Sense of Wonder: What is it to you?

[Melan]

Irda Ranger brings up a good point. Random tables are my most reliable practical tools for generating a sense of wonder. Using them keeps me from falling into my usual tracks; it stimulates the imagination in directions I don't usually go. It is precisely their unexplained inconsistencies which make my brain go. In my opinion, this feature of D&D should not be rejected, ridiculed and "engineered out of the system", but rather built upon and recognised as a valuable asset to Dungeon Masters.

 

[Lanefan]

Sense of Wonder is closely tied to what I call Sense of Mystery. If there's mystery...be it in the setting, in how the rules work, in not knowing what magic items do or even if they're magic at all...then there's wonder, or at least the potential for it if people are willing to let said wonder in. DMs never get to experience this because they (in theory) already know everything, which is why I make sure I get to be a player now and then.

Others here seem to equate Sense of Wonder with Sense of Achievement, but they're different. The Wonder comes when you trigger the trap and the roof caves in behind you while the wall crashes down in front revealing the dragon behind it. The Achievement comes when the dragon goes down....

Lanefan

 

[diaglo]

what is this mysterious Sense of Wonder?

Lost

diaglo "i'm watching too much television lately" Ooi

 

[green slime]

A poke in the eye. Whatsittoya?

 

[Baby Samurai]

Fighting an Algoid for the first time.

 

[vongarr]

Save for the point buy, the OP's sense of wonder is what goes on in my game.

Here are mine.

Opening up the box set and seeing these maps and wonderful descriptions/situations that were keyed to each location. Knowing that once the party was done with this area, I have to fill in the rest.

Seeing that anything is possible, and teaching new players that too.

Having 7-8 hours of fun when it felt like 4.

The feeling that you're standing on a cliff, and below you is what could happen, and then making it happen. That's my sense of wonder.

 

[Awakened]

Sense of wonder was reading "Undermountain: Stardock" the other day. The Crystal Labyrinth brought some sort of wondrous glee I haven't gotten since I wasn't so smart-assed, cynical, nihilistic, and disillusioned. So much so, in fact, I'm converting everything to 3.x tonight and running it sunday for two of my most classic PCs.
I mean, it's a SEE-THROUGH DUNGEON with sea lions swimming under the crystal floor, and at one point, you can go beneath the surface in an enclosed area and hear their roars and brave a room so gloriously trapped that it could only have come from a prior edition.
Did I just say that last part?
Maybe not all of gaming's past should be forgotten...

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

Sense of Wonder for me comes in those moments when we can forget about the rules and let the essence of the campaign/setting/adventure take over. I think way too often our heads are in the mechanics of the game:
"With some difficulty you manage to pull open the warped wooden door to the room and as you do [monster x] roars at you in a threatening way. What do you do?"

"Do you think we are stong enough to face it? I have three spells left, how many HP do you have? Where is it located? I could take a shot with my crossbow if it doesn't have too much cover..."

When I get the "sense of wonder" moment, rather than calculating options I get a gut feeling, whether it be, "Oh crap, run away!" or "I roar back as I charge into the room" does not matter, it is whether the thoughts come more from my head or my feelings. I don't get the sense of wonder as much anymore, which is unfortunate.

 

[Darth Shoju]

I've been thinking about this a lot lately in an attempt to recapture it for our games. I've come to the conclusion that one of the primary elements of Sense of Wonder for me was youth. When I was 12 all I had to worry about was taking out the garbage and cleaning my room. I had all kinds of time to read comics and D&D books and dream about worlds that didn't exist.

I'll never forget the first time I DM'd for more than just my little sister (although we had some good times too!); up at my friend's cabin with his family, we were rained in for a whole weekend and luckily I had brought me D&D stuff with me. Next thing I know my friend, his brother, his sister and their dad were rolling up characters and I was running them through an incongruous wizard's tower of my own design. We played for hours upon hours that weekend (although their dad didn't last). We even took turns DMing and played numerous adventures. And this from a bunch of energetic country kids who loved being outdoors.

And then we have my modern gaming situation. I've been playing in the same campaign for 7 years with mostly the same people. They are all talented, creative and intelligent people. We have a large pool of players and 4 campaigns running (although I only play in one). When we first started playing this campaign (with the advent of 3ed) I'd say there was some Sense of Wonder for me and we called it our "D&D Renaissance".

However, while I've found it to be a lot of fun and still enjoyable, the Sense of Wonder didn't last long. We play roughly every 3rd Saturday and don't start until around 7 (but really don't get playing until 9ish). By the time I get there it always seems I've had a long day (getting up with my 2 year-old son, running errands, housework, etc) and it was a rush and hassle just to get there. When I arrive I find that all the other players have had similar days and we are tired and don't have the energy to jump into the game. When we finally do personality conflicts and differing play styles occasionally rear their ugly head and disrupt things. We have long earnest conversations to try to iron things out, but rarely permanently resolve things and I am often left commiserating that "this is supposed to be fun..."

So for now, while the game is still mostly fun, I'd say my Sense of Wonder is dormant. I'm doing my best to rediscover it, but I think the naivety and uncomplicated life associated with youth are key components. I'm just hoping they don't prove to be essential.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

"Sense of Wonder" can be triggered by different things at different times...but to me, at least, it usually revolves around something new showing up. Its easier with someone new to RPGs or who is younger, its much tougher with jaded veterans of gaming.

One of my best moments as a GM came when, in a supers campaign in the Space: 1889 campaign setting (under HERO4th rules), I unveiled the BBEG's supervillain minions, including a guy wearing steam-powered, flamethrowing super armor. Half of the players at the table just stared at me, slack-jawed, for a moment before going "Oh, coooooooool!" I managed to recapture some of that sense of wonder a couple of times during that campaign, but that moment? Time stopped.

As a player, I get that sense when I really get in character...and things happen the way they're supposed to. Not, BTW, that they neccessarily go my way...I thought it was cool when one of my PCs took a header off of a cliff when he busted open a door and missed the rope bridge just to the left of the portal...