How do stories and systems intersect and influence each other? This push and pull offers us a chance to deepen our understanding and appreciation of how writing and role-playing games connect and co-evolve. Through conversations and one shot Actual-play episodes, we explore how the tools we use shape the stories we tell, whether those tools are implicit or explicit. Whether you’re a veteran or new to the scene, we invite you to join us.
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How do stories and systems intersect and influence each other? This push and pull offers us a chance to deepen our understanding and appreciation of how writing and role-playing games connect and co-evolve. Through conversations and one shot Actual-play episodes, we explore how the tools we use shape the stories we tell, whether those tools are implicit or explicit. Whether you’re a veteran or new to the scene, we invite you to join us.
The gang has a discussion on structure in TTRPGs. How does structure make a good horror game? How does setting inform players what they can and can’t do? Some examples of story structure in World of Darkness, Invisible Sun, and Dogs in the Vineyard. Then the crew plays a short session of Whispering Vault, Mike Nystul’s 1993 story game inspired by the likes of Hellraiser and Nightbreed. We play it fast and loose but hope we hit in the key elements of play and this intriguing game’s explicit ritualistic structure.
Topics:
1:45 Weird forward games
2:25 Is Mark a god?
3:30 Where is the Weird in WoD, Invisible Sun, and Lovecraft Country
6:50 Where is the horror?
11:25 Setting Expectations as Structure: Implicit vs Explicit Structure
23:15 The Illusory World tropes
36:00 Whispering Vault Actual Play
36:30 Character Creation
48:40 System overview
51:10 The Call (game begins)
57:20 Navigation to the Realm
Of Flesh
60:00 Dismissing the Guardian
67:57 Creating Your Vessel
72:45 Healing the Enigma
115:38 Binding the Unbidden
116:15 Wrapping Up
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Modern Mythology
How do stories and systems intersect and influence each other? This push and pull offers us a chance to deepen our understanding and appreciation of how writing and role-playing games connect and co-evolve. Through conversations and one shot Actual-play episodes, we explore how the tools we use shape the stories we tell, whether those tools are implicit or explicit. Whether you’re a veteran or new to the scene, we invite you to join us.
