thread: 2005-07-05 : Setting and Source Material
On 2005-07-07, Matthijs Holter wrote:
All creative processes consist of taking bits from other sources, perhaps changing them, and putting them together in new ways. Tolkien took bits of European myth and history, added a bit of his own, and put it all in a larger narrative structure.Now, if he'd only retold tales directly from the source, that wouldn't have been creative, right? It's all in the transformation and new constellations.
The same be said of role-playing. Taking Star Trek elements, and doing new and unexpected stuff with them, is creative. Taking those exact same elements and trying to use them in just the same way as in the movies/TV series isn't.
Compare these two cases.
Case 1: We've made up some cool background stuff together, including some characters. I go, "I want to play that white-haired wizard with the attitude and the alcohol addiction!"
Case 2: Someone else has made a TV series, including some characters. I go: "I want to play Willow!"
From these cases, you can say nothing about whether play will have a creative element. I might play the wizard according to all genre expectations, and put nothing of myself into him. I might play Willow in a time of crisis and change, reverberating with my own issues, and make her develop and grow.
