But you aren't composing a novel or reading a script . (Not during an RPG session, anyway.) This is a long blog post about pervasive mistakes and miscommunication in the debate about "storytelling" in RPGs. "D&D is storytelling , so it needs a plot ." You can find plentiful resources on the internet today offering advice for Dungeon Masters on how to prepare a D&D campaign plot so the players will have a good story . Even though they are not the same thing, the words campaign and plot and story seem almost interchangeable in these discussions. The advice suggests that DMs begin by deciding how the campaign will end, typically with a "boss battle." You should devise a story arc before play. The DM is supposed to write a campaign before it happens . The advice can be personal or highly generic : Devise your plot. [...] Plot can roughly be defined as the action that will occur no matter what the player characters do. The models for these DM-de
Musings on table-top role-playing games today after spending a quarter century away from them.