What happened to the story?

[Andre]

Amid all the crunch out there, products designed to help with story design tend to get lost. Here's one I'm reading now: Insidiae by Troll Lord Games. I finally gave up trying to read it straight through - now I keep pen and paper handy to take notes as I go. Lots of good ideas.

BTW, my personal opinion on why there are so few products specifically about story is that they're very hard to write well. In comparison, writing crunch is a breeze.

 

[MerricB]

I'll note also that in the "gazeteer" section of the ECS where it talks about each country there are half a dozen or so adventure ideas for that country.

So there are. Very nicely done as well. To which we can add adventure ideas in the LGCS, and other such books by Wizards...

Cheers!

 

[Crothian]

BTW, my personal opinion on why there are so few products specifically about story is that they're very hard to write well. In comparison, writing crunch is a breeze.

I'd say that writing good story is about as hard as good crunch, we get books filled with crunch but not always good. So where are the books of not so good story ideas? My guess is there is no real cry out for them, if millions of people wanted them we would get them.

 

[dead]

What the EGG says about story:

. . . if you are playing a game, the players should be well aware of the paramaters of the character classes and races before they create a PC with which they will PLAY A GAME.

If they want to tell stories, they might try hanging out somewhere where such people come to hear them, or else take up a career as authors of same.

Heh,
Gary

 

[Wormwood]

What the EGG says about story:

Once again, Gary speaks Truth.

AFAIAC

 

[Crothian]

Well, there is a middle ground between sitting and telling stories and playing a game. Role Playing is a bit of both, it has the rules of a game and the creativity of a story.

 

[The_Universe]

But they should be a one stop shop for role playing, right? So, if there is story in role playing shouldn't that be in the books? Or maybe the books should tell people to get the sotry elsewhere, something, anything.

I think they do - that's why they often list books/movies that inspire them. Eberron, I believe, is a recent example that notes films that can inspire the kinds of stories that are meant to be told in the setting.

 

[Glyfair]

Amid all the crunch out there, products designed to help with story design tend to get lost.

One issue I've noticed is that usually when r a product that focuses on these areas comes out, a large number of comments appear along the lines of "I can do that by myself," "I don't need help with that," "Any DM worth his salt knows these things or can figure them out, put out something useful."

A product like this has to be incredibly innovative to get the attention of a wide audience.

Also, these type of product has to carefully weigh the issues of being too specific or too general. A product focused on a campaign setting will likely be off less use for people who don't play in that setting. Even if the bits are easily transferrable, it's still likely to get less attention from those players.

On the other hand, a product that is designed to be generic often runs the risk of being considered too dry and without a lot of flavor. Generic can turn off and audience as often as being too specific.

 

[dead]

Well, there is a middle ground between sitting and telling stories and playing a game. Role Playing is a bit of both, it has the rules of a game and the creativity of a story.

My sentiments exactly.

D&D (all roleplaying games) are games, but they are also heavily influenced by a narrative and in-game experience. Rules should be explained in the setting and vice versa. This is a mark of good game design, I think.

If it were *just* a game, then why role play in it? The very act of role playing is story telling the moment you open your mouth in character.

3E removed the arbitrary rulings of previous editions that could not be explained in-game, but I'd still like to be able to buy a 3E book without being bombarded with new feats and skills and prestige classes. There's enough in the Core Rules, I say!

 

[Doug McCrae]

The very act of role playing is story telling the moment you open your mouth in character.

That's acting, not storytelling.