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Is RPGing a *literary* endeavour?
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<blockquote data-quote="Hussar" data-source="post: 7615439" data-attributes="member: 22779"><p>I know that it's a bit gauche to quote myself, but, I did want to expand on this thought and didn't have time at the time. </p><p></p><p>For me, sure, I get the idea if you compare a horse to a Lamborghini. OTOH, my wife, who knows nothing about cars, would just as likely be picturing Italian pasta if you said that. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite8" alt=":D" title="Big grin :D" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":D" /> It's not like it would clarify anything for her.</p><p></p><p>And, that's kinda the point I was getting at. Wordcraft, if we want to use that word, is all about using the right word or phrase to evoke reaction from the audience. But, in order to ignore wordcraft, we need to have an audience that is already steeped in the literary context of the RPG. And, yes, I do say literary context since many RPG's are based very strongly on written works. Whether you want to look at something like D&D with it's Appendix N, or Vampire and its ties to all sorts of vampire stories, or Fate with its strong ties to pulps, or Savage Worlds, again tied to pulps, or Prince Valiant which is directly based off of a comic book series. For those of us genre nerds who have read these works, it's easy to shorthand lots of things. We already have the context built in because we've read the literature which drew our attention through wordcraft. </p><p></p><p>No one has ever accused Tolkien of using a conversational tone. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite8" alt=":D" title="Big grin :D" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":D" /> </p><p></p><p> [MENTION=42582]pemerton[/MENTION] mentioned my participation in the skills threads. But, I realized something out of those threads. What I do and what a lot of the method:goal folks do is virtually the same. I just skip a few steps simply because of familiarity with my group and the rules. It doesn't bother me if a player calls for a skill check because, well, we've all played together for a very long time and we pretty much know when skill checks are going to be called anyway. But, if we got a new player or two at the table, I imagine we'd, for a while at least, fall back into a more formal style. </p><p></p><p>Same goes here. I think [MENTION=42582]pemerton[/MENTION] and others brush off the "word craft" aspect of running a game simply because they have groups where they are familiar enough with each other and the source material that you can skip over things because you don't need to set the context. It's already been set through hours and hours of play.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Hussar, post: 7615439, member: 22779"] I know that it's a bit gauche to quote myself, but, I did want to expand on this thought and didn't have time at the time. For me, sure, I get the idea if you compare a horse to a Lamborghini. OTOH, my wife, who knows nothing about cars, would just as likely be picturing Italian pasta if you said that. :D It's not like it would clarify anything for her. And, that's kinda the point I was getting at. Wordcraft, if we want to use that word, is all about using the right word or phrase to evoke reaction from the audience. But, in order to ignore wordcraft, we need to have an audience that is already steeped in the literary context of the RPG. And, yes, I do say literary context since many RPG's are based very strongly on written works. Whether you want to look at something like D&D with it's Appendix N, or Vampire and its ties to all sorts of vampire stories, or Fate with its strong ties to pulps, or Savage Worlds, again tied to pulps, or Prince Valiant which is directly based off of a comic book series. For those of us genre nerds who have read these works, it's easy to shorthand lots of things. We already have the context built in because we've read the literature which drew our attention through wordcraft. No one has ever accused Tolkien of using a conversational tone. :D [MENTION=42582]pemerton[/MENTION] mentioned my participation in the skills threads. But, I realized something out of those threads. What I do and what a lot of the method:goal folks do is virtually the same. I just skip a few steps simply because of familiarity with my group and the rules. It doesn't bother me if a player calls for a skill check because, well, we've all played together for a very long time and we pretty much know when skill checks are going to be called anyway. But, if we got a new player or two at the table, I imagine we'd, for a while at least, fall back into a more formal style. Same goes here. I think [MENTION=42582]pemerton[/MENTION] and others brush off the "word craft" aspect of running a game simply because they have groups where they are familiar enough with each other and the source material that you can skip over things because you don't need to set the context. It's already been set through hours and hours of play. [/QUOTE]
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