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Post by hengest on Mar 25, 2021 0:19:52 GMT -5
I don't see a thread that explicitly addresses this. What's your creative process like? Or what does it feel like to you? I mean mostly writing or planning during "down time," but would also welcome information about the experience of improvising as a ref. Or even as a player.
Whether you post creative works on this forum, write fiction (or even nonfiction) for yourself or for publication, draw, or do anything else that might be considered creative, what does the process feel like to you? This thread is for you.
I figure this is generally relevant because literally every game, every game aid, nearly every aspect of this hobby is the product of someone's imagination or, more often, more than one imagination interacting.
(I will return sometime and post about myself.)
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Mar 25, 2021 23:01:57 GMT -5
For me 99%, at least, of everything that I do is improvisation. To just sit down and try to create stuff does not work very well for me. Trying to plan and outline and block things out as a framework to work from doesn't work for me. At the game table I am never at a loss. I could sit down right now with a dozen new players and by the time we get chargen done I am ready to start reffing a brand new created on the spot world. I could do that 6-8 hours a day, every day. When I was 45 years younger I could do that 12 hours a day every day and I could do it with twice as many players. Improvisation at the game table is exhilarating for me and it takes me into a high energy statement and the whole world is cleared and brighter. In fact, in a lot of ways the real world pales beside the game world. It is as a referee that I truly live. When I create away from the game table, I have to try to put myself into the same mind set. Whether I am posting on the forum or a blog post. I usually do my best stuff responding to other people and playing off of whatever they do or say. See this little back and forth between Chet ( mormonyoyoman) and I (I was the Admin at the time) in this thread - 001 Hides, Pelts & Skins. That is a good example of how I will roll with things that players throw out and that looks very like a face to face game. |
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Post by hengest on Mar 27, 2021 9:54:48 GMT -5
The Perilous DreamerGreat thread you linked to, feels very lively and "at the table"-y. While I don't have the decades of ref experience, I may be similar in that I do my best work when it bounces off someone else. I have only begun to see this recently, posting on here, but it has happened at other times in life. On its own my work tends to be kind of hermetic. Much improved by some degree of response, if not formal collaboration. As to my own "process" in my head: sometimes (as with The Town and some of the other modular material from 2019) I just try to let my mimd go blank and then see what image comes up. Then I spin a story around it. I try to make it feel real to me, plausible, if imperfectly explained. If there are choices, I aim for the one that makes me feel focused and normal or, better yet, experience the tingling (or more) sensation that they call piti in Sanskrit. With the recent fairy tale magic system or setting I have tried to blend that with a somewhat more abstract approach that (at least in some way) justifies or accounts for the beauty that I want present.
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Post by simrion on Mar 27, 2021 10:15:03 GMT -5
My creativity appears subconsciously at odd moments so I keep journals/mini journals nearby always...pocket, desk, car, bedside. About the only thing I've rarely struggled with is creating fantasy sounding names off the cuff. Likely a result of my obsessive reading habits. I genuinely confuse friends & family as I typically have 10 - 12 books going at the same time and can keep them all straight as far as continuing storyline or section of the book.
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Post by simrion on Mar 27, 2021 10:16:06 GMT -5
Oh and post-it's, one of the finest inventions of the 20th century!
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Mar 27, 2021 10:24:49 GMT -5
My creativity appears subconsciously at odd moments so I keep journals/mini journals nearby always...pocket, desk, car, bedside. About the only thing I've rarely struggled with is creating fantasy sounding names off the cuff. Likely a result of my obsessive reading habits. I genuinely confuse friends & family as I typically have 10 - 12 books going at the same time and can keep them all straight as far as continuing storyline or section of the book. I visited Thomas Jefferson's home at Monticello and he had a huge study (IIRC glass on three sides) and he had a stand that he had built that held (IIRC) about a dozen or so books open and he would rotate the stand as he read from various books. We both have that in common with each other and with him, I also read a dozen or more books at the same time and from an early age. |
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Post by mao on Mar 27, 2021 12:35:14 GMT -5
I don't see a thread that explicitly addresses this. What's your creative process like? Or what does it feel like to you? I mean mostly writing or planning during "down time," but would also welcome information about the experience of improvising as a ref. Or even as a player. Whether you post creative works on this forum, write fiction (or even nonfiction) for yourself or for publication, draw, or do anything else that might be considered creative, what does the process feel like to you? This thread is for you. I figure this is generally relevant because literally every game, every game aid, nearly every aspect of this hobby is the product of someone's imagination or, more often, more than one imagination interacting. (I will return sometime and post about myself.) So let me get this straight, you want me to talk about myself and say how awesome I am. I really don't have that much ego. I think this is an especially funny post extra extra bog lols, PS having an incredibly good day, for example the low point of the day was a check coming in the mail and we had just been to the bank. |
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Post by hengest on Mar 27, 2021 13:16:46 GMT -5
I don't see a thread that explicitly addresses this. What's your creative process like? Or what does it feel like to you? I mean mostly writing or planning during "down time," but would also welcome information about the experience of improvising as a ref. Or even as a player. Whether you post creative works on this forum, write fiction (or even nonfiction) for yourself or for publication, draw, or do anything else that might be considered creative, what does the process feel like to you? This thread is for you. I figure this is generally relevant because literally every game, every game aid, nearly every aspect of this hobby is the product of someone's imagination or, more often, more than one imagination interacting. (I will return sometime and post about myself.) So let me get this straight, you want me to talk about myself and say how awesome I am. I really don't have that much ego. I think this is an especially funny post extra extra bog lols, PS having an incredibly good day, for example the low point of the day was a check coming in the mail and we had just been to the bank. Yes, that's correct. |
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Post by mao on Mar 27, 2021 13:43:43 GMT -5
LOL,(oh I wasn't laffing at your post , I was laffing about mine LOL
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Mar 27, 2021 15:11:47 GMT -5
What's your creative process like? Or what does it feel like to you? I mean mostly writing or planning during "down time," but would also welcome information about the experience of improvising as a ref. Or even as a player. So let me get this straight, you want me to talk about myself and say how awesome I am. No, absolutely not. Please re-read the part in bold and respond. I really don't have that much ego. You don't have ego, like Mount Everest doesn't have boulders or like the ocean doesn't have water.  |
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Post by mao on Mar 27, 2021 15:14:39 GMT -5
Right back at you....  |
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Mar 27, 2021 15:34:43 GMT -5
Right back at you....  You still have not answered the OPs question. Inquiring minds want to know. |
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Post by mao on Mar 27, 2021 15:55:44 GMT -5
So let me get this straight, you want me to talk about myself and say how awesome I am. No, absolutely not. Please re-read the part in bold and respond. I really don't have that much ego. You don't have ego, like Mount Everest doesn't have boulders or like the ocean doesn't have water. I'm not sure if I even know that about myself, It's all kinds of spontaneous stuff. To make the best answer I can come up with is Always , act like you had a boss when you dm ad always keep a notebook and pen near by. BTW Everest has nothing on me. |
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Post by simrion on Mar 27, 2021 17:20:55 GMT -5
Based upon the vast amount of creativity you've shared hear so far here you do not exaggerate regarding yourself Vs any mountain!
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Post by mao on Mar 27, 2021 18:43:13 GMT -5
Based upon the vast amount of creativity you've shared hear so far here you do not exaggerate regarding yourself Vs any mountain! HOLY CRAP? did you just say that to me or hengast? Either way have an exalt! |
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Post by simrion on Mar 28, 2021 9:25:05 GMT -5
Definitely you Mao...you are a creative machine! And Exalt back at you.
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Post by ripx187 on Mar 29, 2021 12:10:16 GMT -5
During prep, I spend weeks thinking of things that are out there and what events could happen. Eventually I organize this into a random encounter list. I also draw hex maps of the area and fill in a couple of big things that are landmarks or just fixed ideas. This list that I generated isn't combat encounters, that is a separate list. For potential random combat encounters I fill these with clues and themes related to the story that I'm telling, and a few side stories. There are usually one or two forces outside of what is going on: a major monster typically controls the area and I figure out what motivates this thing, I think of how the power structure plays itself out, how it would react if it discovers the players, what the relationship is between it and the villain. This can take a lot of work, but it leaves me with tools that I have to run adventures in any area for as long as the players wish to stay there.
For villages and dungeons, I like to have maps and the day before the game I am very quiet and thoughtful because I'm visualizing the place, making them real in my head. On game day, I have a good idea of what tools I'll want to make the game successful, writing up treasure cards, fixed encounters, whatever, I am busy fussing over the game until the players arrive.
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Mar 29, 2021 16:22:12 GMT -5
During prep, I spend weeks thinking of things that are out there and what events could happen. Eventually I organize this into a random encounter list. I also draw hex maps of the area and fill in a couple of big things that are landmarks or just fixed ideas. This list that I generated isn't combat encounters, that is a separate list. For potential random combat encounters I fill these with clues and themes related to the story that I'm telling, and a few side stories. There are usually one or two forces outside of what is going on: a major monster typically controls the area and I figure out what motivates this thing, I think of how the power structure plays itself out, how it would react if it discovers the players, what the relationship is between it and the villain. This can take a lot of work, but it leaves me with tools that I have to run adventures in any area for as long as the players wish to stay there. For villages and dungeons, I like to have maps and the day before the game I am very quiet and thoughtful because I'm visualizing the place, making them real in my head. On game day, I have a good idea of what tools I'll want to make the game successful, writing up treasure cards, fixed encounters, whatever, I am busy fussing over the game until the players arrive. Great stuff ripx187! And congratulations on joining the 1000 post club. Have an Exalt for both and for making post 1000 a post of substance! |
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Post by Morton on Apr 24, 2021 17:21:48 GMT -5
I don't see a thread that explicitly addresses this. What's your creative process like? Or what does it feel like to you? I make stuff up, I sip a little whiskey and the ideas come to me. The whiskey feels nice and warm. Feels good. |
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Post by hengest on Apr 3, 2022 22:13:49 GMT -5
Returning to this thread, I think what's important to me is to leave out anything that doesn't fit what I want. If it feels wrong or like filler to me, I don't put it in.
Marshalling and working with what's left (what I DO put in) is something I'm still working on...
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Apr 5, 2022 21:19:32 GMT -5
Late to the party on this one but here goes....
I start with a basic, general idea. I do some good old-fashioned brainstorming by jotting down some related ideas. Then I let it sit and ideas will pop up every now and then. I'll add to the original brainstorming and update. I keep a small notebook in my work bag so I can keep new ideas collected together. I do my best when I am working on multiple projects instead of focusing on just one idea.
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Post by hengest on Apr 5, 2022 21:22:09 GMT -5
Late to the party on this one but here goes.... I start with a basic, general idea. I do some good old-fashioned brainstorming by jotting down some related ideas. Then I let it sit and ideas will pop up every now and then. I'll add to the original brainstorming and update. I keep a small notebook in my work bag so I can keep new ideas collected together. I do my best when I am working on multiple projects instead of focusing on just one idea. Very believable and I wish I could work that way. Maybe I do, sort of: I have multiple things on here cooking that I either work on, go back to, or abandon. I'm sorry to say that I lose everything or repurpose it (started as a notebook, became coloring paper) almost instantly. This board is my only real "creative notebook." What would you consider a "basic, general idea"? |
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Apr 5, 2022 21:38:59 GMT -5
Late to the party on this one but here goes.... I start with a basic, general idea. I do some good old-fashioned brainstorming by jotting down some related ideas. Then I let it sit and ideas will pop up every now and then. I'll add to the original brainstorming and update. I keep a small notebook in my work bag so I can keep new ideas collected together. I do my best when I am working on multiple projects instead of focusing on just one idea. Very believable and I wish I could work that way. Maybe I do, sort of: I have multiple things on here cooking that I either work on, go back to, or abandon. I'm sorry to say that I lose everything or repurpose it (started as a notebook, became coloring paper) almost instantly. This board is my only real "creative notebook." What would you consider a "basic, general idea"? What I mean by "basic, general idea" is the starting point. For instance, when I started working on my campaign world I put the name "Toldara" in the center of a piece of notebook paper in a circle. The next thing I did was jot down a few more ideas related to the campaign world in their own bubbles around the page. I had a bubble for "No non-human races", "Hollow Earth", "Cult of Grax", and whatever other ideas I had. As time goes by I update this page by adding new ideas or crossing out revised ideas and listing the updated idea below it. For instance, I crossed out "No non-human races" and wrote in "Slarn (lizard folk)" in a new circle. If an idea is in the "maybe pile" then the circle around it is not solid but dashes. More than you asked for but that explains it better. |
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Apr 6, 2022 12:47:51 GMT -5
Late to the party on this one but here goes.... I start with a basic, general idea. I do some good old-fashioned brainstorming by jotting down some related ideas. Then I let it sit and ideas will pop up every now and then. I'll add to the original brainstorming and update. I keep a small notebook in my work bag so I can keep new ideas collected together. I do my best when I am working on multiple projects instead of focusing on just one idea. Very believable and I wish I could work that way. Maybe I do, sort of: I have multiple things on here cooking that I either work on, go back to, or abandon. I'm sorry to say that I lose everything or repurpose it (started as a notebook, became coloring paper) almost instantly. This board is my only real "creative notebook." What would you consider a "basic, general idea"? I think for me spreading myself thin across many multiple projects works better than just trying to focus on one thing. By that I mean thinking about multiple things as I read and observe, rather than doing a lot of writing things down, but it all comes out in improv. I also having looked at this thread again, wish very much that I could have gamed with Chet in person for many long years. The synergy we had in the pbp was better than only a few in person experiences. Great shame we did not meet much, much sooner. Two improv gamers riffing off each other, it does not get better than that. |
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You still have not answered the OPs question. Inquiring minds want to know.
