There's this constant drumbeat in the hobby about "Story". The Forgites clamour for "Story now!", Andy Kitowski named his post-Forge message board Story Games, some good folks over at theRPGsite have a lengthy thread going called Game; Story. (The latter and threads like it are what prompted this post.) And you know what? I don't get it.
Seriously. Lord knows I've tried. I tried to keep up with the Forge for a while, I read all the big honkin essays. I've downloaded and/or pruchased a slew of story-oriented games. I've even played a few of them. And the more I try to figure out what the hell is going on the more confused I become.
What I'm about to lay on you is going to sound anti-intellectual but it isn't. It's just simple-minded. Story, to me, is one of those things you recall with your gaming buddies weeks or months or years after the game. "Hey, wasn't it cool that time we took out the Elf Hater and his cronies in that tavern?" "We?!? Your little xvart hid behind the bar the whole fight!"
The story didn't happen until after the events themselves occurred. Stories are always already retellings of events past. Those of you out there trying to build stories as you go are speaking incomprehensible moon language to me. I feel like you're trying to skip your PCs lives and get right to the highlight reel.
Does anybody else see what I'm saying?
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Yes, I get what you're saying. Though frankly I'm not sure it's so hard to get. Maybe I need to read these threads of which you speak, but it's pretty obvious to me that your game tells a story as it goes along; is that not as obvious as I think it is?
ReplyDeleteIn my head, there's Story and there's Plot. (I'm capitalizing them for emphasis only). "Story" is what happens or happened; "Plot" is why and how. Both of these are gonna happen in an RPG, no matter what you do. Okay, okay, a game made up of random encounters with no real rhyme or reason won't have much of a plot, but you could call eac encounter a little story in itself.
I'm kind of whith Settembrini, too -- I don't really feel the need to explore it any further, myself. To me, it's like saying, "I'm gonna put on some sneakers. Shoe Size Now!"
"it's pretty obvious to me that your game tells a story as it goes along; is that not as obvious as I think it is?"
ReplyDeleteI don't see anything wrong with that statement. Your "shoe size now!" comment is exactly where I am at. Either we or they are completely missing the point or (as Settembrini argues) there are at least 2 approaches to RPGS that are so radically different that calling them the same hobby is a mistake.
Yeah, that's always been my reaction to it. I enjoy a lot of indie games, but...
ReplyDeleteSometimes, I really have to wonder if all the talk of dysfunctional play is a product of the group or a product of the individual. I played RPGs for years, with tons of different groups, at cons, and elsewhere, and my good gaming sessions easily outnumber the bad ones.
So yeah, story. Remember that time the paladin rang the alarm gong after we spent 10 rounds fighting to stop the orcs from doing just that? Good times man, good times.
- Mearls
"To me, it's like saying, "I'm gonna put on some sneakers. Shoe Size Now!"
ReplyDeleteI'm down with this, too.
Yeah. Story is remember-when. RPGs (at least, the kind I'm familiar with) are about the here-and-now of a character's life, even if that "here-and-now" is a long time ago in a galaxy far far away.
ReplyDeleteAnd story ... you can get story any-old-where. RPGs let us explore our favorite genres and settings unecumbered by the needs of story. An RPG adventure can be both larger and smaller than "story," and in both cases be excellent for it.
Hey, Andy. Thanks for taking the time to write up the response. I was kinda afraid when I wrote this that some of the cool "Dirty Hippies" would take this post as some sort of attack. I am thrilled that you seem to dig that I can totally not get it without being hostile.
ReplyDelete