Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 4963801" data-attributes="member: 4937">But that's just it, they don't.&nbsp; They convey the mood and atmosphere of a game table.&nbsp; I can't begin to imagine what the mood and atmosphere of the dungeon is by looking at a bunch of brightly colored plastic playing peices.I think you are missing my point entirely.&nbsp; I think my point is more that a collection of plastic playing boards and a laser pointer doesn't constitute visiting a strange and fantastic place, and to me its minimal adequacy may constitute a barrier to doing so.There is floating around the internet a picture of a younger smirking me sitting on a garage floor which has been covered in 3x5' note cards laid out on a grid (each representing a city block), various bright green cardboard cutouts representing fortifications, and 5000 assorted cardboard chits representing units on the field.&nbsp; Looking at the blurry picture wouldn't impress anyone who wasn't there at the battle.&nbsp;&nbsp; All those props were necessary for the goal, which was to resolve a battle for which no one knew quite how it would end - in victory or defeat.&nbsp; But, looking back on my memories of the battle, I find that while I don't always remember cardboard chits and 3x5 notebook cards and instead sometimes remember the city blocks on fire and the screams of dying troops, what I do find about my memories whether I see in my mind the prop or ideally the thing that the prop stood for is that they are always from the perspective of someone looking down on the city from high above and at a particular angle.&nbsp; It was the position I was kneeling in through much of the battle.On reflection, I find this to be pretty typical of my memories whenever props are in play.&nbsp; I always see things as an external observer, even when I ought not to do so, because my character was in the middle of it.&nbsp; My best memories of the battle, that is to say best in the sense of those that most transport me to a faraway and fantastic location, aren't of the battle itself but of a meeting held between the PC's a group of city leaders in a lull in the fighting.&nbsp; In those, what I remember is actually being there.&nbsp; That's not an experience I've ever had using props.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Celebrim, post: 4963801, member: 4937"] But that's just it, they don't. They convey the mood and atmosphere of a game table. I can't begin to imagine what the mood and atmosphere of the dungeon is by looking at a bunch of brightly colored plastic playing peices. I think you are missing my point entirely. I think my point is more that a collection of plastic playing boards and a laser pointer doesn't constitute visiting a strange and fantastic place, and to me its minimal adequacy may constitute a barrier to doing so. There is floating around the internet a picture of a younger smirking me sitting on a garage floor which has been covered in 3x5' note cards laid out on a grid (each representing a city block), various bright green cardboard cutouts representing fortifications, and 5000 assorted cardboard chits representing units on the field. Looking at the blurry picture wouldn't impress anyone who wasn't there at the battle. All those props were necessary for the goal, which was to resolve a battle for which no one knew quite how it would end - in victory or defeat. But, looking back on my memories of the battle, I find that while I don't always remember cardboard chits and 3x5 notebook cards and instead sometimes remember the city blocks on fire and the screams of dying troops, what I do find about my memories whether I see in my mind the prop or ideally the thing that the prop stood for is that they are always from the perspective of someone looking down on the city from high above and at a particular angle. It was the position I was kneeling in through much of the battle. On reflection, I find this to be pretty typical of my memories whenever props are in play. I always see things as an external observer, even when I ought not to do so, because my character was in the middle of it. My best memories of the battle, that is to say best in the sense of those that most transport me to a faraway and fantastic location, aren't of the battle itself but of a meeting held between the PC's a group of city leaders in a lull in the fighting. In those, what I remember is actually being there. That's not an experience I've ever had using props. [/QUOTE]

Verification