Good article. One of my solo-play characters died in a recent AP. It will lead the main character to lean even harder into the anti-hero mold as he deals with bitterness and rage. And, the death led to a rare occurrence: the birth of a soul-bound weapon.
Another excellent article exploring a fundamental issue in our hobby today.
One of the ways I have been combatting the misery of a "dice as oracle" transition in my current game is to give XP for failure. If that sounds backwards I have an article discussing it in detail, but here is the premise: we learn through failure. I changed the leveling to 100XP for each level, and I give 1XP for a failed roll and 2XP for a fumble.
I am already seeing my players trying more and more because even if they come up short in the situation, they have a small reward that counts in the long run.
I have more, maybe I'll respond with a full article.
I really like this. As a solo player, I struggle with the game vs story dilemma. being reminded that when I started playing RPGs it was a game with story added-on has made me realize that is the key to easily stepping into a solo session - play it as a simple game and don't overthink the story before-hand.
There is no disagreement, I concur, every ice roll should matter. My issue is reducing the hobby to a mere game an not having any narrative component at all.
Great article. I love when the dice surprise me and a character I loved turns out to be a traitor, or dies. It makes the game more fun because it ups the stakes.
Great article, and I wish my players could see this. I've been a forever DM for ... well, forever.
I started playing back in the 70's, and every time I run DnD 5e (2014), I get a disconnect from what I experienced all those years ago. Granted, it could be that I have crimson misty memories, but it really does seem that modern play is "Look at ME, everyone!"
However, I like to give the players time to shine - to do cool stuff - especially as I currently run a game for young adults bordering on the 'ism Spectrum. (One is fully on it with issues of OCD, Sensory Overload, Anasphasia, etc.) So letting them have their moment is what they need. But I wish they could see that the world made for them to explore and discover doesn't much care about them at the moment.
They really do need to find that "Look at that!" mindset, as more than once I have begun to burn out.
Some sort of balance between "Rool of Cool" and "We're gonna DIE!" would be ideal. But getting there in today's performance-saturated culture is going to be hard, and as of now, it eludes me.
Nevertheless, we had a session last night when death was certainly possible ... and they survived - just. I thought it was a good session, a tense one, but I wonder how they felt about it?
Thank you dear! Of course, these are not rules carved in stone, and cannot also be tailored to every kind of audience. You are doing really a great service to your players, I’m sure of that!
I'm thinking about this from a purely solo perspective, and it feels like there is a constant tension between letting the dice tell the story and the quest for an adventure that isn't mundane. Because who wants to read my play report where nothing much happens
I don't fudge dice rolls... because, well, what's the point? But I guess I do allow myself some latitude and "creative freedom" with interpreting tables and prompts. It's hard not to!
Thanks for writing this, Kate. I'll give this a re-read and think more about this
@Whiskey, Blood and Dust has a very good article about “empty” moments during hexcrawls. Even a session dedicated to shipping for torches and arrows can be interesting.
And anyway, you are playing for yourself, not for an audience. You share your sessions and we are very grateful for that. The more honest, the better, otherwise it’s called writing, and it’s ok too!
While I concur that the vainglory is prominent in modern approaches to the hobby, like you mentioned, the cinematic nonsense, the extensive backstories, the dice fudging to make a plot happen -- I despise all of these things -- yet I would not say going back is the right answer either. GM burnout can happen in the sandbox approach as well, when the entertainment was just service providing, and the whole world felt shallow, and the only goals in game had been to acquire gold.
I am not interested in either approach, even though I eel you, I also want the feel of play in the moment, but I want more emotional investment than either the sandbox not the modern bottleneck styles can provide. I might link this article here probably tomorrow in an article I started planning, in which I present an alternative.
Thank you for your feedback! TTRPGs are really a personal thing. I played many and I admit that I enjoy a really good railroad with story and feelings, but for a limited time. Say 2 to 4 evenings. Then I have to switch back to my world roaming games.
That said, I’m looking forward to your thoughts on the matter!
Good article. One of my solo-play characters died in a recent AP. It will lead the main character to lean even harder into the anti-hero mold as he deals with bitterness and rage. And, the death led to a rare occurrence: the birth of a soul-bound weapon.
See? It happens al the time!
Another excellent article exploring a fundamental issue in our hobby today.
One of the ways I have been combatting the misery of a "dice as oracle" transition in my current game is to give XP for failure. If that sounds backwards I have an article discussing it in detail, but here is the premise: we learn through failure. I changed the leveling to 100XP for each level, and I give 1XP for a failed roll and 2XP for a fumble.
I am already seeing my players trying more and more because even if they come up short in the situation, they have a small reward that counts in the long run.
I have more, maybe I'll respond with a full article.
Great stuff!
I very much like this idea. Failure is one of the best teacher… and anyway I’m also working on a system aptly titled “Failstate”!
I really like this. As a solo player, I struggle with the game vs story dilemma. being reminded that when I started playing RPGs it was a game with story added-on has made me realize that is the key to easily stepping into a solo session - play it as a simple game and don't overthink the story before-hand.
Overthinking is a game killer. Really, roll some dice and be surprised. That’s all.
While I also enjoy emergent narratives, leaning to much to playing the hobby just as game might end up not having any narrative emerge at all.
I gently disagree. If done well, every die roll matters when building emergent stories. I’ve stumbled over too many of them!
There is no disagreement, I concur, every ice roll should matter. My issue is reducing the hobby to a mere game an not having any narrative component at all.
Now I get it. Sorry for the misunderstanding!
Great article. I love when the dice surprise me and a character I loved turns out to be a traitor, or dies. It makes the game more fun because it ups the stakes.
It’s the reason we play!
Great article, and I wish my players could see this. I've been a forever DM for ... well, forever.
I started playing back in the 70's, and every time I run DnD 5e (2014), I get a disconnect from what I experienced all those years ago. Granted, it could be that I have crimson misty memories, but it really does seem that modern play is "Look at ME, everyone!"
However, I like to give the players time to shine - to do cool stuff - especially as I currently run a game for young adults bordering on the 'ism Spectrum. (One is fully on it with issues of OCD, Sensory Overload, Anasphasia, etc.) So letting them have their moment is what they need. But I wish they could see that the world made for them to explore and discover doesn't much care about them at the moment.
They really do need to find that "Look at that!" mindset, as more than once I have begun to burn out.
Some sort of balance between "Rool of Cool" and "We're gonna DIE!" would be ideal. But getting there in today's performance-saturated culture is going to be hard, and as of now, it eludes me.
Nevertheless, we had a session last night when death was certainly possible ... and they survived - just. I thought it was a good session, a tense one, but I wonder how they felt about it?
Thank you dear! Of course, these are not rules carved in stone, and cannot also be tailored to every kind of audience. You are doing really a great service to your players, I’m sure of that!
Lots to think about here, Kate.
I'm thinking about this from a purely solo perspective, and it feels like there is a constant tension between letting the dice tell the story and the quest for an adventure that isn't mundane. Because who wants to read my play report where nothing much happens
I don't fudge dice rolls... because, well, what's the point? But I guess I do allow myself some latitude and "creative freedom" with interpreting tables and prompts. It's hard not to!
Thanks for writing this, Kate. I'll give this a re-read and think more about this
@Whiskey, Blood and Dust has a very good article about “empty” moments during hexcrawls. Even a session dedicated to shipping for torches and arrows can be interesting.
And anyway, you are playing for yourself, not for an audience. You share your sessions and we are very grateful for that. The more honest, the better, otherwise it’s called writing, and it’s ok too!
Keep rolling!
While I concur that the vainglory is prominent in modern approaches to the hobby, like you mentioned, the cinematic nonsense, the extensive backstories, the dice fudging to make a plot happen -- I despise all of these things -- yet I would not say going back is the right answer either. GM burnout can happen in the sandbox approach as well, when the entertainment was just service providing, and the whole world felt shallow, and the only goals in game had been to acquire gold.
I am not interested in either approach, even though I eel you, I also want the feel of play in the moment, but I want more emotional investment than either the sandbox not the modern bottleneck styles can provide. I might link this article here probably tomorrow in an article I started planning, in which I present an alternative.
Thank you for your feedback! TTRPGs are really a personal thing. I played many and I admit that I enjoy a really good railroad with story and feelings, but for a limited time. Say 2 to 4 evenings. Then I have to switch back to my world roaming games.
That said, I’m looking forward to your thoughts on the matter!
My article is up: https://drudenfusz.substack.com/p/on-the-playing-field-of-roleplay