What ever happened to just "playing" the game and telling a great story?

[Thornir Alekeg]

Truth as told by the Gospel of Shilsen:

My answer: Just play the game and forget about the story. If you run a game that's enjoyable for both the players and yourself, you'll get some great stories out of it.

Here endeth the lesson.

Balance - it is all about balance; not the kind that requires a good Dexterity, but one that instead required a good Wisdom:

Any game where the focus is on the mechanics and rules lawyering is the main form of combat is going to probably be an unfun time for many people looking to play an RPG. Any game that ignores the rules so the DM can tell a story is likely to be unfun for most people looking to play an RPG. The rules and the DM together provide a framework and setting for a story that will be written in by everyone as the game is played.

 

[baradtgnome]

To me the game encompasses story and combat. So in the combat, there are rules, and scrutinizing rules, trying to get an edge, etc. Outside combat there is the story, and more role playing. That is not to say there is not role playing in combat. Good players will take their characters personality and let it shine in combat - even if it means making a decision that is less than ideal tactics... because that is what their character would do.

I expect as DMs we get the behavior we encourage many times. If when a player asks us a question we spend loads of time attempting to get the rules just right, or use some obscure combination of rules against them, then we are encouraging that behavior.

If we make out of combat role playing interesting, if we make combat quick and don't penalize role playing during it, if we set the tone of the game by example - we are more likely to get the game we want. Instead of penalizing folks for being rules lawyers, reward folks for story/role playing. And by that I don't mean XP or gold, I mean attention and success in game. YMMV.

Of course that is if you and your players want the same game.

 

[Umbran]

I wanna tell a great story dammit! Would you just let me entertain you? Please?

Nitpick: No. If I wanted someone else to tell me a story, I'd read a book, or watch a movie. I don't play RPGs to be passively entertained. It is my character, and therefore my story, not the DM's.

Not to mention, there's a lot of folks around here who react badly to the idea of telling a story with an RPG. I'm not among them, but they are here. My nitpick is about the ownership.

Has anybody else encountered this phenomenon? It has gone beyond the simple ruleslawyering, it's like there this entitlement mentality permeating the gaming culture (maybe coming from video games, though I hate to blame one source).

One could make a solid argument that the entitlement mentality is from a much larger context than gaming.

In any event, I don't have much confidence in the idea that the game books and rules can engender that in a reasonable adult. If that were the case, with the number of fantasy novels I read, I should be out trying to be Gandalf, or something. While humans are flexible creatures, we are not quite that altered by every little input. How we choose to act at the gaming table is a choice.

What will it take to going back and sitting down and playing the game and telling a great story?

How about players who are more interested in the story than the tactical game?

It isn't that there is some problem in playing D&D as a tactical game. It is well suited to the task, and tactical games are pretty popular. Lots of folks like this kind of activity. There is nothing wrong with it, in and of itself.

There is a problem when your desires don't match your players', though. If you aren't interested in the tactical game, and they are, an issue will develop, much like there'll be an issue if your friends want to play Settlers of Catan when you're more a charades kind of guy. But that isn't the fault of Settlers of Catan...

 

[Pbartender]

What have you done about it?

I'm experimenting with using Dread for a campaign-length game.

 

[JDJblatherings]

hmm your question has part of the answer in it somewhere.

"What ever happened to "just playing the game and enjoying the story?" "


What ever happend to just playing the game?

 

[Crothian]

We still just play the game and enjoy the story. We've done that for a couple decades and with many gaming systems. I never found that d20 forced us into anything different.

 

[DungeonMaester]

It all depends on the players. Some players are passive and will simply let the story happen to them via the Dm telling them everything. Other players want to actively engage in telling the story. The Dm and the groups should get together and decide if D&D is going to be a seris of mechanics that allow them to do stuff in the game world or if D&D is a canvass for players to tell stories.

---Rusty

 

[DM_Jeff]

>>What ever happened to "just playing the game and enjoying the story?"

I've been doing that for 28 year beginning next month, and 3.x has done nothing but actually help strengthen my stories, so I'm not of the same perspective.

On the other hand I squint in suspicion about the original post (not nthe poster) because I've heard familiar arguments from DM's who basically want things to go their way no matter what the rules say. They grumble when their whacky ideas get questioned by the players because they suddenly throw out all rules and mechanics for whatever lousy character-killing idea they have and can't be bothered to know how the rules work (but still expect the PCs to adhere to the rules).

-DM Jeff

 

[Greg K]

I agree with those that say don't tell a story. For me the game is about creating a story as the game unfolds. As a DM I provide context with the setting elements, but ultimately its about characters and the players actions determine the direction the game takes and the story develops. They may decide to go off on tangents or off in a direction that I had not otherwised plan, but it is their decisions for their charcters.

As for players arguing about availability of splat material, that is a player issue. I make it clear upfront which material (e.g., books, classes, class variants, PrCs etc. ) are and are not available for the campaign. Often, I'll even place a few racial and class combinations at the start which are not normally available based upon cultures (although it is possible to have someone grow up in an entirely different culture which will change some racial abilties). However, if a player started arguing or whining about not allowing a particular book or item, they would be shown the door. Not by myself, but by my other players, who know me and trust me to run a good game.

 

[Rechan]

I've never experienced this problem. o.o