Keeping the sense of wonder alive

[akb]

I've posted about this to a writing forum to which I frequently post, but in a different way since the people there are not gamers.

Everybody who plays D&D or any other fantasy RPG knows that magic works, basically just because it does and it doesn't need any explanation for it to work. People who play horror RPGs know that supernatural beasts are just there and need to be fought against (or roleplayed, if you play White Wolf games). And in sci fi, the fancy gear just works, again, without explanation. Everybody just wants to get on with the adventure and not have to be burdened by minutia.

What do you do, as a GM or as a player, to keep the sense of wonder alive? What do you do to strike awe in the hearts and minds of your players when you confront them with things that are "ordinary" aspects of fantastic game worlds but which are clearly not of the world that we know?

 

[Hand of Evil]

adjectives - desciptive adjectives

Keep the players part of the campaign world, the more they invest into the campaign the more alive it is to them, they become a part of it.

Keep it fun -

 

[Doug McCrae]

I find superhero better for this than D&D, as every foe is a unique creation, an unknown, unless it's one the PCs have fought before, which is rare. Even then he'll probably get an upgrade.

In D&D, break the rules. Use monsters that aren't in the book, reskin monsters, unique magic items, unique weird magical effects bound to locations. Personally as a player I wish every GM I've played with wouldn't use a single monster out of the rulebook, they should handcraft every one.

 

[S'mon]

I describe stuff in-character. The NPC Magic-User boasts: "I have mastered the Art of Sleep!" - ie he can cast the Sleep spell.

I think the most important thing is always to reject "Rules as Physics" and always remember that there is a big multiverse out there, undefined by any rules. The rules are just there to help the players engage with the imaginary setting, they should never be a limter or definer of the possible.

 

[nedjer]

Fear

 

[Gilladian]

Not having read any other answers - I have to keep the game grounded in reality.

When the characters become too wahoo! I stop believing in the world, and I stop being able to make the players believe in it as well.

Things that are not overtly fantastical are more wondrous when they ARE different from our world. An elf doesn't stand out when placed next to dragonborn, tieflings, warforged, etc, etc, etc.... but when an elf or a dragonborn or whatever is a SINGULAR (or nearly so) oddity, then he's wondrous...

 

[KOM]

well there is always a sence that the person feels so make sure that to add that in some one emotional might cause a very bad reaction when casting fireball!!!

 

[adwyn]

I have found that the most important thing is for the players to trust the DM and for the DM to be creative without betraying that trust.

This is why a campaign proposal set aboard a runaway flying whale sets off alarm bells when one fellow proposes it and elicits cries of "Cool" when the next DM says the same thing.

 

[pneumatik]

The sense of wonder comes from new stuff. So whatever's normally in your games, throw in something different. I played in a Ptolus game that took us to a chain of other different and special planes. I played in a Greyhawk game with mountain exploration and an in-depth detailed druidic religion. Dark Sun has its sorcerer kings and high beings, and also its weird monsters and desert setting, all of which I think is designed to increase wonder.

So create a new magic system or different pantheon than what your players are expected. Use a different ecosystem of monsters. Travel to a location that your players are not expected because it doesn't exist in real life.

I think detail also helps. Magic is magic except when it's the 47 Tiers of the Odic Order. Mountains are just mountains unless they're where the Storm King lives and reflect his moods.

If you're asking for advice on how to make psuedo-medieval fantasy wondrous, my best advice is play Ars Magica with everyone playing a mage at every session. Otherwise it's not very wondrous.

 

[darjr]

"The sense of wonder is an emotional reaction to the reader suddenly confronting, understanding, or seeing a concept anew in the context of new information."

Leave subtle hints about how things "really are". Listen to them when or if they discuss any of those hints. What they say will give you a handle on how to nurture that sense of wonder. Feed any desire to track down the loose ends, even idle desires. Let them figure it out.