Why do you play?

[pawsplay]

1. Why do you play D&D? (DMing or as a player)

To obtain dramaturgical experiences imbedded in a game of incomplete information, with the benefit of seeing psychology in action.

2. Would you say that D&D is an outlet for your creativity or are you creative for the sake of playing D&D?

An outlet.

3. Follow-up: Why create through D&D? Why not write a story? Or create through some other outlet? What does D&D offer that appeals to you or is unique to itself?

Uncertainty. Meaningful choice. RPG characters are different from other characters; right before a player makes a choice, there is a real chance they could decide one thing or the other, and so a character who is capable of making such a choice is necessarily more psychological and contextual than one who has made such a choice.

Throw in also in interest in codifying and analyzing things about characters, worlds, and ideas.

4. In your opinion, who owns your past campaigns / adventures that you’ve DMed?
follow-up: Would whether or not you ran a published adventure affect your answer?

We do. Running a published adventure is just a jumping off point; we own our games just as much as Shakespeare owned his version of Macbeth.

5. In your opinion, who owns your past PCs?
follow-up: Would whether or not you were run through a published adventure affect your answer?

I own my PCs. Even if it's pre-gen, even if it's a character from a book, I take ownership of the characters and their lives.

6. When playing (DM or PC) are you more impressed with originality or familiarity in the story? Why? (something you’ve never seen before or a clever reference to other stories, mythology, popular culture, etc.)

Neither. I am interested in a compelling story with real choices. Some mixture of originality and familiarity is necessary to do this, and the ratio varies from game to game, session to session.

7. Granted that D&D is a game with rules and so on, how do you win? (good storytelling? killing the monsters? getting phat lewt?)

You have an inner experience.

8. In your view, what is the point of a game system’s rules?

To resolve storytelling questions that cannot be answered by a character's choice to do one thing or another, and to constrain character choices within what is conceived, in that game, to be the possible.

9. What is the best moment in a session and (more importantly) why?

Moments of pure, total surprise.

10. What is your favourite D&D memory and (more importantly) why? (Though I’m interested in creativity and storytelling, don’t feel limited to that. I’m interested in the reasoning as much as I’m interested in the moment)

When I was a fairly young child, there was a player on the block, an older teenager, who ran killer games and was always bragging about his character, an immortal wizard of very high level. He boasted his character was unbeatable, and I and my neighbor challenged him to prove it in a killer dungeon of our own design. While my partner came up with some interesting idea, in truth, we shut him down in the first two rooms. In the first room, I came up with an elaborate trap that involved a collapsing staircase. The wizard's player easily detected the trap and sent his familar forward to scout, unaware that the whole point of the exercise was to separate him from his familiar. He noticed the illusory wall at the end of the hallway, and ordered his familiar through it. However, the illusion was also meant to be found; directly behind the wall was a tremendously long fall, onto spikes. At this point, the player was enraged at the loss of his beloved ferret.

He proceeded into the next room, and found, I think, a dracolich. Dispatching the beast and scooping up its treasure, he found a secret door. Opening it, he came face to face with a Mirror of Opposition. His nearly unstoppable PC was now faced with a doppelganger of identical powers. He attempted to kill his double, forgetting that he was virtually immune to most spells. His double then lured him into an anti-magic zone, whereupon he was crushed with a giant block of stone. As he was technically still alive, his double then sealed the room off and left him trapped there for eternity.

Apart from the poetic justice of the whole thing, I think it was an excellent demonstration of the futilty of powergaming a PC and trying to "win" against the DM. I felt very satisfied with having both killed the damned familiar, hitting him where it hurts, followed by turning a deific character into an absolutely powerless captive. I think it was an excellent lesson in hubris for the wizard's player, and to me an excellent exercise in creativity. My co-DM learned, I think, the value of cutting to the chase when you want to screw somebody over. It also put my Grimtooth-honed trap skills to work.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

1. Why do you play D&D? (DMing or as a player)

As a DM, I like to design interesting worlds/campaigns for my buddies to muck up. I like the story that results.

As a player, I like being in the more active side of the storytelling.

As a DM, I like combat and roleplay equally, but as a player, I'm more about the roleplay. I don't care if my PC is good in combat as long as he, she or it is interesting. Some of my friends would even say that I get my biggest kick out of character design...and I can't say they're wrong.

2. Would you say that D&D is an outlet for your creativity or are you creative for the sake of playing D&D?

More the former than the latter.

3. Follow-up: Why create through D&D? Why not write a story? Or create through some other outlet? What does D&D offer that appeals to you or is unique to itself?

I do write stories (and have many other creative outlets as well), but RPGs give you a more immediate and direct feedback.

Imagine, if you will, being an author who, just as he writes the final word of his story, has someone tell him- "Man, that changed my life!" or "I really connected with the main character!"

As a DM, you get feedback every session- the equivalent of that same author getting to talk directly to his fans right after finishing a chapter.

4. In your opinion, who owns your past campaigns / adventures that you’ve DMed?
follow-up: Would whether or not you ran a published adventure affect your answer?

Assuming it is something I wrote- a "homebrew" if you will, then I'm the owner of the world and the adventures. The less I borrow from other sources, the more I own.

The PCs would be the property of the players who created them.

If I'm running a published adventure, then the adventure belongs to the publisher. I'm just a ref, not a creator.

I no more own that than a parent who reads a bedtime story to his kids. My reading (a "performance") may be copyrightable- like the performance of a piece of music- but the underlying work belongs to the writer.

5. In your opinion, who owns your past PCs?
follow-up: Would whether or not you were run through a published adventure affect your answer?

I own my PCs. Admittedly, I may have to excise certain parts to remove other people's creative content, but barring a complete lift of someone else' work, I'm the owner of that intellectual property.

6. When playing (DM or PC) are you more impressed with originality or familiarity in the story? Why? (something you’ve never seen before or a clever reference to other stories, mythology, popular culture, etc.)

Both can impress me, but what matters most is the fun.

But given the choice, I'm more impressed with originality because its by far the rarer commodity.

7. Granted that D&D is a game with rules and so on, how do you win? (good storytelling? killing the monsters? getting phat lewt?)

You "win" only by having fun. You may achieve certain goals, but there are really no traditional "victory conditions."

8. In your view, what is the point of a game system’s rules?

They provide a system for dispute resolution. IOW, they prevent things like the old argument from playing "Cowboys and Indians":

"I shot you!"
"No you didn't"
"Yes I did!"
"Nuh-uh!"

ad infinitum.

9. What is the best moment in a session and (more importantly) why?

It varies from session to session.

Getting past any significantly difficult challenge- be it a tough riddle, getting just the right roll of the die to vanquish a foe, or roleplaying your way out of a tight situation- is a rush.

Sometimes its a moment of heroism. Sometimes its a bit of comedy.

10. What is your favourite D&D memory and (more importantly) why? (Though I’m interested in creativity and storytelling, don’t feel limited to that. I’m interested in the reasoning as much as I’m interested in the moment)

I have several- mostly about heroism in the face of staggering odds.

I still remember my first game ever. In the adventure's penultimate room, my fighter- the last surviving member of the party- almost killed a Purple Worm. He and the Worm both had 4HP left, and initiative was simultaneous. The Worm hit, he didn't.

Despite his demise, that epic battle hooked me.

A few years later, Bear, a fighter strong of body but weak of mind, held off the city watch while the Party escaped...because Bear's "best buddy" (the thief who tricked him with promises of friendship) had stolen something of great value. The thief was later killed by the Party, and the loot returned...and they refused the reward. That death sequence was so memorable that my fellow players made note of it, and it caused a permanent change in the campaign.

Another PC managed to one-shot a Lich with a Mace of Disruption on a demi-plane of evil- so unlikely an event that her deity took notice of the event and rewarded her at that instant. (The sequence of rolls was at such long odds that it was equivalent to winning a state lottery.)

OTOH, a Dwarf PC of supreme toughness failed so spectacularly at a sequence of Constitution-based and anti-magic based saving throws that he died...polymorphed into a frog and ultimately reduced to ashes. (The sequence of rolls was also at such long odds that it was equivalent to winning a state lottery.) A death? Yes, but quite comedic.

 

[El Mahdi]

1. Why do you play D&D? (DMing or as a player)

I play for many reasons: to spend time with friends, to flex my imagination/creativity, and just as equally - the love of good old fashioned, childish make-believe (something we adults forget all to easily and to our own detriment).

I DM for the obvious creativity aspect, but I also DM for the challenge. DM'ing has the aspects of: on the fly, creative storytelling - and the necessity of managing multiple threads at once such as players, npc's, story, plot, rules adjudication and improvisational acting. When I pull it off successfully according to the standards I set for myself, I have an immense sense of accomplishment. It's kind of like falling down a flight of stairs and landing on your feet, and making it look like that's what you meant to do.

2. Would you say that D&D is an outlet for your creativity or are you creative for the sake of playing D&D?

It's an outlet for my creativity.

3. Follow-up: Why create through D&D? Why not write a story? Or create through some other outlet? What does D&D offer that appeals to you or is unique to itself?

Because D&D is a real-time and interactive, creative medium with immediate feedback and gratification.

4. In your opinion, who owns your past campaigns / adventures that you’ve DMed?
follow-up: Would whether or not you ran a published adventure affect your answer?

Whether player or DM, everyone who was present during the game. The story that happens when a group is together, whether similiar to other peoples games or groups, is still a unique entity. The story is a collaborative effort of everyone at the table, therefore it belongs to all who were at that table. The only difference to whether it was a published adventure or not, is that I would consider the basic adventure story to be a copyrighted work belonging to the author of the adventure. That means I wouldn't write and publish a story based off the game session, at least not one that exactly followed the copyrighted adventure.

5. In your opinion, who owns your past PCs?
follow-up: Would whether or not you were run through a published adventure affect your answer?

I do, but I also feel that anyone who played in (or DM'd) the game where the PC was used also has the right to freely use it. Whether it was used in a published adventure I feel is irrelevent to PC's. PC's are the creation of the players, not the adventure's author. The story of the PC is partially shaped by the influence of the other players and DM, therefore they have as much right to use it as the specific player. (Technically I feel that the author of the adventure has the same right to use the PC's, but since they don't know of the existance of the PC, it's irrelevent.)

6. When playing (DM or PC) are you more impressed with originality or familiarity in the story? Why? (something you’ve never seen before or a clever reference to other stories, mythology, popular culture, etc.)

I want a mix of familiarity and originality. Without the familiar you have no common reference to relate to the story, but without any originality it would be just a tedious and boring retell of a story you've already heard.

7. Granted that D&D is a game with rules and so on, how do you win? (good storytelling? killing the monsters? getting phat lewt?)

Being part of the creation and telling of an entertaining and enjoyable story. If I (as DM or player) and the other players find ourselves talking about the game session (story) after the game is over, then it's a win. But even if we don't, I won't necessarily see it as a loss. In a way it's kind of like sex. Even though, technicaly, there is such a thing as bad sex, most people would agree that the only truly bad sex would be the absence of it.

8. In your view, what is the point of a game system’s rules?

A structure and framework for character equity and action adjudication/resolution.

9. What is the best moment in a session and (more importantly) why?

At the end of an adventure or plot line when the players have that look on their face that says, "that was so cool". That only happens when the players are able to really get into and participate in the story.

10. What is your favourite D&D memory and (more importantly) why? (Though I’m interested in creativity and storytelling, don’t feel limited to that. I’m interested in the reasoning as much as I’m interested in the moment)

It may be a common one, but it's from the very first time I played D&D. I was playing with a group of people who had been playing for quite a while (at least ten years - since their teens). I had just made my first character and was basically following the rest of the group as I learned how to play. We broke into a chamber in a tomb where we were attacked by a Stone Golem. It was a long hard fight that almost killed a couple of characters. We eventually got it knocked prone and on my turn, I was able to deliver the killing blow to it. We had a pretty good DM, and I guess I have a pretty good imagination, because I had such a cool picture in my head of what was happening. It may have been just a common stone golem, but it's still one of my most memorable D&D memories.




I hope you find this useful. And, good luck on the paper.

 

[Ginnel]

1. Why do you play D&D? (DMing or as a player)

I play to have fun, simple.

2. Would you say that D&D is an outlet for your creativity or are you creative for the sake of playing D&D?

It's an outlet, other forms of entertainment require less creativity.
And most other forms of outlets for creativity are less entertaining.

3. Follow-up: Why create through D&D? Why not write a story? Or create through some other outlet? What does D&D offer that appeals to you or is unique to itself?

Its different for DM and player, I create as a DM to fufil my own selfish desires to demonstrate my storytelling ability and creativity, I also do it to provide entertainment for my friends.
As a player I play because I enjoy new and exciting stories. Its the reason I watch DVDs or read books to be able to experience as many different lives through stories as possible.

4. In your opinion, who owns your past campaigns / adventures that you’ve DMed?
follow-up: Would whether or not you ran a published adventure affect your answer?

Well I would own my campaign of course, if I ran a pre published adventure anything printed in the manual would be the publishers anything I made up in the campaign would be mine (whether it be an NPCs accent or decision he made or an entire)

5. In your opinion, who owns your past PCs?
follow-up: Would whether or not you were run through a published adventure affect your answer?

Same as the answer above, I own my PCs however anything obtained from a published source still belongs to the publisher (gear, spells, even whole characters if running a pregen or playing a character from a particular source Frodo from lord of the rings for example)

6. When playing (DM or PC) are you more impressed with originality or familiarity in the story? Why? (something you’ve never seen before or a clever reference to other stories, mythology, popular culture, etc.)

Originality, every single time. I want new stories, or new ways of seeing old ones.

7. Granted that D&D is a game with rules and so on, how do you win? (good storytelling? killing the monsters? getting phat lewt?)

This is something I don't understand about people, its not a competitive game so, you do not win, period.

8. In your view, what is the point of a game system’s rules?

To facilitate the story.

9. What is the best moment in a session and (more importantly) why?

The best moment in a session is usually when someone does something original or unexpected, something which makes you go wow I wish I'd thought of that.

10. What is your favourite D&D memory and (more importantly) why? (Though I’m interested in creativity and storytelling, don’t feel limited to that. I’m interested in the reasoning as much as I’m interested in the moment)

Probably not what your looking for but My favourite D&D memory is when I used to play with my friends in Lancaster, it reminds me of my friends and the good times I spent with them.

If I had to narrow it down to an actual in game moment it would be in a Marvel game where my character and another players (think mine as clarke kent and his as lex luthor from Smallville) were part of a team and we were having an in character chat to in oppsite to usual where instead of him suggesting something morally ambiguous and myself acting as the moral compass the roles were reversed.
It was the intensity of the emotions and actually feeling like I was that character at that time (something which I find truly difficult to do) which made this a favourite.

If you've gotten this far, I'd like to thank you for your time. It's very much appreciated.

Your Welcome

 

[steenan]

While I play D&D, it covers only a little part of my gaming needs and experiences. Thus, I answer your questions speaking of RPGs in general. If restricted to D&D, at least some of the following answers would be invalid.

1. Why do you play RPGs? (DMing or as a player)

- to immerse in personality and culture much different than my own
- to ask hard questions and to make moral decisions (that I won't have an opportunity to take or would rather not be forced to take in real life)
- to imagine unique worlds, creatures and scenes; the exercise of imagination is, in itself, very pleasurable
- to produce and feel strong emotions; to achieve catharsis
- to overcome challenges by my skill and ingenuity
- to create a story that is worth retelling
- to play with numbers, find combos, optimize
No system I know satisfies all these needs, but it is not a problem - in a given single session only two or three of them are my goals. I play many different RPGs and they cater to different styles of play.

2. Would you say that RPG is an outlet for your creativity or are you creative for the sake of playing RPG?

Both. Running and playing RPG teaches me creativity, but it also allows me to channel ideas I could not present in a different way. On the other hand, I do not play nor GM as a form of artistic expression (or, at least, it is not the highest priority) - this, I think, moves me more to the "creative for the sake of RPG" side.

3. Follow-up: Why create through RPG? Why not write a story? Or create through some other outlet? What does RPG offer that appeals to you or is unique to itself?

As I said above, artistic creation is not my main goal in RPG. What I aim for cannot be achieved without interaction - and freedom of interaction. This rules out both writing stories an creating computer games.

4. In your opinion, who owns your past campaigns / adventures that you’ve DMed?

Campaigns, seen as stories, are authored by the whole group. None of us would publish it in any form without the rest agreeing.
Campaign backgroungs, locations, NPCs and items are mine own. I may use them as I wish, while others should ask my permission. Of course, I won't generally oppose when any of my friends wants to run something in "my" world and reuse some of my materials; it's nice when they ask, but I won't say no. If they wanted to use it in a published work, it is another story - I would have to see what exactly they make of it before I agree.

follow-up: Would whether or not you ran a published adventure affect your answer?

Last time I ran a published adventure was more than 10 years ago. And I don't think I'm going to do it anytime in the future.

5. In your opinion, who owns your past PCs?

Me. On the other hand, without the stories they took part in they do not mean much. It is the same as with GMing materials above - I would only care if someone wanted to use my PC in a published work.

6. When playing (DM or PC) are you more impressed with originality or familiarity in the story? Why? (something you’ve never seen before or a clever reference to other stories, mythology, popular culture, etc.)

The best stories have some of both worlds. I'm impressed when I see a perfect mix.
Too much familiarity and you get a cliche or a string of post-modern puns. Too much originality and you get a freak show. Stories (and roleplaying games) should be familiar enough to have meaning and original enough to surprise and fascinate.

7. Granted that RPG is a game with rules and so on, how do you win? (good storytelling? killing the monsters? getting phat lewt?)

I win when an adventure (or at least a crucial part of it) I ran or played in is remembered for years. It can be caused by a unique, memorable character; by a plot twist that surprised everybody; by a great scene described and imagined; by a conflict, emotion and choices made; even by a cool one-liner. Sometimes it is a collective achievement, sometimes all credit goes to the GM or a single player.

8. In your view, what is the point of a game system’s rules?

- to decide what can and what cannot be done in it (simulate, how the world works, so that a shared imagined space emerges)
- to encourage the style of play the system and setting are designed for
- to allow fair resolution of conflicts
- to create opportunities for interesting decisions during character creation and in play

9. What is the best moment in a session and (more importantly) why?

It is impossible to say. I couldn't even answer this question for a random session from my RPG experience, because some of them had several great moments and some were bland for the whole length. Answering it in general - just can't be done. I may only try to give a few examples, answering the next questions.

10. What is your favourite RPG memory and (more importantly) why? (Though I’m interested in creativity and storytelling, don’t feel limited to that. I’m interested in the reasoning as much as I’m interested in the moment)

There are many great memories and I don't feel I can decide which one is my favorite. Each one has a different feel, is seen from different perspective, has happened in a different game. To list a few:
Three vampires (PCs) and a helpless girl, daughter of a vampire hunter we were using to lure her father into a trap and who was meant to be changed into a vampire herself after that. A discussion about plans, about value of free choice and living by own heart, about fate, about rules, about emotional wounds everyone had. Four extremely different points of view, four persons changed forever by what was said. And the final decision to let the girl go.
A noble sidhe and a boy, no more than 8 years old, possesed by a demon. Confrontation both know to be final. Eyes fixed, power escalating, manifesting in gusts of wind, in flames, rising higher and higher. A few words, a short apology. A single strike.
Party investigating the mysterious death of one PC's girlfriend, realizing that by following the events of her last days they walk the same path of initiation she went through. The greatest moment was when they saw how far they went; when it became obvious that not only social and moral, but even physical laws are not absolute, rather a mirage than reality. They talked, but had increasing problems with perceiving a coherent world they were used to, with seeing each other as humans. As an act of desperation one of them grabbed a newspaper and read an article, just to bring his mind back to human matters - and only after doing so realized that the newspaper was in a foreign language he never learned and should understand not a sentence of.
An NPC telling the party who sent the blackmail they were investigating - and the angry roar of the players, realizing they knew everything that was necessary to figure it out for the long time, and still somebody had to help them.
A powerful demon destroyed in less than a round by our party, after a series of extremely lucky rolls (as if all our luck waited for the whole adventure to show up in the climax).
All contain powerful emotions, but the reasons are different. In the first, it is the moral choice, deciding on other person's life and fate - something we do in nearly every gaming session without a second thought, but in the scene I described we felt the whole weight of it. In the second one - determination; having a single goal that must be achieved and nothing else matters. In the third - leaving all that is known and understood, exploring what is alien. It was played perfectly by the group I ran the adventure for; I never saw inhumanity presented so well, without falling into a cliche. In the fourth - my own satisfaction from creating a mystery so simple and so hard at the same time (I never repeated such a plot, because I know it may be very frustrating for the players - but that single time is priceless). And finally the last one, just the joy of victory in a situation we perceived as very risky if not completely hopeless, joy of duty fulfilled, of being a real hero.

 

[Hand of Evil]

1. Why do you play D&D? (DMing or as a player)

Socialize, escapism, and mental exercises – it is a creative outlet and a way to socialize with my peers and people I have things in common with.

2. Would you say that D&D is an outlet for your creativity or are you creative for the sake of playing D&D?

Both. I feel I am creative mentally but it is the form that my creativity has taken, maybe I could be a director of movies or an actor or a writer or a painter, or a hundred different things, D&D is my canvas and muse.

3. Follow-up: Why create through D&D? Why not write a story? Or create through some other outlet? What does D&D offer that appeals to you or is unique to itself?

I do create though another outlet (poser artist) but it is the story telling that appeals to me with D&D, it is the building of a plot, a stage, and populating it with characters. You then place the random element of the players in it, this is the game, the interaction of players and DMs, you know the start, and even the end but it is what happens in the middle that is the fun.

4. In your opinion, who owns your past campaigns / adventures that you’ve DMed?
follow-up: Would whether or not you ran a published adventure affect your answer?

The publisher – I just run the game.

5. In your opinion, who owns your past PCs?
follow-up: Would whether or not you were run through a published adventure affect your answer?

I do – characters are personalities, even pre-generated ones, during a game, you put a bit of yourself into them.

6. When playing (DM or PC) are you more impressed with originality or familiarity in the story? Why? (something you’ve never seen before or a clever reference to other stories, mythology, popular culture, etc.)

Both – what can be originality to some may be a little know fact or culture reference. It is all in the presentation.

7. Granted that D&D is a game with rules and so on, how do you win? (good storytelling? killing the monsters? getting phat lewt?)

D&D is a game with objectives; save the girl, kill the monster, stop the plot, you win by meeting those objectives, D&D is just open ended, in that the game can continue with an additional objective. You are winning if you are having fun.

8. In your view, what is the point of a game system’s rules?

Best representation of conditions and outcomes.

9. What is the best moment in a session and (more importantly) why?

Fun. When everyone is having fun you know you are doing something right.

10. What is your favorite D&D memory and (more importantly) why? (Though I’m interested in creativity and storytelling, don’t feel limited to that. I’m interested in the reasoning as much as I’m interested in the moment)

When the players found out that their major antagonist was one of the characters mother (she was trying to separate her son from the party, get him a job, wife, home). It created a dilemma, shock and thought in the players.

 

[Mengu]

1. Why do you play D&D? (DMing or as a player)

It's a social game we get to play interact with each other, roleplay, have fun. It's mental gymnastics when it comes to combat. It's a step away from reality into creativity we get to enjoy a few times a month.

2. Would you say that D&D is an outlet for your creativity or are you creative for the sake of playing D&D?

It's certainly an outlet. Part of why I like to DM.

3. Follow-up: Why create through D&D? Why not write a story? Or create through some other outlet? What does D&D offer that appeals to you or is unique to itself?

Oh but D&D is so much better than writing a story, it's the cooperative telling of a story. Writing has too many headaches, and not enough rewards (I tip my hat off to anyone who is an actual writer, they need to love it to keep at it). D&D is not just a creative outlet, it's a game.

4. In your opinion, who owns your past campaigns / adventures that you’ve DMed?
follow-up: Would whether or not you ran a published adventure affect your answer?

Owns? I don't understand this question.

5. In your opinion, who owns your past PCs?
follow-up: Would whether or not you were run through a published adventure affect your answer?

Owns? I don't understand this question either.

6. When playing (DM or PC) are you more impressed with originality or familiarity in the story? Why? (something you’ve never seen before or a clever reference to other stories, mythology, popular culture, etc.)

I'm more impressed with the uniqueness of how situations are handled. Originality or familiarity both happen, sometimes it's a situation we've never been in before, sometimes, it's a scene out of a starwars movie everyone recognizes immediately. But fighting an otyough in a enclosing trash compacter might see vastly different character interaction than the movies. And that's where the fun begins.

7. Granted that D&D is a game with rules and so on, how do you win? (good storytelling? killing the monsters? getting phat lewt?)

You leave the session with everyone looking forward to the next one, and you win.

8. In your view, what is the point of a game system’s rules?

Conflict resolution.

9. What is the best moment in a session and (more importantly) why?

Sometimes it's just a sentence from an NPC that makes the room explode in laughter. Sometimes it's a heroic act that fails miserably because of unlucky dice rolls. Sometimes it's an exchange between two characters. Sometimes it's the actions of characters in combat falling in perfect harmony for a spectacular result. It's different every time. Again, that's part of the fun.

10. What is your favourite D&D memory and (more importantly) why? (Though I’m interested in creativity and storytelling, don’t feel limited to that. I’m interested in the reasoning as much as I’m interested in the moment)

My favorite memory is my biggest failure. My character was convinced that a ritual to resurrect an old reknown paladin who was a member of my ancestry would swing the battle between good and evil toward good. It turned out we were tricked into resurrecting an anti-paladin, who when resurrected, turned to me and said "Thank you for resurrecting <insert evil paladin name>" who I knew from history had been defeated by the very paladin I was trying to resurrect.

After the anti-paladin teleported away, I remember turning all white, when realization came to me, and the hints I had missed that we were being tricked.

 

[Aberzanzorax]

Since the OP is asking specific questions, I (unusual for me) didn't read past the OP

After I type my responses, I'll go back and read others and perhaps add a new post if it strikes me to do so. (so please forgive any redundancy).

First, a metacomment. I think that your line of questioning presumes something that I am personally not in agreement with. It seems you are placing a heavier emphasis on authorship and creation of a product than I personally view D&D (or any RPG to be). I'll cover this comment in more detail in my specific answers to your questions.

I usually play d&d (3rd edition) but I've also played 2nd edition, 4th, Cthulhu, WoD-Vampire, Werewolf and Mage (the older edition), several D&D/OGL variants, and a few others. Hopefully that will give some context for my answers.

1. Why do you play D&D? (DMing or as a player)

Why I DM: As a DM I enjoy creating a story for friends and players. I like to create interesting challenges. This includes both story challenges (e.g. what is the moral thing to do?, or is it worth taking this risk?) and mechanical challenges (new traps, interesting critters, battles within terrain, etc). I enjoy both the "prep-work" where I can look through literally hundreds or thousands of ideas, including the rules for implementing them, and the play experience in which players interact with my creations, but also create things themselves.

Why I play: It's a far less "creative" experience for me than when I DM. I enjoy creating a beliveable character with goals and motivations beyond "Getz fat loots". Beyond that, I like to problem solve in battles/challenges. It is an opportunity to "have a box" so that I can then "think outside the box". For instance, a heavily trapped door might be the challenge. My solution might be to use magic to go through the wall next to the door.

2. Would you say that D&D is an outlet for your creativity or are you creative for the sake of playing D&D?

Well, both. Mostly it is an outlet for my creativity. I've always felt a drive to create. In high school my friend and I wrote a book of short stories because we were bored during classes. It circulated around the school, but wasn't published. We did it simply for the enjoyment of the task (and never intended to show it to other people or publish it, but others noticed we were up to something and so it got passed around).

If I didn't have D&D/rpgs I would be creating something else.

That said, I am also creative for the sake of playing. There are times that I need to problem solve. There are also things that I like more and like less in D&D. For instance, I like creating the larger concepts of the story and the interaction between, say different magic spells to create a surprising challenge. I'm not a huge fan of pounding out/adding up all the numbers to create a finalized NPC. But I do that for the sake of the game, and a sense of completion as well. So there are some creative "chores" that I do specifically for the game, but mostly I use the game as a means to focus and direct my creativity that I'd use in other ways if I didn't have the game. (This would be akin to a storywriter enjoying writing a story, but not enjoying going back and editing/proofreading the story on, say the third or fourth pass).

3. Follow-up: Why create through D&D? Why not write a story? Or create through some other outlet? What does D&D offer that appeals to you or is unique to itself?

For me, creation in D&D is not just creation. It is not like writing a story in every way. I think that many people (as do I) use this as a very general description of D&D. It's more than that. It is a game. This addresses the "metathought" I brought up earlier.

I make the toy so I can play with it.

A story is written to express ideas and share them with others. This is fundamentally different than expressing ideas that interact with others ideas and create a shared experience. But that isn't d&d either. That would be a group story/brainstorm. D&D is also a game that includes ideas and rules for their implementation. It is an opportunity for pretend along a number of themes, but also a set of rules for resolving the conflicts in those themes. This is the real difference for me. It is a story that can't just be written any which way. It has limits that promote creativity. (Imagine telling an art class: "Make art." I'm sure you'd get a ton of products of varying qualities. I'd also bet many or most people would fall back on what they felt comfortable in creating. Now imagine telling an art class: "Make art. You must use only paperclips and glue." This would push the students to break the boundaries of what they had become accustomed to in the past and express art in new ways. So it is with having rules within which to tell a story. Sometimes limits promote, rather than stifle, creativity.)

Additionally, much of the creativity in D&D is not "story" but rather "social" or even "analytical". It is the blend of a variety of types of creativity that I so enjoy. Yes, there is a skeletal story, but also there are the interactions of players. If a dm is not "railroading", the story will not go in the direction he intends...indeed there will be no "intended" story at all...it will be a set of ideas and challenges and hints at a world that the players interact with. These interactions bring out the "actor" in many players (hence the social challenge/creativity). The analytical creativity comes when players use their statistics to battle monsters and NPCs with their statistics. Though manipulation of statistics in an analytical fashion is not often the first thing people think of when they speak of creativity, here think of engineering and architecture, both of which have created many new and inspiring things / structures.

4. In your opinion, who owns your past campaigns / adventures that you’ve DMed?
follow-up: Would whether or not you ran a published adventure affect your answer?

Here again, the "metacomment." No one owns it. Also, I own it. Also the publisher owns it. The experience is the heart of the game. That is not owned. If I write an adventure, I own it. If a publisher prints an adventure, they own it (though I own my copy, but not the IP).

Do my players have a shared ownership? I'd argue yes, but that it is a small percentage. If I intended to publish something I ran for them, I'd work out an agreement with everyone ahead of time to set clear boundaries on ownership and payments.

But we play for fun. We create for fun. Ownership is meaningless in this context, if there is no intent to publish or profit.

5. In your opinion, who owns your past PCs?
follow-up: Would whether or not you were run through a published adventure affect your answer?

This is even more "fuzzy." Each creator of a pc owns that pc. However, I believe there is a general assumption that sharing it with others shares the concept and thereby, ownership.

This is a meaningless question in most gaming. If a player creates a pc, that pc may have numerous DM related occurances (magic items given to them, permanent effects, story events) that change the pc. Hence, they both own it (though if pressed, I'd say the player owns it more). But pcs sometimes become NPCs (through death, curses, becoming evil, players retiring from the game, etc). Also PCs sometimes "jump games". I've run a game with players who used pcs from a prior game. Their old dm continued to use those characters as well, but as NPCs. There were TWO of each of their characters. Who owns which? Again, "fuzzy".

Ownership is meaningless in this context. Ownership implies purpose, which in this case is variable. If I intend to sell the pc in some way (likely through publishing/freelancing), then I make that clear and "copywright it" by saying it's mine and I reserve the right to keep it as IP. Beyond that, ownership is about relationships and choices. In my case above, where the players brought old characters to my new game and their old dm kept the characters as NPCs, everyone was in agreement that this was fine. But what if it wasn't? Could they sue their old dm for "stealing" their characters? Could they get a court issued writ stopping him from using their charactes any more? Could he countersue them, stating that he owned the characters more (because they had "broken the rules of the game" and are now his NPCs) and prevent them from using them in my game? All of these questions are, of course silly. They're silly because characters only have creative value, but not monetary value (unless published, or the intent to publish, which is a different animal).

6. When playing (DM or PC) are you more impressed with originality or familiarity in the story? Why? (something you’ve never seen before or a clever reference to other stories, mythology, popular culture, etc.)

I am most impressed with a blend of these two. Wild originality is of very little value to me, as it has no grounding. It fits with my "do art" issue. If my pc is a marshmallow person fighting evil graham crackers in a hot chocolate world where we slowly dissolve, I'm not impressed.

Also, too much familiarity is a problem. I don't want to roleplay a story that has already happened. A part of roleplaying is discovery.

So, my ideal is a clever and original blending of tropes, tales, mythology, culture, etc with a strong degree of consistency, but also intentional breaks in that consistency.

7. Granted that D&D is a game with rules and so on, how do you win? (good storytelling? killing the monsters? getting phat lewt?)

You don't win. You play to have fun. This is a "metaassumption". Think of "Duck, duck, goose" or "hide and go seek" or "tag". There is no winner. There are ups and downs, but those are three "games without end." You stop playing when you are bored, not because someone has won. Doing a "good job" is when everyone continues to have fun. That brings in the social aspect as well. Some games that don't have an end are just played to have fun and pass time, not to win. RPGs fit that most of the time.

Caveat: Sometimes people will play a "one off" session. This is usually a strategic game (like capture the flag/castle) but can be like a "horror survival" game in which you try to stay alive. Depending on the POINT, these games may or may not have "winners." For instance, a horror survival game might be more about evoking horror (perhaps even in having a laugh at the campy horror tropes) than about surival. The smart player won't go into the basement by himself, but the best player will, because that is what people do in horror movies. The point matters. If there is a point, meeting the objective is "winning". The point may be "have fun". It may be "don't let your character die". It may be anything, but a game needs to end to win, regardless. Otherwise, there is no point at which one can have "won".

8. In your view, what is the point of a game system’s rules?

To promote the ideals of that game system. Cthulhu creates fragile investiators who are afraid of encounters, and who lose sanity when they do. D&D creates heroes who charge into encounters and usually survive.

The system should have an intended theme that it evokes. Rules then ideally promote that theme, and help redirect away from things that are contrary to the theme.

9. What is the best moment in a session and (more importantly) why?

Too broad a question to answer in a specific way. It depends on which system one is playing and why one is playing the game. In a horror rpg, broadly, it is when the players are most terrified/horrified/chilled. In a heroic rpg, it is when they act heroically (which can mean self sacrifice or overcoming a great evil). In a mystery rpg it can be discovering the mystery exists or solving it.

A worthless, but accurate answer to this question is likely: "When everyone is having the most fun."

10. What is your favourite D&D memory and (more importantly) why? (Though I’m interested in creativity and storytelling, don’t feel limited to that. I’m interested in the reasoning as much as I’m interested in the moment)

My favorite memory as a player was with a character I had who was a priest of the goddess of lies. He was a wacky charicature (if you've seen "The Birdcage" he was modeled after "Agador Spartacus"), but this was because he was a liar. It was a put on persona for him. In essence, my player character was himself roleplaying. He had convinced the party that he was a thief, and during one adventure cast illusion spell after illusion spell (subtly) to completely change a moderately generic adventure battling giants into one that players and giants alike thought involved hauntings/ghosts.

WHY? I enjoyed this on so many levels, and I think that is really key. It's that roleplaying games are such a blend of different experiences all coming together that makes them appealing to me. On the one hand, I got to act silly. I also roleplayed on two separate levels (a character playing a character. This guy was also my favorite pc). I also sort of DMed, in a sense, but without overshadowing the dm or taking away from the other players. It was a good story that was improved by everyone, not just me, but I felt integral to that. I was allowed to do more than "solve quest x" as I might be forced to do in a videogame. So elements I enjoyed were: roleplaying/acting, shared storytelling, resolution of challenges, creative thinking (outside the box), having secrets, being true to my character and also true to his character, and sharing laughs and good times with friends.


I hope my answers are helpful in your paper.

If you could post the paper when it is all said and done, I'd love to read it.

 

[Wombat]

1. Why do you play D&D? (DMing or as a player)

This is the biggest question, isn't it? RPGs bring together my interests in political and military history, anthropology, archaeology, comparative religion/mythology, my wide reading in literature, storytelling, voice acting, and even amateur theatre. What else brings it all together? On top of this, I get to spend 5-7 hours every two weeks with close friends having fun together, sharing old and new jokes, and coming together to create a whole world!

2. Would you say that D&D is an outlet for your creativity or are you creative for the sake of playing D&D?

An outlet, certainly. My interests intersect in roleplaying games.

3. Follow-up: Why create through D&D? Why not write a story? Or create through some other outlet? What does D&D offer that appeals to you or is unique to itself?

Well, I do write stories and poem, and I do read these at open mics and the like; there is also something to the spontaneous nature of gaming that is exciting, as well as being directly involved with friends, thus creating a safe environment for some players.

4. In your opinion, who owns your past campaigns/adventures that you’ve DMed? follow-up: Would whether or not you ran a published adventure affect your answer?

Who owns the campaign? That is kind of a weird question... I would say "the gaming group". I do not use published settings and rarely use published adventures, or even noticeable segments of them. I create worlds as a GM, therefore I own the base concept, but it is the group as a whole that actually creates the world we game in -- each of us contributes to the shape and scope of the world.

If the setting were to be published it would be a team effort; my name would probably be first, but all the other members of my game group would be in very, very noticeable type.

5. In your opinion, who owns your past PCs? follow-up: Would whether or not you were run through a published adventure affect your answer?

Me. Period. My character, my intellectual property.

6. When playing (DM or PC) are you more impressed with originality or familiarity in the story? Why? (something you’ve never seen before or a clever reference to other stories, mythology, popular culture, etc.)

There is very little actually new under the sun; most of the ideas are recombinant, a theme-and-variation on some idea that has come before, a question and answer dealing with a specific situation. Too much "originality" leads to confusion; too much "familiarity" leads to constraint.

7. Granted that D&D is a game with rules and so on, how do you win? (good storytelling? killing the monsters? getting phat lewt?)

A good tale well told (collectively), a grand story arc, large accomplishments and/or great loss, with large emotional involvement. Equipment and "lewt" is at best tertiary; killing a creature might or might not be important.

8. In your view, what is the point of a game system’s rules?

The rules are there to support the setting and the tale; if the rules get in the way, jettison (judiciously) the rules and get back to the collective tale. Rules can place limits and constraints that help focus the tale, reminding the players that they cannot do everything. But the rules need to fit the setting, rather than the setting being forced to fit the setting.

9. What is the best moment in a session and (more importantly) why?

Generically, the best moment is one where we have collectively moved beyond the constraints of the rules and into a higher tale, an emotional truth, a powerful moment that makes us all go, "Wow... yeah, we got it right." These moments come together every 4-7 sessions, rather than every time. If they came more often, we would probably be emotional wrecks.

10. What is your favourite D&D memory and (more importantly) why? (Though I’m interested in creativity and storytelling, don’t feel limited to that. I’m interested in the reasoning as much as I’m interested in the moment)

In over 30 years of gaming, I could give you many of them, but I'll come up with a great quick one. I ran a six-plus hour session of Ars Magica for my group. After this I went home, got a bite to eat, wound down, and went to sleep. The next morning one of my housemates, who was also one of my gamers, was waiting for me at breakfast; he handed me a decent-sized document (14 pages). "What's this?" "The covenant charter." "When did you come up with this?" "Oh, we wrote it last night." "Last night? Like after the game?" "Well, yeah, we were kinda excited about everything, so we stayed up for another 10 hours, stayed in character, and created this. Hope you don't mind..."

Yes, the game could continue without the GM, could stay true to course, and could get the group that excited about collectively creating the world.

I simply couldn't be happier.

 

[Gilladian]

1. Why do you play D&D? (DMing or as a player)

For creative outlet. I don't want to be a novelist, I don't act, and I am otherwise limited in socially interactive creative outlets...

2. Would you say that D&D is an outlet for your creativity or are you creative for the sake of playing D&D?

Definitely the creativity comes first.

3. Follow-up: Why create through D&D? Why not write a story? Or create through some other outlet? What does D&D offer that appeals to you or is unique to itself?

Social interaction. Writing is very solitary (even when I have done co-authored writing).

4. In your opinion, who owns your past campaigns/adventures that you’ve DMed? follow-up: Would whether or not you ran a published adventure affect your answer?

I do. Even running a pathfinder series, I add so much, and my players as well, that the ownership is clearly mine/ours. The adventure is merely a structural framework.


5. In your opinion, who owns your past PCs? follow-up: Would whether or not you were run through a published adventure affect your answer?

See answer 4. The player owns his character. He owns his creative output. The Dm owns the rest.

6. When playing (DM or PC) are you more impressed with originality or familiarity in the story? Why? (something you’ve never seen before or a clever reference to other stories, mythology, popular culture, etc.)

I enjoy both equally. I want familiar fantasy tropes and themes, but a bit of new material makes the old come alive.

7. Granted that D&D is a game with rules and so on, how do you win? (good storytelling? killing the monsters? getting phat lewt?)

All of the above blended into the perfect mixture. None on its own is enough. Emotional bonding of players is the real win. When a group mourns the end of a game, you've won. Everyone has.

8. In your view, what is the point of a game system’s rules?

To facilitate telling the kind of story the Dm and players want to tell.

9. What is the best moment in a session and (more importantly) why?

10. What is your favourite D&D memory and (more importantly) why? (Though I’m interested in creativity and storytelling, don’t feel limited to that. I’m interested in the reasoning as much as I’m interested in the moment)

Player: The day my really stupid dwarf broke his broom of flying in a trap. He cried! The time my shadowdancer convinced a paladin that burglarizing a house was lawful, and he stood outside fending off the watch while I robbed it.

DM: Seeing the PCs realize the wizard they trusted with a captive NPC was the same one who had transformed the poor guy in the first place...and then watching them find ways to defeat the wizard after all.

Playing DnD for years with my parents, my brother and my husband.