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Megadungeon delving as a campaign’s core; is it compatible with modern play?
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<blockquote data-quote="EzekielRaiden" data-source="post: 8799162" data-attributes="member: 6790260"><p>Is it possible? Yes, absolutely. But you're going to have to accept some significant changes to one side, or both of them.</p><p></p><p>I'm a big fan of the (so-called) "modern," character-driven approach, where things are more like <em>Babylon 5</em> or <em>Star Trek: Deep Space Nine</em> than they are like <em>Star Trek: The Original Series</em> or <em>Blake's 7</em>. That is, before B5, the vast majority of such shows did not have long-running, intentional character arcs and such; they were written one season at a time, with the occasional hook thrown out that could be referenced back later on. Now, most D&D games aren't as <em>fully</em> written-out as B5 was, and shouldn't be--I am, after all, a bit fan of "play to find out what happens"--but there's a certain analogy to draw here. </p><p></p><p>Players in older-school adventures were almost entirely "Story After"* and largely avoided "Story Before"; that is, "story" was only something you cobbled together from <em>reflecting back</em> on the events you lived through, and connecting them together into some kind of narrative, even if it is (almost surely) a bit disjointed and liable to sudden lurches and dead-ends. Then the Dragonlance kind of stuff hit, and suddenly Story Before (you <em>decide</em> what story will be told, and then bring that story about; this often involves railroading) was a big deal. The "modern" take, IME, straddles lines but favors something between "Story Before" and "Story Now" (actively and intentionally posing and resolving conflicts through play): backstory and understood interpersonal connections matter a lot, but there's a great emphasis on extemporaneous portrayal and allowing characters to "grow naturally" rather than following anything predetermined.</p><p></p><p>Either you're going to need to get the "modern" player on board with some of the structures of old-school play (e.g. high lethality, rapid character turnover, "Story After," etc.), or you're going to need to relent on some of those old-school approaches, or some mix of the two. I certainly think it <em>can</em> be done, but it would require group buy-in and an understanding that there will likely be points of difficulty that will need to be worked out as they arise.</p><p></p><p>*I know some folks are allergic to Forge terms, but these ones are actually really useful IMO.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="EzekielRaiden, post: 8799162, member: 6790260"] Is it possible? Yes, absolutely. But you're going to have to accept some significant changes to one side, or both of them. I'm a big fan of the (so-called) "modern," character-driven approach, where things are more like [I]Babylon 5[/I] or [I]Star Trek: Deep Space Nine[/I] than they are like [I]Star Trek: The Original Series[/I] or [I]Blake's 7[/I]. That is, before B5, the vast majority of such shows did not have long-running, intentional character arcs and such; they were written one season at a time, with the occasional hook thrown out that could be referenced back later on. Now, most D&D games aren't as [I]fully[/I] written-out as B5 was, and shouldn't be--I am, after all, a bit fan of "play to find out what happens"--but there's a certain analogy to draw here. Players in older-school adventures were almost entirely "Story After"* and largely avoided "Story Before"; that is, "story" was only something you cobbled together from [I]reflecting back[/I] on the events you lived through, and connecting them together into some kind of narrative, even if it is (almost surely) a bit disjointed and liable to sudden lurches and dead-ends. Then the Dragonlance kind of stuff hit, and suddenly Story Before (you [I]decide[/I] what story will be told, and then bring that story about; this often involves railroading) was a big deal. The "modern" take, IME, straddles lines but favors something between "Story Before" and "Story Now" (actively and intentionally posing and resolving conflicts through play): backstory and understood interpersonal connections matter a lot, but there's a great emphasis on extemporaneous portrayal and allowing characters to "grow naturally" rather than following anything predetermined. Either you're going to need to get the "modern" player on board with some of the structures of old-school play (e.g. high lethality, rapid character turnover, "Story After," etc.), or you're going to need to relent on some of those old-school approaches, or some mix of the two. I certainly think it [I]can[/I] be done, but it would require group buy-in and an understanding that there will likely be points of difficulty that will need to be worked out as they arise. *I know some folks are allergic to Forge terms, but these ones are actually really useful IMO. [/QUOTE]
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Megadungeon delving as a campaign’s core; is it compatible with modern play?
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