Storytelling Basics in an Actual Play World
Blame Rowan Zeoli, but all this talk of “intention” and “back work” has me thinking a lot about the way the “games as content” model that occupies much of the actual play scene requires a different approach to storytelling. While the “games as pedagogy” model prevalent among reviewers and how-to guides relies on mechanics and meta-discussion, “games as content” rely on character and story. As our medium professionalizes and creators expand their skills and ambitions, it’s worthwhile to take a step back and examine what “character” and “story” mean for our body of work. We’ll dive into some thoughts a few from paragraphs now, but not before some important caveats. First, this advice applies to a particular actual play style. Queen’s Court Games aims to produce character-first, narrative-driven stories in a variety of systems and genres. We’re quick to throw the rules aside when the story is at stake and do our best to keep the dice away from the drama. Tables where the crunc...