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Is RPGing a *literary* endeavour?
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<blockquote data-quote="uzirath" data-source="post: 7614156" data-attributes="member: 8495"><p>I'm glad you did. It rippled over to my canoe where I have been pondering some related ideas. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I'm largely with you here. Context is important if you want fictional elements to have emotional resonance. If you're departing from well-known genre territory, you need to build that context into the game so that it becomes familiar. This can be all the GM's job or it can be shared by everyone (collaborative world building). </p><p></p><p>I'm not sure it is necessarily <em>literary</em> or not, but despite the title of the thread, that's not what's been most interesting to me about the conversation. Whatever we call it, though, I do think that it is fairly important. Maybe it's not strictly necessary for some playstyles? Not sure about that.</p><p></p><p>As for my own pebble, I've been thinking about some comments that appeared some pages back (around page 90, I think) regarding the importance of evocative descriptions in the game. Instead of just calling out die rolls and watching the hit points go down, it's helpful to describe the action from the perspective of the characters. I tend to agree with this. As I've mentioned in this thread and others, I play a lot with new players. I've found that the descriptions are usually what hook new people, especially in combat. Missing your attacks repeatedly can be pretty frustrating, so I make a point of describing what happens with each miss. Subsequently, I encourage players to come up with these descriptions. This makes combat much more engaging and seems to help keep people focused. Indeed, some of those descriptions have been memorable enough to become part of the character's lore, talked and laughed about for many sessions afterward.</p><p></p><p>I am going to preemptively point out, though, that I am not suggesting that this must be a universal requirement of RPGs. Even for me, when I'm playtesting an adventure, I dispense with all of that. I'm just interested in seeing the mechanics at play. I could see that mode (what I consider "playtest mode") being a fun game itself, without the added texture. (Which I would deem more cinematic than literary.) </p><p></p><p>I don't know how this all fits in with where we're at in the thread, but it was one of those pebbles that just wanted to be tossed.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="uzirath, post: 7614156, member: 8495"] I'm glad you did. It rippled over to my canoe where I have been pondering some related ideas. I'm largely with you here. Context is important if you want fictional elements to have emotional resonance. If you're departing from well-known genre territory, you need to build that context into the game so that it becomes familiar. This can be all the GM's job or it can be shared by everyone (collaborative world building). I'm not sure it is necessarily [I]literary[/I] or not, but despite the title of the thread, that's not what's been most interesting to me about the conversation. Whatever we call it, though, I do think that it is fairly important. Maybe it's not strictly necessary for some playstyles? Not sure about that. As for my own pebble, I've been thinking about some comments that appeared some pages back (around page 90, I think) regarding the importance of evocative descriptions in the game. Instead of just calling out die rolls and watching the hit points go down, it's helpful to describe the action from the perspective of the characters. I tend to agree with this. As I've mentioned in this thread and others, I play a lot with new players. I've found that the descriptions are usually what hook new people, especially in combat. Missing your attacks repeatedly can be pretty frustrating, so I make a point of describing what happens with each miss. Subsequently, I encourage players to come up with these descriptions. This makes combat much more engaging and seems to help keep people focused. Indeed, some of those descriptions have been memorable enough to become part of the character's lore, talked and laughed about for many sessions afterward. I am going to preemptively point out, though, that I am not suggesting that this must be a universal requirement of RPGs. Even for me, when I'm playtesting an adventure, I dispense with all of that. I'm just interested in seeing the mechanics at play. I could see that mode (what I consider "playtest mode") being a fun game itself, without the added texture. (Which I would deem more cinematic than literary.) I don't know how this all fits in with where we're at in the thread, but it was one of those pebbles that just wanted to be tossed. [/QUOTE]
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