Tuesday, March 27, 2012

The Road from Dullsville to Thrilltown

At Kobold Quarterly today: Spicing up journeys.

Journeys are part of the myths we try to capture in RPGs. From the Odyssey and Anabasis of the Greeks, to Huck and Jim’s trip down the Mississippi, to films such as The Hidden Fortress and Saving Private Ryan, journeys serve as both vehicles for adventure and as metaphors for the heroes’ movement toward self-discovery.

RPGs don’t focus much on internal journeys to self-improvement, but the journey is still a fine tool for adventure. The best approach is to deal with the literal journey from point A to point B and let players apply their own symbolic meaning to the trip, if they choose.

Even a straightforward journey isn’t about interminable walking or riding; there’s no excitement in that. It’s about what characters meet along the way. (more ...)

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