Emergent Narrative: What We Can Learn From Dungeons & Dragons
Transcript of Emergent Narrative: What We Can Learn From Dungeons & Dragons
EMERGENT NARRATIVE What We Can Learn From Dungeons & Dragons
@stefangrambart
Noots
I’ve always been a storyteller at heart. D&D, Improv, etc.
Earliest examples of storytelling date back to prehistory.Serra da Capivara cave painting
Oral storytelling traditions are found in the roots of every culture.David Geister
SO… WHY STORY? Why do we listen / read / watch / play them?
To experience emotion in safety.
Stories transplant us into situations without danger.
To gain some insight about life.
To learn about people, places, things, and events.
To experience excitement.
Action, adventure, and/or adrenaline.
AUDIENCE NEEDS In roughly equal doses
Emot
ion
Exp
ositio
n
Action
STORY
NARRATIVE MODELS Understanding how stories are told.
LINEAR NARRATIVE Story unfolds without input from the audience
‣ Authorial techniques create drama and elicit emotions.
‣ Author has total control over the direction and outcome of the plot.
BOOKS
George R. R. Martin
FILMS
New Line Cinema
TELEVISION
MTV
GAMES?
Eidos Interactive
By definition, games are
inherently interactive.
But…
NOT ALL GAMES TELL STORIES
Games can rely on
gameplay mechanics to drive interaction.
UNCHARTED 4 Cinematic Action-Adventure
Naughty Dog
Naughty Dog
“It has a very specific ending that’s very definitive
to the franchise.”- Neil Druckmann
Creative Director, Naughty Dog
In order to keep the story moving forward,
failure is not an option.
DRAGON AGE Action Role-Playing Game
BioWare
BRANCHING NARRATIVE The audience chooses from pre-authored storylines
‣ Audience can make decisions about how the story progresses.
‣ Every choice creates a new storyline.
Complex branching narratives will experience
EXPONENTIAL GROWTH
SKYRIM “Open-world fantasy epic”
Michal Kus
244 Story-based quests
Michal Kus
8% Form the main story
TANGENTIAL NARRATIVE The audience can explore optional story content
‣ Essentially a linear narrative with optional supporting story branches.
‣ Branches are self-contained, and have limited effect on the main plot.
Michal Kus
What Skyrim does is create a
believable world the audience can explore.
WALKING DEAD “Every choice matters”
Telltale Games
Every decision in Telltale Games’
WALKING DEAD: SEASON 1
Narrative where the branching paths never deviate too far or too long from the main storyline.
ELASTIC NARRATIVE Branching storylines integrate back into the plot
‣ Decisions create new branches that invariably fold back into the main storyline.
‣ Consequences don’t deviate too far from the main plot.
Telltale Games
Telltale’s Walking Dead is about
making hard choices. Consequences are real and meaningful, but the author has
a very specific and engaging story to tell.
Telltale Games
“choices should feel meaningful, permanent,
and tailored to your story”- Joshua Rubin
Writer, Telltale Games
Supergiant GamesDontnod
ThatgamecompanyQuantic Dream
STORY-DRIVEN GAMES
In all of these models, the storyline suffers from
PREDESTINED OUTCOMES
Is there a narrative model wherein exists
spontaneous, collaborative storytelling?
Larry Elmore
Zero Charisma
Tabletop Role-Playing Games have provided fantastic story experiences since the late seventies.
CreditCredit
A variety of RPG rulesets, spanning countless genres and settings.
The rules, setting, and mechanics become a
framework for building narrative.
EMERGENT NARRATIVE Spontaneously created storylines
‣ Infinite options collapse into a single storyline as decisions are made.
‣ True collaboration between author and audience.
Canadian Improv Games
RPGs are a lot like a seated version of Improv Theatre
Canadian Improv Games
IMPROV MISCONCEPTION When and improv troupe asks the audience for suggestions, there’s interaction, but the emergent narrative is actually created between the players onstage.
If an improv troupe could collaboratively improvise a scene, bringing a story to life - but without suggestions, the audience would never believe it wasn’t rehearsed.
Meanwhile, any improvised scene is created by the players, in character, without the ability to plan or discuss its direction or ultimate outcome.
Drachenfest
Add fantasy back into improv, and it’s essentially LARPing!
Collaborative storytelling allows for
DYNAMIC OUTCOMES
Wizards of the CoastTSR
Modules give the Dungeon Master a pre-made story to follow,
Dice Shaming
but things don’t always as planned.The players and the dice are unpredictable.
Dungeon Master Tip #1
ASK QUESTIONS, USE ANSWERS
Wizards of the Coast
Steve Wang
THE FOUNDING OF SHITSBURG We were starting a new campaign and the player characters began in a run down city. I described its lack of comforts, how the buildings were run-down and neglected and the townsfolk were downtrodden.
I then asked “What’s it called?”
One player replied “Shitsburg!”
Following groans and protests from the other players we decided on a more story appropriate name.
CNN
Steve Wang
Over the course of a few adventures, I continued to get the players to fill in details about the town:
• The name of their favourite Inn, details about the owner and his staff.
• The nature of an annual festival that seems to be the only joy this place and its people ever see.
• A vast criminal empire lurking just out of reach of the meagre law enforcement.
• Various rivals for the player characters, and some allies as well.
PLAYER AGENCY Players’ interactions have a meaningful impact.
Dungeon Master Tip #2
EVERYTHING HAS DETAIL
Wizards of the Coast
(or does it?)
ArenaNet
THE ADVERSARY As a novice DM, I would spend hours creating characters beforehand; creating a history, interesting quirks and cool abilities.
In one case I created a villain I planned on using to harass the PCs time and again, leading up to a final confrontation.
But I had grossly underestimated the players’ ingenuity, and they managed to kill him off in short order.
All that work for nothing.
To make matters worse, later in the session a set of bad rolls nearly wiped out the PCs in a random encounter with a troll.
Everyone forgets the Adversary, but remembers the troll, whom the players named…
Marshmallows For Breakfast
ALPHONSE THE TROLL OF INDETERMINATE BACKSTORY
Suck it!
I spent so much time
building out a single character, I couldn’t pivot to the needs of the story.
Now, I Write Characteristics, Not Characters
Applying them as needed
When the players
APPROACH a story element, I start to ascribe it characteristics from my lists. The element grows more detailed
the more it is approached.
Dungeon Master Tip #3
USE WHAT MATTERS MOST
Wizards of the Coast
Steve Wang
Back in Shitsburg, I needed an inciting event that would get the PCs to leave town and head for a larger city…
Marshmallows For Breakfast
Suck it!WITH FIRE
Luckily Alphonse was still around, so I decided he’d raze the town in a fit of vengeful wrath.
Mathieu Latour-Duhaime
To my surprise, destroying the town the players had helped build created a
strong emotional reaction.
THE ACT IV DISASTER The audience needs to genuinely care about what is lost.
Mathieu Latour-Duhaime
Games often make the mistake of forcing
empathic connection.
Bethesda
Leveraging past decisions at key plot points creates
agency conversion.
DRAMATIC AGENCY Narrative outcomes create emotional responses.
HOW CAN THIS WORK DIGITALLY?
Sure it works at a tabletop, but what about on a desktop?
FIVE ACT STRUCTURE It was good enough for Shakespeare…
Act I: Setup Introduce the character, their desire, and their world. Create the familiar.
Act II: Setting Out Send the character on a journey (not necessarily physical) Create the unfamiliar.
Act III: Set Piece This is where you give the audience what you promised them. The movie poster.
Act IV: Setback Disaster! The Character’s karma is all wrong.
Act V: Settling The Score Karma is paid off.
The 36 Dramatic Situations
By Georges Polti
Mela Muter
Rivalry of Kin The Object Of Rivalry
chooses the Preferred Kinsman over the
Rejected Kinsman.
Georges Polti
LEFT 4 DEAD The Director
Valve Corporation
Valve Corporation
The Director follows how you play the game and creates tension and moments of action when you’re in a lull.
SHADOW OF MORDOR
The Nemesis Engine
Monolith Productions
Monolith Productions
The Nemesis Engine creates enemies that behave naturalistically; holding grudges, suffering long-term injuries, falling to cowardice,
and taunting the player character with insults.
WHY NOW? What drives the need for a new narrative model?
Storytellers knew their audience and tailored story to suit them.David Geister
Audiences became consumers instead of collaborators.Eidos InteractiveMTV
New Line CinemaGeorge R.R. Martin
New platforms empower the next generation as MakersManus VRNetflix
GoogleMojang
The Rules•The DM will describe a situation and asK:What Do You Do?
•Someone answers, using suggestions on screen, or making up their own.
•Be respectful! Let’s keep this PG-13.
•Don’t yell! Yelling is loud. And hurts my ears.
•Have fun! I like fun.
TraitsSkilled Magical Mysterious Joyful Strong
Funny Warped Broken Sinister Helpful
Lazy Strange Foolish Fearless Curious
Musical Chatty Dim Bright Swift
AttributesNewly tattooed Dressed in rags One-eyed Hairy Scaly
Gleaming smile Scarred Hooded Bearded Hooked hand
Iron Pot for cooking Ancient relic once lost Magnificent sword Cursed wand Delicious cupcake Bag of nails
Arcane book Polished skull Ten foot pole Harp (out of tune) Glass slippers A few coins
Things
Busy tavern Ominous tower Shifty bridge Dangerous cave Helpful store Enchanted forest Haunted manor
Deserted island Shitsburg Forlorn ruins Comfy campsite Lonely mountain Darkest dungeon
Places
Boating incident Childhood trauma Unexpected weather Parade Stop, Thief!
Book Dog Umbrella Wheel Unicorn
Events
Marshmallows For Breakfast
I ain’t got time fo’ dat!
Marshmallows For Breakfast
You can’t beat me! lolz
Marshmallows For Breakfast
I Win! Suck It!
Marshmallows For Breakfast
Oh noes! I ham dead!
THANKS! Any Questions?
@stefangrambart
Suck it!