thread: 2005-07-05 : Setting and Source Material
On 2005-07-14, Chris wrote:
But I stand: fetishizing our source material is something we do a lot, something that most rpgs insist that we do, and it's holding us back.
(snip)
We need to learn how to treat it as what is, our tool and subject to our whim, not some sacred unchanging thing.
HELL. YES.
I've just started up an L5R game with some new folks I never met before... one thing which bugs me to hell and back is that a lot of them will start going into side conversations about various metaplot NPCs and theirstories, instead of looking at their own.
Instead of the various NPCs serving as examples of cool stories you could tell, they've become the stories for these guys to fetishize, repeat, and chant over and over, basking in the coolness of the setting without daring to step up and put their own 2 cents into the creative basket.
In this regard, I'm definitely seeing the strength of games that provide a brief setting free of NPCs and metaplot.
