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Is RPGing a *literary* endeavour?
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<blockquote data-quote="Bedrockgames" data-source="post: 7617894" data-attributes="member: 85555"><p>This question has already been asked. I used to run Ravenloft exclusively, and I bought into all the advice in the line that basically made the point you are making here: Use very evocative language to create atmosphere in horror. My answer is a bit involved. First, if your players respond to that, I say go for it. But it is really important to understand not all players respond to this at all and you can't force tone and atmosphere on them they don't want (well you can try but it just creates issues). I was just on the phone with a player who was exactly of this mindset and I asked him about this issue specifically. Basically he just cares about what his character can do and the details that enable him to make choices around that. He doesn't particularly care for setting details (something I've experienced first hand with him at the table, and I am a GM who loves making setting details). He is all about efficiency of information. Doesn't particularly care how it is packaged. </p><p></p><p>To the point about Ravenloft and horror. There is no simple answer here. I will say, I think there was tremendous faith placed in the ability of evocatively and dramatically narrated descriptions enhancing horror atmosphere. I think on the GM side, this can feel good to deliver, and I think some players respond to it. i also think many people are not as interested as the writers of these modules and books thought. And I think in practice, what really makes a Ravenloft game work the subtly of the horror. That will rely on some amount of description being well worded. It doesn't mean it needs to read like a novel though. My experience running Ravenloft was moving more and more to natural style of talking, and focusing less on word choice, more on 'the angle of the description'. But that said, I do think horror is one genre where this can be important. </p><p></p><p>However, I think horror is fairly exceptional as genres go, and one of the hardest to do well. I don't think you should build general rules about what is good for gaming around that one genre (because while word choice can matter in a session of Ravenloft, it definitely isn't going to be as important in my wuxia or fantasy RPG sessions). </p><p></p><p>Also, just a note about those Ravenloft descriptions. While your word selection can matter, many of the examples they used to give in the books were exactly the sort of thing you really have to avoid, even when running a horror game. These were super well crafted, literary prose style examples. They were not the sort of thing that was easy to come up with off the cuff. I struggled to achieve that for many years as a GM, and it was actually counterproductive. I simply don't speak that way, so I was spending all of my energy on description and not enough on other details. And for the most part, the players were getting kind of tired of lengthy prose-like descriptions. Again, word choice mattered, but it is a different medium, and you have to account for that. Also, I don't think the use of literary techniques like foreshadowing or things like applying a three-act structure to the adventure, were particularly suited to the medium. We have to be careful about equivocation for this reason: word choice being important doesn't mean literary techniques should be ported into the game. It just means word choice can matter.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Bedrockgames, post: 7617894, member: 85555"] This question has already been asked. I used to run Ravenloft exclusively, and I bought into all the advice in the line that basically made the point you are making here: Use very evocative language to create atmosphere in horror. My answer is a bit involved. First, if your players respond to that, I say go for it. But it is really important to understand not all players respond to this at all and you can't force tone and atmosphere on them they don't want (well you can try but it just creates issues). I was just on the phone with a player who was exactly of this mindset and I asked him about this issue specifically. Basically he just cares about what his character can do and the details that enable him to make choices around that. He doesn't particularly care for setting details (something I've experienced first hand with him at the table, and I am a GM who loves making setting details). He is all about efficiency of information. Doesn't particularly care how it is packaged. To the point about Ravenloft and horror. There is no simple answer here. I will say, I think there was tremendous faith placed in the ability of evocatively and dramatically narrated descriptions enhancing horror atmosphere. I think on the GM side, this can feel good to deliver, and I think some players respond to it. i also think many people are not as interested as the writers of these modules and books thought. And I think in practice, what really makes a Ravenloft game work the subtly of the horror. That will rely on some amount of description being well worded. It doesn't mean it needs to read like a novel though. My experience running Ravenloft was moving more and more to natural style of talking, and focusing less on word choice, more on 'the angle of the description'. But that said, I do think horror is one genre where this can be important. However, I think horror is fairly exceptional as genres go, and one of the hardest to do well. I don't think you should build general rules about what is good for gaming around that one genre (because while word choice can matter in a session of Ravenloft, it definitely isn't going to be as important in my wuxia or fantasy RPG sessions). Also, just a note about those Ravenloft descriptions. While your word selection can matter, many of the examples they used to give in the books were exactly the sort of thing you really have to avoid, even when running a horror game. These were super well crafted, literary prose style examples. They were not the sort of thing that was easy to come up with off the cuff. I struggled to achieve that for many years as a GM, and it was actually counterproductive. I simply don't speak that way, so I was spending all of my energy on description and not enough on other details. And for the most part, the players were getting kind of tired of lengthy prose-like descriptions. Again, word choice mattered, but it is a different medium, and you have to account for that. Also, I don't think the use of literary techniques like foreshadowing or things like applying a three-act structure to the adventure, were particularly suited to the medium. We have to be careful about equivocation for this reason: word choice being important doesn't mean literary techniques should be ported into the game. It just means word choice can matter. [/QUOTE]
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