I wanna talk about "Wacky Writing."
The formulaic nature of many tabletop systems lend themselves to an admittedly solid if bland plot structure. Motivation to dungeon crawl. Dungeon crawl. Boss. It's a three act structure. People talk mad shit about this element of the storytelling, but its not something I have a huge problem with. It's perfectly serviceable. A simple plot with good characters can be a winning recipie.
But. If you're using a stock-standard setting, and a stock-standard plot, you're relying on the strength of your character writing. Those character interactions become load-baring.
We all love our friends. My friends are streamers. They are excellent performers with experience in front of crowds. They are perhaps more prepared for improv character work than the average joe. But expecting them to improvise a character strong enough to carry an entire graphic novel is ludicrous.
So. If all the narrative weight is on these character interactions, and the characters aren't all that strong or consistent, what do you focus on?
Satisfying narrative moments are a lot like a joke. They've got setup, a climax, and pay off. A Wacky Moment is a moment that is joke-like, but not actually a joke. It is a moment of gonzo surrealism that harkens back to an earlier event, and maybe kinda implies that something might happen because of this later. But upon scrutiny, it becomes clear that none of it was ever planned. Wacky Moments are coincidences of writing that superficially resemble climactic narrative, but are ultimately meaningless.
For all its faults. DND is very, very, good at producing Wacky Moments.
A boss is defeated humorously quick. A character does something outlandish or embarrassing due to a failed roll. An unorthodox seduction. An unlikely ally. Nothing is wrong with these things per se, these are some of the best parts of tabletop with friends, but they sure as hell should not be the load-baring pillar your story is built on.
If wacky moments are all you have, the story rapidly becomes an amusement park ride. A machine to take the reader from wacky moment to wacky moment as fast as possible, lest they lose interest. If you miss once. If just one of those moments doesn't hit the bullseye, the whole thing falls apart.
