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Gaming Lessons from the Great Gatsby
In high school, one of the assignments I faced was reading the Great Gatsby, writing reports on it and taking tests on it. While normally not a problem for me, I found myself unable to read the book past the first few chapters. This was not because the book was poorly written, boring, or of no interest to me. Quite the contrary.
The characters in the book were all horrible people, the kind I found myself surrounded by at school and hating with an unrelenting vehemence. The characters were, in fact, portrayed so well, and in such detail that soon I was unable to read more than a few paragraphs without throwing the book down and storming out of the room in anger and frustration.
As Narrators, we can face a temptation to do something similar, frustrating our players. It is particularly tempting, and easy to rationalize, doing this in order to facilitate role-playing or setting the mood for a game. This can be particularly useful for creating the same feeling of attrition for the players which their characters might be feeling in the game. It can also often be easier to present the players with something you know they will respond to, not because of their characters, but because of the players own tendencies.
When doing so, however, we break one of the primary rules of running a game: ensuring that everyone has a good time. Players who throw their arms up in true frustration are no longer having fun, and will actually role-play less as a result. Eventually, their involvement in the game as a whole may begin to suffer.
It’s better instead to encourage players to truly role-play the emotions and feelings of their characters. Players will often have a lot of fun playing out the anger and frustrations of their characters, the irrationalities, and the sense of desparation; if they can’t or won’t in a given situation, then it’s probably better left skipped.
Does anyone else have any ideas or insights on how to create a mood or role-playing situation without letting the negative aspects cross over from the characters to their players?
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