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Jon_Dahl
2010-04-14, 12:11 AM
Hi, I'm Jon_Dahl and I write too much RPG stuff.

When I have a stressful week full of work behind me, I travel to see my parents on the countryside. There I write RPG adventures and NPC's for the whole weekend. Then occasionally I may have a chance to GM maybe 1% of the stuff I have written. Mostly players avoid the plot hooks, details and dialogue completely. I think for the past 8 months I have written about 30-50 pages of stuff and mostly for my own amusement.

So in this thread we come out of the closet and admit that we like writing RPG-stuff just way too much.

Vitruviansquid
2010-04-14, 12:16 AM
I write too many RPG's as well. Must have at least 5 systems or campaigns locked in my Works in Progress folder.

One system tries to make powdered wigs "cool" and "hip."

reptilecobra13
2010-04-14, 12:20 AM
I once wrote a campaign inspired by H.P. Lovecraft's works. It was a great plan, but unfortunately I didn't run it with the proper group. They were more a hack and slash party. I felt like my months of research and writing were wasted. Maybe someday I'll throw it at a different group.

I should note that I'm an English major...

Dr Bwaa
2010-04-14, 12:27 AM
Oh hell yes. My biggest weakness is backstories (I wrote an incredibly deep background for a Master of Many Forms in Dominaria that was over 30 pages (single-spaced, size 12). That's not a particularly outstanding example; it's become kind of the norm... I miss application deadlines a lot, which I don't mind since PbPs die all the time anyway and I don't want to let go of the character that fast :p

iamstillwater
2010-04-14, 06:23 AM
Any tips for someone who wants to write a story for creating a campaign?

I'm more of an essay writer than anything else, but I've always wanted to make a fantasy story.

Apollo1776
2010-04-14, 07:46 AM
I enjoy creating worlds and realms for people to play in. Right now I'm making a D&D compatible realm with its own races & templates. I've written out huge swathes of history and everything, so it is like, a huge project for me.

Doc Roc
2010-04-14, 07:59 AM
Maybe one or two of you would like to run some dungeons for the Test of Spite? Since it's a pure dungeoneering endeavor, none of your work would even need to go to waste.

:: puppy eyes ::

jseah
2010-04-14, 09:32 AM
I have this... I suppose you can call it addiction, to magic systems.

I've spent time on and off on my current one for over two years. It's currently 103 pages long, and only about 1/3 done.
As long as the spell is not a mind-affecting or space-time spell (which don't exist in the system), I can make any spell I want.

It took me half an hour to make the D&D Fireball though. And off the top of my head, I can think of at least 4 different ways to make it, each with their own little quirks. So it's definitely not a practical system to play with. You could probably make a character who could be legitimately called the Master of Fireballs.

Vitruviansquid
2010-04-14, 12:40 PM
Any tips for someone who wants to write a story for creating a campaign?

I'm more of an essay writer than anything else, but I've always wanted to make a fantasy story.

I think the best piece of advice I could give you is to not write your campaign like you're writing a novel.

Take the movies The Dark Knight and Avatar. They are good stories (or, at least, I'm told Avatar is a good story :smallannoyed:) because there are physical actions going on in the story and concrete characters, but they signify something else entirely. Batman fighting the Joker isn't just Batman fighting the Joker, it's the battle between absolute social goodness and absolute anti-social evil. Similarly, in Avatar, Jake Sully isn't just doing stuff for hot alien love or for legs, he's representing a certain set of values against another set of values.

So take everything from those stories that make them good, and throw them away. Because in a pen and paper RPG campaign, none of your players are going to understand that. >_>

jiriku
2010-04-14, 12:55 PM
Not that there's anything wrong at all with hot alien love.

Neytiri...call me. I've got dinner reservations for two and an extra-large chair for you.

Doc Roc
2010-04-14, 01:30 PM
I would not go that far, but the strengths of a game as a narrative medium differ from the strengths of a novel.

iamstillwater
2010-04-15, 03:00 AM
I think the best piece of advice I could give you is to not write your campaign like you're writing a novel.

Take the movies The Dark Knight and Avatar. They are good stories (or, at least, I'm told Avatar is a good story :smallannoyed:) because there are physical actions going on in the story and concrete characters, but they signify something else entirely. Batman fighting the Joker isn't just Batman fighting the Joker, it's the battle between absolute social goodness and absolute anti-social evil. Similarly, in Avatar, Jake Sully isn't just doing stuff for hot alien love or for legs, he's representing a certain set of values against another set of values.

So take everything from those stories that make them good, and throw them away. Because in a pen and paper RPG campaign, none of your players are going to understand that. >_>

Pardon me... I'm a bit lost by what you mean.

Um, let's put it this way. I would like to write the scenario that the players will be placed in, but my friend who is the actual DM, will be the one trying to make it become an actual campaign that can be played.

Since I shouldn't write it like a traditional short story, should I try to write background information on what's happening instead, along with "documents" supporting that scenario I'm trying to make?

Better yet, should I try to put it in here for you guys to sort of help me mold it?

vp21ct
2010-04-15, 03:31 AM
Hey, My name is Rava, and I'm a writer.

I mean... OH GOD!!!!! I'M DOING IT AGAIN!!