thread: 2005-05-02 : Person vs. Protagonist
On 2005-05-02, xenopulse wrote:
That discussion regarding drama, naturally, mirrors fiction. Why do you think that in so many fantasy stories, the whole world is threatened? It's a cheap way to create a conflict to care about.
But it also eliminates choice, which is why it often makes for poor stories, unless the author has a lot of smaller conflicts going on where people can choose sides.
This is where Dogs shines: meaningful choices. In regular D&D play, you have strategic choices, but few meaningful ones. The system certainly doesn't promote them.
So I would suggest that yes, you can create drama when the bad guy kidnaps your girl. But the real high point of drama is not the question of whether you manage to rescue her—it's when the bad guy throws her off one side of the bridge, and a bunch of kids off the other side, and you can't save them both.
- Christian
