DnD, writing, and storytelling
Or, how to stretch your muscles
I will be hosting an RPG night this weekend. I have not spent much time playing DnD, or its derivatives. That isn’t on purpose, I have always wanted to play. I didn’t have friends who were into it, and if I did they didn’t invite me to play very often. So, I took it upon myself to lead a session.
While prepping for the game, I realized this kind of storytelling is an excellent way to practice writing. Why? Because the prep is very similar. The big difference is in the end, where the players interact with you and they flesh out the fine points, but the skeleton of the story involves a very similar process. You have an idea, concoct a thrilling plot, and try to invoke an action-packed, emotional, or satisfying ending.
Again, the difference is the give and take with the players. I expect that they will do things that force me to adjust. They might call out plot holes that I will have to justify. It is even possible that they will take the story in a direction that is 1000 times better than anything I could have imagined. The creativity and responsiveness of the game are very attractive, from a writers point of view.
I mean, this could cause my brain to fire off all kinds of sparks. I could broaden my parameters, and learn to ask better questions when prepping my stories. The plot and structure are what they are, but the element of the unexpected, the notion that the story could find a life of its own, that is something you want in writing.
The game we are playing is actually called “Swords of the Serpentine”, which is a sword and sorcery setting. It uses a modified gumshoe system, and kind of forces the GM to keep things short. As such, you cannot go on grand, unending campaigns, but rather you lean into more episodic territory. I have only been able to play it once before with a friend, and it was a lot of fun!
Basically, it’s perfect for me. I am ready to explore the nerdy side of things and see if I can apply some of these lessons to my writing.
Speaking of writing, I have a new short story featuring Domingo Garavito. You should check it out if you enjoyed The Thief of Toledo.
That sounds like a blast! At the last game night my wife and I hosted we had a friend bring a Conan the Barbarian board game that was very much like you describe. DnD...ish but with shorter, more episodic adventures. Total game play was around 2 hours for the adventure we played (that was with interruptions since most of us were parents).