this post was submitted on 23 Sep 2023
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Showerthoughts
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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The best ones are thoughts that many people can relate to and they find something funny or interesting in regular stuff.
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DnD is kind of a cross between improv, telling stories, and a choose-your-own-adventure, from what I gather from my spouse who runs games for a living. Playing Baldurs Gate 3 was really eye opening and I think the game helps one understand the appeal of tabletop RPGs a bit better.
It's interesting to hear from someone who has trouble seeing the appeal. I think of storytelling, whether fictional or otherwise, as a core aspect of the human experience.
I think everyone should learn to tell a story that hangs together and has some elements of structure and style. We can't all be raconteurs for hire, but getting to participate in a story is important. It gives us a chance to live a purer existence for a while.
The thing that's always kept me from trying it is thinking on the spot. I have really bad social anxiety and I have bad validation issues and I always need to impress, so I get freaked out about having to improv. Collaboration is hard for me too. I'm much better when I have all the control and can make all the decisions myself and not have to worry about screwing up or disappointing. I loved BG3 though and it's piqued my interest in DnD again.
That's very understandable. I'm so bad at improvising (or used to be?) that the only way I can stand to run a game is by writing huge reams of prepared content. So, not railroady, but narratively I'd create a room full of tripwire events and canned monologues so that no matter where they go or what they do, there are plot hooks and repercussions taking place.
I got quite obsessive about it for a while. Sometimes I think I'd be better off writing a book, but it's too much fun to see people getting into it.
I have two methods of DMing. Either I do like you and prepare a mountain of content and the players see about 10% of it, or I completely forgot and just make it up as I go.
Funny thing is, the players can rarely tell. 😂
True. I'm sure there's a life lesson in there somewhere, but I can't be learning everything life tries to teach me. I'd never get any writing done.
I feel the same way, but I'm also bad at planning, so things fall apart really quickly.
I get lots of big ideas but then the players go right instead of left and I'm like ???? how could you do this to me
See this is what worries me. I feel like I would get frustrated a lot. I know I have control issues and I already don't like people that much and I worry I would just be irritated with everyone, lol.
The real trick, I've heard, is to give the illusion of choice but have every path where you wanted to go anyway.
I think I would appreciate that a lot from a DM. At least the first few times. I think I would do better to be guided quite a bit until I get comfortable.
As a writer I believe that good storytelling is character driven. A strong story is about how your characters deal with a situation and their internal motivations driving their choices. The subtleties of how the situation interacts with their internal motivations can lead to satisfying thematic underpinnings, giving the story a sense of meaning.
But when you have no control over the main characters at all, and your fun little pack of Cheeto gobbling weirdos aren't going to give you a Daniel Day Lewis performance anytime soon, you don't just get to sit back and watch the fur fly. Almost all players need a very compelling sense of situation in order to put themselves into their characters and start getting dramatic.
In tabletop RPGs, plot has to do the work of character until the story gets rolling. The best you can do is know when to let off the gas and coast.
In case it's not obvious I've been obnoxiously thinking aloud and refining as I go. Thanks for letting me selfishly use your comment as a chance to think about this stuff.
It's similar to people who got into the Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter after watching the movies. The movies aren't exactly like the books, and generally speaking, "the book was better", but the movies are easier for a newbie to digest and if they enjoy it, they'll feel more comfortable committing time and effort into digging into the "deeper" version of it.
Ok, that makes alot of sense. I'm like the person who watched the movie and think I know what the book is like (but really the book is much better).