What would it mean to take a traditional, linear story and adapt it to your gaming table?

  • Susaga@ttrpg.network
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    9 months ago

    You didn’t read the article, did you?

    • It is possible, and he explained how in only 3 steps.
    • He does not want the storyline intact. He recommends the opposite.
    • He adapts to get a scenario, not a script. The finish line is the objective. The route doesn’t matter.
    • He referenced adapting Lord of the Rings in a previous article and linked to it, so you picked a bad example.

    Everything else you said was just irrelevant.

    • sammytheman666@ttrpg.network
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      9 months ago

      Yup. Never noticed the article, only saw the single line he bothered to post on this website.

      But please, if it’s only 3 steps, tell me then. Should be easy. How do I take Lord of the rings and make a campaign out of it while following it to a certain extend ? Because I doubt it’s possible without intense railroading OR insane luck.

      • Melmi@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        9 months ago

        It’s an interesting article, you should read it. You’re thinking of too direct a translation. The idea is that you strip out all of the events, and just adapt the scenario. For Lord of the Rings, the important part is that the One Ring exists, and it needs to be taken to Mt. Doom to be destroyed. Everything in between there is a complete sandbox.

        You can then pull in lots of characters and places from the books, but they will almost certainly all show up out of order as your players won’t take the same route that they did in the books.

        The OP article talks more about the steps to adapt a scenario including a Star Wars example, but here’s the LotR one: https://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/47543/roleplaying-games/ask-the-alexandrian-7-classic-quests-are-railroads

        • Alex Keane@dice.camp
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          9 months ago

          @melmi @sammytheman666 Yeah, like Council of Elrond is probably Session 0 or Session 1, the alternative to “you meet in a tavern”.

          Then there’s every chance that they run off to try and recruit Saruman as biggest baddest wizard right off the bat, and suddenly you’re thinking about where his plans are that early.

        • sammytheman666@ttrpg.network
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          9 months ago

          So Im right then ? It can be a starting point, but you cannot follow a story closely without intense railroading or insane luck.

          But I agree. You can adapt a UNIVERSE with characters and places and even events if possible.

          But then thats not new. We DMs have been stealing ideas left and right for generations for our own stories. Sticking to one universe is another way to do it.

          But it would feel… forced for me. Like if you met Aragorn. The players know what he should be doing, so does he forget this and stick to the uneased players not happy to stear that part of the story, or does he only do a cheap cameo ? Thats assuming they know the story, which might be a no too since the movie is like 20 years old now.

          • Melmi@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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            9 months ago

            No one was saying that you should follow a story exactly. That wouldn’t be very interesting imo, even if it was possible.

            I feel like the most interesting way to do it would be to have it very explicitly in an alternate timeline. You could do this by killing a main character, or by otherwise having a major divergence. Then it feels less like just stealing ideas and more like a “What If?” story, and would help nip the urge to follow the story too closely.

            I seem to recall a podcast or comic or something that was this but in a Star Wars universe, that opened with Luke Skywalker dying and the podcast/comic characters taking over for him. I tried to look it up but I can’t find anything about it now. Wish I’d remembered the name.

      • Susaga@ttrpg.network
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        9 months ago

        For what? The article is right there and someone already summed it up for you. If you’re not going to engage with the basic subject of conversation, then leave the conversation. Especially if everyone else already left.