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Message: <blockquote data-quote="AbdulAlhazred" data-source="post: 7405214" data-attributes="member: 82106">This I do. I suspect this is not really something avoided by people who espouse story now play in general. I mean, it could be or not be used. It doesn't necessarily imply any particular situation, etc. OTOH I don't generate these things way ahead of time, like before I get a game rolling. I might not even have anyone interested in running into orcs, nor a reason to threaten something with them, or whatever. Still, if I'm running something like 4e I probably already have dozens, maybe 100's, of these sorts of things available, so they are definitely there and useful.Yeah, maybe. I mean, with the advent of the Internet this stuff is now so ubiquitous its hard to say we don't ALL have a pretty extensive library of these, albeit they may need some tweaking for a specific game. Mostly though I try to stick to 'no myth' situations, or else have DW-esque "lots of holes in it" stuff. I find it clears my thinking. If I have a map, then I'm trying to wedge what the players want into some sort of route on that map instead of thinking about it dramatic terms. More than any other single factor, the non-existence of a distinction between 'monster' and 'npc' in 4e sold me on that game. Sure, I don't think the sorts of motives PCs have need to be, or maybe in most games even SHOULD be, big flashy specific things like 'Collect the Seven Swords', it was a bit of an extreme (but valid) example. MANY times a character may just say "I love my village and I will die for it" or just "I love my village" (and what will you do about that is the story). "Over the Wall" is, if I understand it correctly, an OSR-like game that has that focus. This brings another point, the focus doesn't HAVE to be brought individually by the players, DitV, or OTW, for example come with 'built in' agendas, though I'm sure characters and individual games can have variations and additional material.Sure, and I think Story Now is also a good way to do those. It is less a perfect fit for true exploration/puzzle type games, some other things maybe where the players demand heavy back story and loads of different highly detailed scenes perhaps? Anyway, it is good for any story where motivations and beliefs are a big part, like 'hometown hero' type stories.Yeah, and I think in all the furor over how this or that can't be done this or that or the other way the point has been kinda lost here too. Just because a game is 'Story Now' doesn't mean its 'Climax Now!' It can be a long drawn-out process of playing through little things if you wish it. The little things that will get focus will just be the ones that DO elicit some level of characterization, as a rule. I also see a flip side to this. When you play through the vast bulk of every character's life, there's a sort of pressure to make things happen at a faster in-game pace. Sure, you are 'not hurrying', but STILL there's only so many game sessions, even in a LONG campaign! If I'm focusing more on specific 'weighty' moments (in character terms) then I can afford to pace things out in terms of the character's story. I can skip 5 years if that makes more sense. I mean, you could too, but it seems opposed to the general philosophy of 'get all the choices and make them all' that you guys seem to want (like skipping past all the boring side corridors in Moria). OK, I just don't feel like spending years of real life on that one project! Its a game, lets get on with it. There's nothing wrong with moving on to the key parts. I can still assemble parties and do this and that and the other to prepare before I slay dragons. I can play that out for 3 months, I think that's more than enough time. I think you might find a LOT of players secretly feel the same way. I just feel like I'd be bored to death. I'm not that into RPing guard duty, and given that its a game, I'm not interested in the idea of "doing what needs to be done to get the reward". I want to play where I get to do cool fantastic stuff that isn't possible in real life. If I want guard duty I can join the army!</blockquote>

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