It’s time close this Stupid Narration Tricks series once and for all. We had some fun, but it’s time to move on. In this final entry, I’ll share the two tricks I left unshared last week. Because, now that you’ve learned how to hide details in plain narrative sight, you’re ready to use repetition to make patterns and break them. Assuming you’re good enough.
It’s time for a big update. I’m back. I’m recovered from my post travel illness. I feel like some light and passion have come back into my life. Time to throw myself into this crap with gusto.
In this penultimate lesson in my Stupid Narration Tricks series, I want show you the first of three tricks used by George R. R. Martin to hide important clues in plain narrative sight so that you can give your players a chance to spot important details and solve mysteries without falling back on die rolls and obvious expository reveals. The final lesson, next week, will cover the other two.
I love open-ended creative problem as much as anyone. It’s why I love tabletop roleplaying games oh so huggy much. But it’s too brittle to rely upon as core gameplay and that ain’t just me talking. There’s years of cognitive research about how people engage with open-ended “insight problems” showing that they’re just not a great thing to build gameplay around. That’s right; I brought receipts for the first in this three-part series about a more comprehensive approach to challenge design that allows for open-ended creativity and dice-rolling without letting either break the gameplay experience.
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