Campbellian Roleplaying

[Jim Kane]

Originally Posted by Jackal

@SJ - you are most welcome. None of this would happen without you.

@Jim Kane - thanks, once again, for your thoughtful comments.

My goal with this post to plant a seed: a seed that might grow into a tool that helps TFT GMs realize their vision.

That tool would be a bit of a Swiss Army knife, necessarily: a framework to hang ideas from, like I provided; a writer's trick bag with useful narrative tips & techniques that I'm sure you could create; perhaps some snapshots of genre or historical milieu. And some turnkey utilities, like the economic model in ITL, or a small village with NPCs and farms and crafts and festivals -- and rumors and grudges and hints of things not quite right -- that GMs could use as a starting point.

Jack -

You are more than welcome.

I know how hard it is to sustain a thing of merit on an open public forum if everyone is not clearly seeing the same picture of the same end-goal and the shared highway to that goal.

Please excuse me if I appear to be annoyingly obtuse, but I still am not confident I am correctly visualizing exactly what you want to end up with, and what form the "Swiss Army Knife" and the "Framework" you are describing requires to be in during the interim. It would be most helpful if you would inform me of how far off the mark I am from your picture; as I am clearing seeing two distinct, and distinctly different things at the same time.

What I think I am hearing at this point, sounds to me like one goal is to develop a functional method/system for an Adventure Generator Engine for GM's; as a creative-writing tool and template, wherein the writer can drop-in key specific elements, and these elements will be applied to a story-template, and with that basic form, create an over-arcing story-map, which reveals and informs all plot-points which need further fleshing-out, indicating where expository joinery is required in a story-line by revealing structural gaps, and guiding the writer through a flow-chart of a kind; from: exposition, conflict, climax, resolution, and finally, to the denouement.

The other thing I think I am hearing at the same time, is the creations of a writer's Community Chest filled with numerous and various ad-hoc contributions, consisting of: Standard Plots, Character-Archetypes, Troupes, Gags, Devices, Turn-Arounds, Formuli and Formats, etc.; possibly being the "trick bag" you described, so writer's can reach in and see what might fit their current story needs.

Or is it both you seek? Are they combined; where one is the Story-Engine, and other is the Story-Fuel?

Okay Jack, that is where I am visually with your project, so help me get the picture in focus, and tell me: where and by how far, am I off the mark from seeing your vision and goal.
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