- The Adventures of Heisenberg’s Cat
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There are no plots without players. A plot is a line graph where dead games go. - Cinematic roleplaying is an oxymoron
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Cinematic roleplaying always seems to be about reducing player choice. This is a direct result of trying to emulate an entertainment style that by necessity must elevate the director’s choice above character development. Even the best movies require the director to curtail the world in which the action and dialogue takes place.
- Is role-playing about telling a story?
- Role-playing is less about creating a story than about finding a story. And it isn’t even that. Like most things we do with other people, it is a shared experience that we (hopefully) enjoy.
- Plot is the opposite of roleplaying
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If you hunt for plot in a sandbox, you’re going to be disappointed. Plot must be created, not found. - Plots are for the dead
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Plotting is for directors and writers. When roleplaying narratives are plotted, they die. - Say yes or use the magic 8-ball
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Is “Say yes or roll the dice” something that works in Gods & Monsters? Outlook not so good. - Spilling sand in the sandbox: tying up loose ends
- How do you maintain consistency in a “plot” that is not under your control?
- We are walking narratives
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Some quick notes about my “gaming is not storytelling” article before I forget about them.
More Information
- Joey Johnny Tommy Dee Dee
- “Those of us who write books and draw pictures for a living have an association with the phrase ‘collaborative creativity’ that maybe other people don’t. That is: you write something or draw something, and then some Creative Director insists on bringing in 99 other people to give ‘input’ and Jim shoots Fred down and Fred shoots Jack down and Tom shoots Dick down and the project suddenly becomes not the sum of its parts, but the lowest common denominator—the thing every creative head at the table can agree on.” “This is how sitcoms get written. This is how Hollywood movies with 9 screenwriting credits get written. This is how…”
