Comments on: Inspiring the Game http://www.gnomestew.com/gming-advice/inspiring-the-game The Game Mastering Blog Sat, 13 Mar 2010 17:30:31 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Inspiration from the Emerald Isle - Dungeon Mastering - Dungeons and Dragons blog - DM tips, D&D books, RPG fun http://www.gnomestew.com/gming-advice/inspiring-the-game/comment-page-1#comment-3326 Inspiration from the Emerald Isle - Dungeon Mastering - Dungeons and Dragons blog - DM tips, D&D books, RPG fun Fri, 12 Dec 2008 05:06:16 +0000 http://www.gnomestew.com/?p=1589#comment-3326 [...] Inspiring the game (from Gnome Stew) GA_googleFillSlot("DM_main_leaderboards_728x90"); [...]<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('3326','Inspiration from the Emerald Isle - Dungeon Mastering - Dungeons and Dragons blog - DM tips, D&D books, RPG fun'); return false;">Reply</a> </div> [...] Inspiring the game (from Gnome Stew) GA_googleFillSlot(“DM_main_leaderboards_728×90″); [...]
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]]> By: John Arcadian http://www.gnomestew.com/gming-advice/inspiring-the-game/comment-page-1#comment-2841 John Arcadian Tue, 04 Nov 2008 18:45:39 +0000 http://www.gnomestew.com/?p=1589#comment-2841 @Troy E. Taylor: That's why I like systems like BESM or my personal favorite: Silvervine (Disclaimer: I write Silvervine.) because they allow for more narrative control over how things like that happen. When the focus is more tactical it is hard to have those unique detail elements when doing something like casting a spell. Man, now I want to run stardust the RPG. @Kurt: And here I would have thought you would get inspired by televangelists ;) http://www.gnomestew.com/specific-rpgs/1e-spotted-alive-and-well-in-a-livingroom-in-southeastern-pa#comment-2826 @Swordgleam: Did you play the song in the sessions for the campaign? I've used soundtracks or given characters and npcs their own background music before, but generally tried to keep it instrumental. I find people rarely listen to the words of a song at the gaming table. @ V. Hobbs: Have you ever seen the Planet Earth series? Wow. That makes for wonderful inspiration like you are talking about. Just the scenery and wonder evident in the landscape. @ Lee Hanna: You are absolutely right about that! Most stories tend to have a protagonist that the partaker can identify with. It makes it hard to get that epic feel when your players are your partakers are your protagonists. The spotlight has to be shared and the audience has to interact and then take turns watching. This is probably the biggest sticky wicket for transporting and re-creating those inspired moments.<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('2841','John Arcadian'); return false;">Reply</a> </div> @Troy E. Taylor: That’s why I like systems like BESM or my personal favorite: Silvervine (Disclaimer: I write Silvervine.) because they allow for more narrative control over how things like that happen. When the focus is more tactical it is hard to have those unique detail elements when doing something like casting a spell. Man, now I want to run stardust the RPG.

@Kurt: And here I would have thought you would get inspired by televangelists ;)
http://www.gnomestew.com/specific-rpgs/1e-spotted-alive-and-well-in-a-livingroom-in-southeastern-pa#comment-2826

@Swordgleam: Did you play the song in the sessions for the campaign? I’ve used soundtracks or given characters and npcs their own background music before, but generally tried to keep it instrumental. I find people rarely listen to the words of a song at the gaming table.

@ V. Hobbs: Have you ever seen the Planet Earth series? Wow. That makes for wonderful inspiration like you are talking about. Just the scenery and wonder evident in the landscape.

@ Lee Hanna: You are absolutely right about that! Most stories tend to have a protagonist that the partaker can identify with. It makes it hard to get that epic feel when your players are your partakers are your protagonists. The spotlight has to be shared and the audience has to interact and then take turns watching. This is probably the biggest sticky wicket for transporting and re-creating those inspired moments.

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]]> By: Lee Hanna http://www.gnomestew.com/gming-advice/inspiring-the-game/comment-page-1#comment-2789 Lee Hanna Wed, 29 Oct 2008 17:09:38 +0000 http://www.gnomestew.com/?p=1589#comment-2789 The biggest sticky wicket I've found in trying to translate a story is that most stories have A Hero, not a Party of different skill sets and motivations. Overcoming that is often the challenge.<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('2789','Lee Hanna'); return false;">Reply</a> </div> The biggest sticky wicket I’ve found in trying to translate a story is that most stories have A Hero, not a Party of different skill sets and motivations. Overcoming that is often the challenge.
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]]> By: V. Hobbs http://www.gnomestew.com/gming-advice/inspiring-the-game/comment-page-1#comment-2775 V. Hobbs Wed, 29 Oct 2008 09:17:51 +0000 http://www.gnomestew.com/?p=1589#comment-2775 The game that I'm currently working on preparing was inspired by a documentary on the National Geographic Channel. The show was about a group of scientists and explorers who were trying to study and explore a cavern full of massive crystals, a place with very high heat and humidity. It was an amazingly beautiful and very unusual cave. But the crystals were razor-sharp and could have cut them to ribbons if they weren't careful, and the heat and humidity were so bad that even with special protective gear, they could only stay there for a half-hour at a time at most. I was immediately fascinated and wondered if I could work some of the elements of that cave into a game. So I started writing it, and it's coming along slowly, partially because I know that I need challenges beyond the hostile environment to make a game in a fantasy setting more interesting. I haven't decided how to deal with that yet.<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('2775','V. Hobbs'); return false;">Reply</a> </div> The game that I’m currently working on preparing was inspired by a documentary on the National Geographic Channel. The show was about a group of scientists and explorers who were trying to study and explore a cavern full of massive crystals, a place with very high heat and humidity. It was an amazingly beautiful and very unusual cave. But the crystals were razor-sharp and could have cut them to ribbons if they weren’t careful, and the heat and humidity were so bad that even with special protective gear, they could only stay there for a half-hour at a time at most. I was immediately fascinated and wondered if I could work some of the elements of that cave into a game. So I started writing it, and it’s coming along slowly, partially because I know that I need challenges beyond the hostile environment to make a game in a fantasy setting more interesting. I haven’t decided how to deal with that yet.
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]]> By: Swordgleam http://www.gnomestew.com/gming-advice/inspiring-the-game/comment-page-1#comment-2773 Swordgleam Wed, 29 Oct 2008 01:12:07 +0000 http://www.gnomestew.com/?p=1589#comment-2773 Songs are definitely a common source of inspiration. My latest campaign, I got lucky - the entire thing was inspired by a single, relatively common aphorism. "It's better to light one candle than to curse the darkness." Getting my interpretation of the quote across required has been tricky, but I think it's finally sinking in.<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('2773','Swordgleam'); return false;">Reply</a> </div> Songs are definitely a common source of inspiration.

My latest campaign, I got lucky – the entire thing was inspired by a single, relatively common aphorism. “It’s better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.” Getting my interpretation of the quote across required has been tricky, but I think it’s finally sinking in.

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]]> By: Kurt "Telas" Schneider http://www.gnomestew.com/gming-advice/inspiring-the-game/comment-page-1#comment-2772 Kurt "Telas" Schneider Tue, 28 Oct 2008 20:00:41 +0000 http://www.gnomestew.com/?p=1589#comment-2772 I get my best game ideas by reading historical fiction or non-fiction, and sometimes by watching TV. Historical fiction doesn't require much of a jump into a game world, as most of our game worlds are somewhat based on the real world. My current muse is The Republic of Pirates, which details the rise of the Golden Age of Piracy. Television is the other medium, and the episodic element alone makes TV closer to RPG campaigns than anything else out there (OK, comic books... I'll give you that). Current TV shows that make me want to run an RPG are The Unit, Fringe (even though I haven't even seen any yet), and Terminator.<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('2772','Kurt \"Telas\" Schneider'); return false;">Reply</a> </div> I get my best game ideas by reading historical fiction or non-fiction, and sometimes by watching TV. Historical fiction doesn’t require much of a jump into a game world, as most of our game worlds are somewhat based on the real world. My current muse is The Republic of Pirates, which details the rise of the Golden Age of Piracy.

Television is the other medium, and the episodic element alone makes TV closer to RPG campaigns than anything else out there (OK, comic books… I’ll give you that). Current TV shows that make me want to run an RPG are The Unit, Fringe (even though I haven’t even seen any yet), and Terminator.

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]]> By: Troy E. Taylor http://www.gnomestew.com/gming-advice/inspiring-the-game/comment-page-1#comment-2770 Troy E. Taylor Tue, 28 Oct 2008 16:14:06 +0000 http://www.gnomestew.com/?p=1589#comment-2770 Lamia: Limbus grass! You dare to steal truth from my lips by feeding me Limbus grass! You don't know the big mistake you've had made, Ditchwater Sal. All you need now is a "bubbling" candle, errr "Babylon" candle, and off we go on a new adventure.<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('2770','Troy E. Taylor'); return false;">Reply</a> </div> Lamia: Limbus grass! You dare to steal truth from my lips by feeding me Limbus grass! You don’t know the big mistake you’ve had made, Ditchwater Sal.

All you need now is a “bubbling” candle, errr “Babylon” candle, and off we go on a new adventure.

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]]> By: John Arcadian http://www.gnomestew.com/gming-advice/inspiring-the-game/comment-page-1#comment-2769 John Arcadian Tue, 28 Oct 2008 15:49:02 +0000 http://www.gnomestew.com/?p=1589#comment-2769 @Troy E. Taylor: Stardust makes shivers run up my spine. I LOVE that book/movie. The only way I can think of to properly translate something of that complexity and depth over to a game scenario would be to have "cutscenes" that the players are privy to. Maybe through someone's visions, maybe through NPCs retelling of events but setting up some visual elements to give it more of a cut scene feel or maybe just because and let the players separate out of character knowledge. Man I love stardust! Now I want to run a game that emulates that!<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('2769','John Arcadian'); return false;">Reply</a> </div> @Troy E. Taylor: Stardust makes shivers run up my spine. I LOVE that book/movie. The only way I can think of to properly translate something of that complexity and depth over to a game scenario would be to have “cutscenes” that the players are privy to. Maybe through someone’s visions, maybe through NPCs retelling of events but setting up some visual elements to give it more of a cut scene feel or maybe just because and let the players separate out of character knowledge.

Man I love stardust! Now I want to run a game that emulates that!

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]]> By: John Arcadian http://www.gnomestew.com/gming-advice/inspiring-the-game/comment-page-1#comment-2767 John Arcadian Tue, 28 Oct 2008 15:44:06 +0000 http://www.gnomestew.com/?p=1589#comment-2767 @tallarn & SmallBlueGod: I feel the same way. I've never quite gotten that in a game though. Getting players so invested into their characters is often hard to do. I also think geting that deep is highly dependent on the system. Massive internal struggle rarely happens in a hack and slash dungeon, but seems to be par for the course in a properly run white-wolf game @Scott Martin: I may try to do some follow up posts to this. Originally I was going to write it about video game moments inspiring and transferring to RPGs, but expanded it a bit. I've actually used board game elements in RPGs. Not for character or story elements, but for the mechanics or set pieces. I took the old game Mouse Trap (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mouse_Trap_(board_game) and repainted it, then had the characters move about it as if it was an Indiana Jones style set of traps. That was fun.<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('2767','John Arcadian'); return false;">Reply</a> </div> @tallarn & SmallBlueGod: I feel the same way. I’ve never quite gotten that in a game though. Getting players so invested into their characters is often hard to do. I also think geting that deep is highly dependent on the system. Massive internal struggle rarely happens in a hack and slash dungeon, but seems to be par for the course in a properly run white-wolf game

@Scott Martin: I may try to do some follow up posts to this. Originally I was going to write it about video game moments inspiring and transferring to RPGs, but expanded it a bit. I’ve actually used board game elements in RPGs. Not for character or story elements, but for the mechanics or set pieces. I took the old game Mouse Trap (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mouse_Trap_(board_game) and repainted it, then had the characters move about it as if it was an Indiana Jones style set of traps. That was fun.

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]]> By: Troy E. Taylor http://www.gnomestew.com/gming-advice/inspiring-the-game/comment-page-1#comment-2766 Troy E. Taylor Tue, 28 Oct 2008 15:42:58 +0000 http://www.gnomestew.com/?p=1589#comment-2766 I think "Stardust" is a great example of a movie that -- while it is certainly steeped in fantasy and has many familiar elements -- has its share of "tricky wickets" for translating it to a game. I want witches and airships of the sort from that movie (not to mention an over-abundance of NPCs with over-the-top personalities), but making it all work within the context of your meat-and-potatoes dungeon crawling group would require a lot of work.<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('2766','Troy E. Taylor'); return false;">Reply</a> </div> I think “Stardust” is a great example of a movie that — while it is certainly steeped in fantasy and has many familiar elements — has its share of “tricky wickets” for translating it to a game. I want witches and airships of the sort from that movie (not to mention an over-abundance of NPCs with over-the-top personalities), but making it all work within the context of your meat-and-potatoes dungeon crawling group would require a lot of work.
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]]> By: Scott Martin http://www.gnomestew.com/gming-advice/inspiring-the-game/comment-page-1#comment-2765 Scott Martin Tue, 28 Oct 2008 15:31:54 +0000 http://www.gnomestew.com/?p=1589#comment-2765 Great breakdowns-- I like the clear identification of the Sticky Wickets. I'm enjoying a game where I'm playing in Star War's Knights of the Old Republic Setting. The bad part is that I'm the only player who didn't play the video game, which doubled the DM's required description. ["You know how it looks" moments didn't work for me.] Are you planning a followup post with other inspirational elements (pictures, music, a card, or board games)? I'm curious to see how you'd translate a board game... usually the scale is larger than an RPG's character focus.<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('2765','Scott Martin'); return false;">Reply</a> </div> Great breakdowns– I like the clear identification of the Sticky Wickets. I’m enjoying a game where I’m playing in Star War’s Knights of the Old Republic Setting. The bad part is that I’m the only player who didn’t play the video game, which doubled the DM’s required description. ["You know how it looks" moments didn't work for me.]

Are you planning a followup post with other inspirational elements (pictures, music, a card, or board games)? I’m curious to see how you’d translate a board game… usually the scale is larger than an RPG’s character focus.

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]]> By: SmallBlueGod http://www.gnomestew.com/gming-advice/inspiring-the-game/comment-page-1#comment-2764 SmallBlueGod Tue, 28 Oct 2008 13:24:00 +0000 http://www.gnomestew.com/?p=1589#comment-2764 In the song "New found power" by Damageplan the lyrics speaks of realization of true inner power that was previously chained and ignored. Like Tallarn's it's a massive internal change that is then followed up by the realization of their own power. A great 'level up' song. Makes me really want to play Mage when I hear it. :)<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('2764','SmallBlueGod'); return false;">Reply</a> </div> In the song “New found power” by Damageplan the lyrics speaks of realization of true inner power that was previously chained and ignored.

Like Tallarn’s it’s a massive internal change that is then followed up by the realization of their own power. A great ‘level up’ song. Makes me really want to play Mage when I hear it. :)

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]]> By: tallarn http://www.gnomestew.com/gming-advice/inspiring-the-game/comment-page-1#comment-2762 tallarn Tue, 28 Oct 2008 08:29:38 +0000 http://www.gnomestew.com/?p=1589#comment-2762 There is a moment in the musical "Wicked" during the song "Defying Gravity". Elphaba, the Wicked Witch as she becomes to be known, denies everything about the world, saying "Some things I'll never change, but till I try I'll never know" - and starts to fly on sheer willpower and magical talent. That moment, when a character has a massive internal change that is followed up by a physical change, too - that's something I want to create in a game.<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('2762','tallarn'); return false;">Reply</a> </div> There is a moment in the musical “Wicked” during the song “Defying Gravity”. Elphaba, the Wicked Witch as she becomes to be known, denies everything about the world, saying “Some things I’ll never change, but till I try I’ll never know” – and starts to fly on sheer willpower and magical talent.

That moment, when a character has a massive internal change that is followed up by a physical change, too – that’s something I want to create in a game.

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