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Is RPGing a *literary* endeavour?
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<blockquote data-quote="Riley37" data-source="post: 7618023" data-attributes="member: 6786839"><p>Yes, regarding cultural cues. The DM need not explain what a zombie is, any more than the DM would explain what a gazebo or a githyanki is. If the DM says twenty words (or so) to narrate the situation, then the other nineteen words besides "zombie" should not explain what a zombie is; those nineteen words should establish *other aspects of the situation*, such as whether it's sprinting towards the PCs (modern zombie!) versus shambling slowly (Romero zombie) versus already bisected by a fan-blade trap (and thus a clue that Father Grigorio has been here).</p><p></p><p>Insofar as you categorize zombie *films* as separate from *literature*, IMO you're switching to a less-situationally-useful definition of "literature". You and Maxperson can haggle over whether the relevant definition is both "written word" AND includes "oral literature". Meanwhile, I recognize "Sean of the Dead" as a work of art which uses foreshadowing, changes of perspective, trope inversion, character development over time, and other techniques often considered "literary", only because of the many centuries in which written word was the main vehicle for the study of such techniques. (I do not recognize "Sean of the Dead" as *high* literature... but damn, high versus low literature is not the useful distinction for current purposes.)</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Where I think that YOU are mistaken, is whether Hussar (or I) would spend many words on literary-esque narration *in the specific form of describing its appearance and only when the PCs first see it*. Yeah, Lovecraft would go on and on, about whether the monster, when it emerges into view from under the ice, is rugose, or ichthian, or squamous. There are other tools in the literary toolbox. One of those tools is foreshadowing. For example, the behavior of local Inuit can indicate that they're afraid of *something* under the ice. The PCs might hear a humming sound, long before they *see* the qalupalik (they might ask questions about that sound, they might make INT checks to recognize the sound, and so forth).</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Your players would not ask you *what it was* that grabbed the child and dragged the child into the water? I mean, a polar bear might do that, and so might a sea lion. I as a player would strongly prefer to know *before* making action declarations, whether I saw a polar bear, a githyanki, a gazebo, or something else. (Perhaps the PC saw the child, then looked away, then the child was gone when the PC looked again at the child's previous location. In which case, yes, it's the action which matters... *for that one round*.) </p><p></p><p>See Lanefan's point: GMs should establish *sufficient description to prompt player agency*. I want to overcome monsters which are more than bags of hit points. My player agency includes reacting differently to a polar bear (or other Beast type monster), than to a gazebo (construct) or a qallupilluit (aberration? monstrosity? humanoid?). My player agency might involve trying to *persuade* the qallupilluit to return the child, perhaps persuasion enhanced with the Suggestion spell. (Especially if the child remains alive under the ice only as long as the qallupilluit maintains Concentration on Breathe Water; in that scenario, stabbing the qallupilluit is NOT my best option.)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Riley37, post: 7618023, member: 6786839"] Yes, regarding cultural cues. The DM need not explain what a zombie is, any more than the DM would explain what a gazebo or a githyanki is. If the DM says twenty words (or so) to narrate the situation, then the other nineteen words besides "zombie" should not explain what a zombie is; those nineteen words should establish *other aspects of the situation*, such as whether it's sprinting towards the PCs (modern zombie!) versus shambling slowly (Romero zombie) versus already bisected by a fan-blade trap (and thus a clue that Father Grigorio has been here). Insofar as you categorize zombie *films* as separate from *literature*, IMO you're switching to a less-situationally-useful definition of "literature". You and Maxperson can haggle over whether the relevant definition is both "written word" AND includes "oral literature". Meanwhile, I recognize "Sean of the Dead" as a work of art which uses foreshadowing, changes of perspective, trope inversion, character development over time, and other techniques often considered "literary", only because of the many centuries in which written word was the main vehicle for the study of such techniques. (I do not recognize "Sean of the Dead" as *high* literature... but damn, high versus low literature is not the useful distinction for current purposes.) Where I think that YOU are mistaken, is whether Hussar (or I) would spend many words on literary-esque narration *in the specific form of describing its appearance and only when the PCs first see it*. Yeah, Lovecraft would go on and on, about whether the monster, when it emerges into view from under the ice, is rugose, or ichthian, or squamous. There are other tools in the literary toolbox. One of those tools is foreshadowing. For example, the behavior of local Inuit can indicate that they're afraid of *something* under the ice. The PCs might hear a humming sound, long before they *see* the qalupalik (they might ask questions about that sound, they might make INT checks to recognize the sound, and so forth). Your players would not ask you *what it was* that grabbed the child and dragged the child into the water? I mean, a polar bear might do that, and so might a sea lion. I as a player would strongly prefer to know *before* making action declarations, whether I saw a polar bear, a githyanki, a gazebo, or something else. (Perhaps the PC saw the child, then looked away, then the child was gone when the PC looked again at the child's previous location. In which case, yes, it's the action which matters... *for that one round*.) See Lanefan's point: GMs should establish *sufficient description to prompt player agency*. I want to overcome monsters which are more than bags of hit points. My player agency includes reacting differently to a polar bear (or other Beast type monster), than to a gazebo (construct) or a qallupilluit (aberration? monstrosity? humanoid?). My player agency might involve trying to *persuade* the qallupilluit to return the child, perhaps persuasion enhanced with the Suggestion spell. (Especially if the child remains alive under the ice only as long as the qallupilluit maintains Concentration on Breathe Water; in that scenario, stabbing the qallupilluit is NOT my best option.) [/QUOTE]
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