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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Charlaquin" data-source="post: 8622472" data-attributes="member: 6779196">I think “Story Now” is best understood in contrast to “Story Before” and “Story After.”“Story Before” is I think what most people are used to in D&D, where story elements are planned out in advance, and players play to experience them. Not necessarily that they’re playing out a pre-scripted plot (though “Story Before” can end up feeling that way when done poorly), but the GM has already planned out things like the backstory of the adventure, the villain and their motivations; the pieces have already been put in place and the players are dropped in the middle. Published adventure modules are basically always “Story Before,” almost by necessity.“Story Now” is where you make those story elements in the moment, as you’re playing. Maybe the GM improvises in response to the players’ actions, maybe the players have some role in defining these elements, whether formally or informally.“Story After” is more what you see in Classic and OSR play, where the gameplay is primarily focused on things other than story, such as challenge, and the story emerges only in retrospect, as you reminisce about that time in Tucker’s campaign where the kobolds were the scariest thing in the dungeon.</blockquote>