelled out because it's been spelled out to us many times before. But, when you take away that familiarity that comes with gaming for far too long, suddenly the literary becomes a lot more important. It's the literary - world building, setting construction, theme, trope - (and yes, that's not limited to the literary, but, just because other story telling media use the same conceits doesn't make it any less literary) - that builds that context. </p><p></p><p>Imagine sitting down to play a Call of Cthulu game if you knew nothing about the Mythos and had never seen a horror movie or read a horror story. Or a game about chivalric knights if you knew nothing about King Arthur or European court mythology. Imagine you were to sit down to play an RPG where you were Ainu living in Yayoi era Japan (something I presume most reading this know little to nothing about) and the DM refused to set the scene because the DM refuses to use any literary techniques. All just pop culture references and modern language. How engaging would that game be?</p><p></p><p>Just like [MENTION=42582]pemerton[/MENTION] said, why should the player care about a Vengaurak without any context?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Hussar, post: 7614132, member: 22779"] Heh, I think I'll drop this in the pond and see where it ripples. :p I've been cogitating the whole "literary" thing and I think I had a bit of an epiphany. It goes back to my example of the Vengaurak, many pages ago. Basically, I posted a couple of descriptions, one in modern jargon, and one in more "gamey" sort of speak to describe a monster from the Scarred Lands setting. It was [MENTION=42582]pemerton[/MENTION]'s reaction that led me to my current feeling of epiphany. He replied, and I'm paraphrasing here, "so what? Why should I care about this monster?" And, really, he's right. Without context, that monster is just a stat block and a picture. It's no different or more engaging than any of a thousand other monsters that have graced the pages of D&D over the years when it's removed from context. But, see, that's where the literary aspect comes in - building context. World building, while certainly not limited to the literary, is a primarily story telling element. We don't do world building in a conversation. [MENTION=42582]pemerton[/MENTION] talked about how getting a letter from a relative has a viceral element and it's true, it does. But, that's because it's part of the real world and all the context is built right in. In a second world, you need to create that context for the reader, or, in the case of an RPG, the player. And, you create that context through literary conceits like world building. A Vengaurak matters to a Scarred Lands player because Vengaurak are the spawn of the terrible titan Gaurak and we care about that because the setting posits that the Titans were these terrible beings that destroyed and remade the world multiple times before the gods rose up and destroyed the Titans. The current setting is a sort of post-apocalyptic place where the Titans war is only a century or so in the past and everyone is trying to rebuild. But, and this is a key element of the setting, the titans and the gods both created different races and different races sided with either the titans or the gods in the Titans war and finding a way to reconcile differences is a major part of the setting. Now, a Vengaurak is a mostly mindless eating machine as befits something spawned from the blood and effluents of the Glutton Titan, Gaurak. So, right there, that's where the context comes. We care when we see ten kobolds on the hill because we've gamed so long that we KNOW what that is. We don't need it spelled out because it's been spelled out to us many times before. But, when you take away that familiarity that comes with gaming for far too long, suddenly the literary becomes a lot more important. It's the literary - world building, setting construction, theme, trope - (and yes, that's not limited to the literary, but, just because other story telling media use the same conceits doesn't make it any less literary) - that builds that context. Imagine sitting down to play a Call of Cthulu game if you knew nothing about the Mythos and had never seen a horror movie or read a horror story. Or a game about chivalric knights if you knew nothing about King Arthur or European court mythology. Imagine you were to sit down to play an RPG where you were Ainu living in Yayoi era Japan (something I presume most reading this know little to nothing about) and the DM refused to set the scene because the DM refuses to use any literary techniques. All just pop culture references and modern language. How engaging would that game be? Just like [MENTION=42582]pemerton[/MENTION] said, why should the player care about a Vengaurak without any context? [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Is RPGing a *literary* endeavour?
Top