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I've Been a DM for 30 Years and I have Zero Imagination.
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<blockquote data-quote="Jahydin" data-source="post: 8777497" data-attributes="member: 6984869"><p>This is something I've found about myself recently that I thought was kind of humorous. I've ran multiple successful campaigns through every edition of D&D over the years and never once realized how bad my imagination was until I started to play more narrative focused games like FATE and PbtA. </p><p></p><p>Looking back though, I didn't really need to imagine anything to be successful:</p><p>For Old School D&D I could focus on the simple dungeon maps, random charts, and mathematical rules.</p><p>3E/Pathfinder (favorite edition) was all about miniatures, battlemats, and rolling for everything to determine results.</p><p>4E was D&D the board game, so even more so I didn't need to visualize anything in my mind's eye.</p><p></p><p>5E was when the cracks started to show though. I ran Out of the Abyss and nearly keeled over from exhaustion from the amount of prep I had to do. Multiple NPCs all with distinct personalities and motivations, long stretches of travel time with little explanation on how to make it interesting, completely foreign races (Underdark) and how they might interact with the PCs, and gigantic demons that were in complex environments I couldn't just run with miniatures and dry-erase boards. Throughout this entire campaign though, I never once realized why it was so difficult for me; I just thought it was terribly written! <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite17" alt=":LOL:" title="Laugh :LOL:" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":LOL:" /></p><p></p><p>Then came Dungeon World. My friend asked me to play and it sounded fun, but quickly realized how difficult it was for me to play. I could see everyone was drawing the scene in their minds and then narrating what they saw; but for me, it's just blank. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite10" alt=":oops:" title="Oops! :oops:" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":oops:" /> My brain just doesn't do that.</p><p></p><p>It made me realize that I don't even imagine scenes when I read books. I enjoy following the logic of the story, but not once do I "visualize" the characters, scenery, or action. At best, I just get small "flash" if I concentrate really hard.</p><p></p><p>Anyway, curious if anyone else can relate!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Jahydin, post: 8777497, member: 6984869"] This is something I've found about myself recently that I thought was kind of humorous. I've ran multiple successful campaigns through every edition of D&D over the years and never once realized how bad my imagination was until I started to play more narrative focused games like FATE and PbtA. Looking back though, I didn't really need to imagine anything to be successful: For Old School D&D I could focus on the simple dungeon maps, random charts, and mathematical rules. 3E/Pathfinder (favorite edition) was all about miniatures, battlemats, and rolling for everything to determine results. 4E was D&D the board game, so even more so I didn't need to visualize anything in my mind's eye. 5E was when the cracks started to show though. I ran Out of the Abyss and nearly keeled over from exhaustion from the amount of prep I had to do. Multiple NPCs all with distinct personalities and motivations, long stretches of travel time with little explanation on how to make it interesting, completely foreign races (Underdark) and how they might interact with the PCs, and gigantic demons that were in complex environments I couldn't just run with miniatures and dry-erase boards. Throughout this entire campaign though, I never once realized why it was so difficult for me; I just thought it was terribly written! :LOL: Then came Dungeon World. My friend asked me to play and it sounded fun, but quickly realized how difficult it was for me to play. I could see everyone was drawing the scene in their minds and then narrating what they saw; but for me, it's just blank. :oops: My brain just doesn't do that. It made me realize that I don't even imagine scenes when I read books. I enjoy following the logic of the story, but not once do I "visualize" the characters, scenery, or action. At best, I just get small "flash" if I concentrate really hard. Anyway, curious if anyone else can relate! [/QUOTE]
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