Why Extra Credits is awesome #237

[korafox]

Because even though it's nominally about video games, there is plenty of grist for meta-consideration of roleplaying games also.  Particularly in terms of story design, pacing, and yes, even mechanics. 

And can I just say that after watching this week's episode, "How To Start Your Game Narrative" , I have even more appreciation for kilroy and the fact that he's more than willing to let us run with whatever crazy story we end up causing in any given session rather than shoehorn us into a pre-conceived plot.  Kudos to you, sir.

(Even if the gryphon problem we ignored is about to come back and bite us in the ass.)

Comments

[kilroy]

There was a campaign I ran a long time ago (the GURPS psychic campaign, for those few who remember it) which was essentially on rails despite being supposedly drama-focused. It lasted for a few sessions before I figured out that nobody was having any fun, including me. A while after I killed it, I realized that I was writing a novel and not running a game. The actual contributions of the players weren't what I was excited about-- I had a story that I was telling that I thought was cool, but the players didn't really factor in except as people to tell me how awesome the story was. It sounds kind of obvious but it was profound at the time.

Now when I prep a game it's basically just laying the board. I figure out who's involved, how they feel about things, what the major sources of conflict are. Usually I map out a few possible resolutions just to make sure there are some. Then I let my players loose. Only after they've gotten the story rolling do I step back and see if there's anywhere interesting it can go. Sometimes I'm lucky and I have a week in between to rethink everything; sometimes I just have to wing it and pray.

It's a weird way to do things and it truly only works in this format. But to be a storyteller and still retain the sense of discovering a narrative? That's priceless.