#narrative gaming

[toadlett]

so extremely excited to be providing art for one of the stretchgoals in HOLLOWS, the next game from Rowan Rook & Deckard! I've been following this game since early dev cos it look so cool, obviously extremely hype to be maybe contributing to it! The Backerkit goes live TOMORROW!

[trve-grimdark]

5 Tips for Narrative Tabletop Gaming

I discuss the five main things I feel people should consider when creating a Narrative Tabletop concept. IMPORTANT: The background music is Mortiis - Født ti...

My Top Five Tips for creating a narrative idea for your tabletop. Enjoy!

[firesalamander]

I’m interested in making a narrative game not dissimilar to The Yawhg or We Know the Devil (as far as you have characters with stat blocks and move through different situations with each and that moves the narrative), but don’t have much experience with coding outside of really fundamental HTML. What would be the best language for me to start self-teaching to have the skills needed to start building something like that?

[trve-grimdark]

Something fun showed up today

[wolven0ne-universe]

My Read on Kris

Seeing as people seemed to like my take on Ralsei, it only makes sense that I should offer my thoughts on Kris as well.

The first thing that jumps out at me concerning Kris, is the sense of isolation. Despite being surrounded by people. Despite the fact that a fair share of those people love them. It appears as though Kris feels estranged from the town and many of its inhabitants.

This can be attributed to four things.

1: Growing up the only human in a town full of Monsters.

2: Being adopted

3: Asgore and Toriel’s estrangement.

4: Asriel leaving to go off to college.

It should be emphasized that the town isn’t actually against Kris, not entirely. Some of its inhabitants seem to be wary of them, while others are on friendly terms. However, you do not need an entire town to be against you in order to feel like an outsider.

Is Kris a Blank Slate, or Just a Silent Protagonist? The answer to that is, yes. They’re both a blank slate and a silent protagonist, but that doesn’t mean they’re devoid of character. We’re told plenty about Kris as a character, and that might lead some people to believe they’re a traditional protagonist. However, what we’re told about Kris is indirect, mostly inferred and vague enough that we’re given a lot to fill in the blanks on our own. In this respect, Kris can be compared heavily to both Link, from The Legend of Zelda franchise, and to Undertale’s Frisk. Link is probably the most famous of gaming’s silent protagonists. But, even though most versions of him don’t say a thing, the way others around him react allows us to infer a lot of things about his character. Most versions of Link are implied to be brave and adventurous, while also being somewhat quiet. (Later TLOZ games especially, use Link’s stoicism as a source of levity.) Frisk is handled in a similar manner, but the moments where their characteristics are inferred are slightly less frequent. Rather than detailing those moments here, I’d suggest browsing @nochocolate ‘s blog. They have these instants cataloged, while also providing screenshots. Looking at the similarities between these characters, it becomes clear that they are all silent protagonists and blank slates. At the same time, not a single one of these characters are True Blank Slates. True blank slates are nearly impossible in narrative games. The closest we get are games with both detailed character creator and decision trees. Even those give you a little to work with, and there’s a fairly simple reason for that. Most games with silent protagonists are asking you to get into a role. They can’t do that without first defining that role. So, even if the game tells you a lot about your silent protagonist character, that doesn’t mean you aren’t expected to fill in the blanks on your own. So yes, Kris is a silent protagonist because they don’t speak. They are also a blank slate, as they leave a lot of the blank areas for you to fill in on your own. When individuals insist they aren’t, they’re misunderstanding what these traits mean. Neither of these traits means a character is devoid of a history or personality. They’re simply narrative tools for helping you to get into a role better.

[carthagian-chronicle]

XCOM 2, Operation: Smoking Shadow

March, 2035, Toronto Operation: Smoking Shadow Reports of a VIP scientist moving through the area have given us the opportunity to grow our number of scientific minds while removing one more resource from ADVENT hands. Now, Cpl. Robin Talia Collins, Sq. Gregory Harrison, and newcomers Rk. Ann Lily Carson & Rk. David Combs are inbound to take wrest this brilliant mind from enemy hands.

Operation: Smoking Shadow is go.

[grampton-st-rumpterfrabble]

First night of my new Warhammer FRP group. I’m actually a player, not a GM, for the first time in years. Excited? Yeah, you bet.