What do you like most in a story hour?

What do you like most in a story hour?

  • Interesting characters/characterizations?

    Votes: 15 20.5%
  • Description of the game world.

    Votes: 1 1.4%
  • Good writing/Narrative style.

    Votes: 43 58.9%
  • See how a module/adventure played out.

    Votes: 3 4.1%
  • Combat/fight scenes.

    Votes: 6 8.2%
  • Other (Describe in post)

    Votes: 5 6.8%

Well, I do have both... I just prefer the epic goodness vs. villainous evil. It's the whole theme of my campaign- heroic characters coping in a world where bad things happen.

Adventuring is a dangerous business, and what Gorgoldand knew the public didn’t see was the absolute despair in defeat- the result of an epic quest gone horribly wrong, the adventurers dead, the evil threat fulfilled. Whenever possible Gorgoldand avoided using people he cared about, and made sure he kept those he trained at arm’s reach emotionally.
-KotSQ, the beginning

Dartan sat beside Menerous, weighing what his life had become. His mind kept returning to that first day in the Silver Quill, when Gorgoldand had told them that he had to send them into the world, as the world needed heroes. Jamison had often told him afterwards that Gorgoldand's greatest fear was in seeing his son's party fall to the evils of the real world. The golden dragon had wanted to shelter his adopted son from becoming jaded by the world's cruelties. High adventure doesn't always lead to the treasure chest, some epic quests are left unfinished, and the good guys don't always win. Tenchi hadn't gotten the chance to avenge his master. Jamison and Hannah never got to explore the growing sentiment they shared for each other. Dekker couldn't save Bree. Angelique, it seemed, wouldn't complete her quest for the Glaring Sun.

Of the six bright-eyed youngsters sent forth on that day, only Dartan and Jamison still lived. Jamison was now a heartless and evil servant of whatever foul forces had taken him, and Dartan- well- he'd never found that the people around him had faith in him at all. The others viewed Dartan with distaste. They found him to be dark and heartless, which hurt him and only drove him further into his shell. Finding the dead griffon at the end of the rainbow had shattered his faith, and he felt himself plummeting- no, pulled- toward some unknown black fate. With nothing filling him, he was empty.

-KotSQ, much later in the campaign
 

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Wulf Ratbane said:
Exactly, Nemm...

I had something I wanted to say but you said it better.

So dinkeldog, I know you're reading our story hour, which means that one of us is kidding himself...

It means he thinks Wulf is and HERO!!! Wow, Wulf, a true hero...

:D
 

I voted for writing style, because my biggest point could be under that category.

A story hour absolutely must have good spelling and grammar for me to maintain interest. Not that it has to be perfect, but it has to be at least decent, and usually above decent. Certain liberties with grammar can be taken if it fits the narrative style, that doesn't bother me.

Beyond that... characters. Characterization and more importantly character growth. That's the key to a good story hour, I think. Take Wulf's - it's just a string of adventures thrown together, but the characters really make it a good story. It wouldn't be a quarter as good if it wasn't for them. (Heh heh... assmar :) )

Background really helps too - the world changes around and independant of the players. I think this, more than any other aspect, makes a world come alive.

LightPhoenix
 

Heh heh... interestingly enough, it's my odd grammar and spelling that gives me such strong characterization. =)

I'll pile on the grammar thing, though. I shouldn't say it, since my own first entry is so bad, but I have abandoned a lot of stories after the first paragraph. There are exceptions, but they are rare.

Wulf
 

nemmerle said:
Why can't you have both?

In my game the PCs are in a gritty world, with harsh realities, pain and anaguish and constantly dealing with the trouble of trying to do the good thing.

But they are still clearly good and clearly heroic - it is just that being heroic isn't all its cracked up to be sometimes - I guess I come from the Spider-man school of heroism.

Your PCs, like Spiderman, are trying to do the right thing.

The place I stop is "the PCs aren't heroes". No point in going any further. Spiderman is a hero. He might beat himself up over the occasional failure, but his goal is to do good things. He's not a simple mercenary.

There really have been two (now three) constants in the Sunday campaign that I hold on to. One is dead. The second is a cohort. The third just joined and I have neglected getting him fully integrated into the story (bad DM, no biscuit). And Wulf is Wulf. The old man will make him a hero if he has to break every bone in his body because the old man needs a hero of the type that was ancient when he was young, and now he is ancient and darkness lurks around every corner.
 

Personally, I really like stories told from a characters point of view, case in point Wulf. (shameless plug) I also enjoy seeing how other characters fared in modules my party has gone through. Roll both into one and throw in an involving storytelling style, case in point Wulf, (second shameless plug) and for my money, you've really got something entertaining.

-Immort

This would now be a shameless plug for my own struggling story hour. :cool:
http://www.enworld.org/messageboards/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3689
 
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Eosin the Red said:
I prefer stories told from a first person PoV.

Dito. Maybe I'm just saying this because my Story Hour is in first person, but I also think that it's easier to relate and understand what a character is going through because s/he is telling you.

I also like a story if it begins right smack in the middle. I positively hate introductions. I'm just a big fan of medeas res, I suppose. Big fan of Shakespear.

Anyway, just some useless thoughts.

Tata.
 

Well duh...

It'd be the obvious, yet left-out, choice of All of the Above. While having one, or even 2, of the selections in a Story Hour is good and might get me to peek at it from time to time, it'll only truely hold my interest if it's got all of those choices. Sure I'm picky, but I can't help it, Pkitty and so many others have spoiled me rotten. Yes, I'm loving every minute of it! :D

Another 'must' for choice/vote would be 'grammer/spelling', or something of the sort. I've started a couple Story Hours that had a lot of promice, and easily full-filled all the other requirements, but they were so poorly edited that it was literally too much work to read them. Pitty, that.

Hatchling Dragon
 

Good story, good characters!

A good story hour will have good characterizations, and good writing. I hopefully deliver both, (I probably don't), but I am trying. A setting helps, but to me, that can mostly be left to the imagination. Too much, and a reader gets bogged down.
 

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