Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
RPG Play Style Model (Cinematic, Tactical, etc)
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="M.T. Black" data-source="post: 9278616" data-attributes="member: 6782171"><p>There have been some questions in this thread around the word "cinematic" which is understandable. It is very broad. I originally got thinking about this topic after Colville stated his new RPG would be both tactical and cinematic, which is partly why I've used those terms. </p><p></p><p>Colville has a cluster of ideas under the word cinematic, but one of the key ideas is that his RPG will take you from one big scene to the next and ignore the more mundane stuff in between. He says explicitly it is not an RPG for dungeoncrawling. It's not about exploring corridors, or tracking torches, or anything like that. </p><p></p><p>It occurred to me that he was (at least partly) talking about what we might call narrative structure. His RPG strings together set pieces linearly like big beats are strung together in a movie. That's why it's a "cinematic" narrative structure. You could also call it scripted or linear, but I like cinematic as a term as other terms have negative connotations in this hobby. One of the first RPGs I ever heard called "cinematic" was Star Wars d6, which very explicitly had the narrative structured like a movie. You had the chase scene, then you had the negotiation scene, then you had a cut scene, then you had a fight scene, etc. The 4E Delve format was pretty good this sort of thing too.</p><p></p><p>I contrasted this "cinematic narrative structure" with an "emergent narrative structure." The latter involves the exploration of an environment, whether it be a dungeon, a wilderness, or a city. There are some constraints on movements, but there is no set order in which you approach the encounters. There is no "scene 1 followed by scene 2 followed by scene 3..." The narrative emerges from the choices the players make in the game world. As most of us here know, this style is greatly preferred by the OSR crowd.</p><p></p><p>I honestly think both have their place. The cinematic structure is excellent for demos and organised play and convention games. But the emergent structure, in my experience, delivers better long term experiences.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="M.T. Black, post: 9278616, member: 6782171"] There have been some questions in this thread around the word "cinematic" which is understandable. It is very broad. I originally got thinking about this topic after Colville stated his new RPG would be both tactical and cinematic, which is partly why I've used those terms. Colville has a cluster of ideas under the word cinematic, but one of the key ideas is that his RPG will take you from one big scene to the next and ignore the more mundane stuff in between. He says explicitly it is not an RPG for dungeoncrawling. It's not about exploring corridors, or tracking torches, or anything like that. It occurred to me that he was (at least partly) talking about what we might call narrative structure. His RPG strings together set pieces linearly like big beats are strung together in a movie. That's why it's a "cinematic" narrative structure. You could also call it scripted or linear, but I like cinematic as a term as other terms have negative connotations in this hobby. One of the first RPGs I ever heard called "cinematic" was Star Wars d6, which very explicitly had the narrative structured like a movie. You had the chase scene, then you had the negotiation scene, then you had a cut scene, then you had a fight scene, etc. The 4E Delve format was pretty good this sort of thing too. I contrasted this "cinematic narrative structure" with an "emergent narrative structure." The latter involves the exploration of an environment, whether it be a dungeon, a wilderness, or a city. There are some constraints on movements, but there is no set order in which you approach the encounters. There is no "scene 1 followed by scene 2 followed by scene 3..." The narrative emerges from the choices the players make in the game world. As most of us here know, this style is greatly preferred by the OSR crowd. I honestly think both have their place. The cinematic structure is excellent for demos and organised play and convention games. But the emergent structure, in my experience, delivers better long term experiences. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
RPG Play Style Model (Cinematic, Tactical, etc)
Top