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Let's Talk About RPG Worldbuilding
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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 8331764" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>Ovinomancer characterises worldbuilding in the form of <em>a completely disconnected setting that the characters [and players, I think] have to find their own connections to</em> as "self-play" and "solo-play".</p><p></p><p>amethal characterises a particular case of such worldbuilding - ie in ignorance of whether or not it will ever be used in actual play, with a group - as <em>RPGing but not play</em>.</p><p></p><p>These aren't necessarily contradictory, because the same words can be used with different nuances. What both posts share is a recognition that there is some sort of meaningful contrast between (i) <em>the (actual or prospective) <em>GM </em></em>making up imaginary things on his/her own, and then bringing those to the table as a "package" of ideas for the players to engage with; and (ii) the actual process of playing a RPG where the participants at the table create a shared fiction.</p><p></p><p>How should we think about the relationship between those two contrasting things? chaochou sets out one way: the GM presents his/her package as a "take it or leave it" for the actual process of play. For the non-GM participants, play becomes primarily a matter of learning about, and/or thinking about and talking about, the ideas that the GM has brought to the table.</p><p></p><p>Is this what worldbuilding, in the context of RPGing, <em>has to be</em>? Is the only alternative to GM-centric RPGing "setting-light" RPGing? Or are there ways that the non-GM participants can be meaningful parties to world-building?</p><p></p><p>EDIT:</p><p></p><p>This seems to assume a GM-centric approach. <em>Immersion</em>, <em>verisimilitude</em> and <em>"that's cool!"</em> seem here to be passive responses of the players to the fiction. It seems very close to reading a book or watching a film - ie enjoying the experience of someone else's fiction.</p><p></p><p>But given the centrality of <em>shared</em> fiction to RPGing, what are the ways we might think about world building that don't frame the non-GM participants as primarily an audience for the GM's ideas?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 8331764, member: 42582"] Ovinomancer characterises worldbuilding in the form of [I]a completely disconnected setting that the characters [and players, I think] have to find their own connections to[/I] as "self-play" and "solo-play". amethal characterises a particular case of such worldbuilding - ie in ignorance of whether or not it will ever be used in actual play, with a group - as [I]RPGing but not play[/I]. These aren't necessarily contradictory, because the same words can be used with different nuances. What both posts share is a recognition that there is some sort of meaningful contrast between (i) [I]the (actual or prospective) [I]GM [/I][/I]making up imaginary things on his/her own, and then bringing those to the table as a "package" of ideas for the players to engage with; and (ii) the actual process of playing a RPG where the participants at the table create a shared fiction. How should we think about the relationship between those two contrasting things? chaochou sets out one way: the GM presents his/her package as a "take it or leave it" for the actual process of play. For the non-GM participants, play becomes primarily a matter of learning about, and/or thinking about and talking about, the ideas that the GM has brought to the table. Is this what worldbuilding, in the context of RPGing, [I]has to be[/I]? Is the only alternative to GM-centric RPGing "setting-light" RPGing? Or are there ways that the non-GM participants can be meaningful parties to world-building? EDIT: This seems to assume a GM-centric approach. [I]Immersion[/I], [I]verisimilitude[/I] and [I]"that's cool!"[/I] seem here to be passive responses of the players to the fiction. It seems very close to reading a book or watching a film - ie enjoying the experience of someone else's fiction. But given the centrality of [I]shared[/I] fiction to RPGing, what are the ways we might think about world building that don't frame the non-GM participants as primarily an audience for the GM's ideas? [/QUOTE]
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