Picking up where we left off in the first article in this series, we review how games differ from novels in points of view, climax and denouement, multiple related stories, "story machines," and the vagaries of chance.
We previously discussed how opposed-game RPGs compare with novels in:
RPGs are naturally about multiple points of view, given several players. And each player experiences it in first person (if they wish -“I do such-and-such”), though some prefer third (“my character does this”).
In RPGs the point of view is always multiple but very personal, whether it's expressed as first person or third. Jim Butcher, author of the Dresden Files, writes the novels in first person (everything from Harry's point of view, as told by Harry). He wrote a six-novel series that's written in third person (with multiple views, if I recall correctly). He's started another series in the same third person with multiple viewpoints. I don't find them as entertaining as the Dresden Files. Is that because of the third person, or multiple viewpoints, or is it because of something else?
Your Turn: How do you balance telling a good story with playing a good game?
We previously discussed how opposed-game RPGs compare with novels in:
- Character
- Luck
- Plot
- Conflict
- Setting
- Point of View
- Climax and Denouement
- Games with Multiple Related Stories
- “Story Machines”
- The Vagaries of Chance
Point of View
There’s a lot of difference between a story with multiple points of view, and one with only one, And is it first person, or third person, or (rarely) something else?RPGs are naturally about multiple points of view, given several players. And each player experiences it in first person (if they wish -“I do such-and-such”), though some prefer third (“my character does this”).
In RPGs the point of view is always multiple but very personal, whether it's expressed as first person or third. Jim Butcher, author of the Dresden Files, writes the novels in first person (everything from Harry's point of view, as told by Harry). He wrote a six-novel series that's written in third person (with multiple views, if I recall correctly). He's started another series in the same third person with multiple viewpoints. I don't find them as entertaining as the Dresden Files. Is that because of the third person, or multiple viewpoints, or is it because of something else?
Climax and Denouement
Climax: something to conclude the main conflict. If there's a conflict, there's very likely a climax. On the other hand, denouement is “the final part of a play, movie, or narrative in which the strands of the plot are drawn together and matters are explained or resolved" - climax or not. Opposed games can have these, though not as well-controlled as in a novel.Games with Multiple Related Stories
This isn’t unusual in video games, often deriving from use of a different character. Otherwise, the video game is “done” (“beaten”) after one play-through. It’s much more common in tabletop games, because each play of the game is different. It can also be explicit, as in 50 scenarios to play in Betrayal at House on the Hill."Story Machines"
As a GM and game designer, I look for games that create unique stories through gameplay, in which players write their own stories using the hooks and constraints I’ve provided. They’re not the quality of professional stories, but they are very interesting to the participants. That’s where games succeed, after all, in their personal interest to the participants.Vagaries of Chance
In the late 70s I took part in a D&D adventure being run for a person who wanted to turn a D&D adventure into a written short story. So we tried to help make it more exciting. But we ran into the vagaries of chance. The novelist completely controls chance, the GM (usually) does not. In a novel somebody can stand in plain sight and be shot at, yet somehow every shot misses (the enemy must be Star Wars stormtroopers!). But if you're rolling dice, that person is probably going to get hit. In this particular game I had a fourth level fighter who tried to do something heroic that he normally wouldn't do, and an ogre killed him (much easier to get killed back then, zero hit points and you were Dead). That doesn't make for much of a story.Conclusion
There is a lot of difference between novels and tabletop games, which is why opposed games and stories don't mix well. In order to make a RPG much like a novel you remove it from the realm of game, which is something that you can fail at or lose, and put it into another realm. A realm of story, but not game.Your Turn: How do you balance telling a good story with playing a good game?
