On Thu, 15 Dec 2005, Roger Burton West wrote:
> Looking at "What's the game about?", I find that I'm hearing a lot of
> this "basic story" idea recently - the pitch-style description of "what
> do the PCs do in the game". While this may be OK for some of the very
> specific games we're seeing these days (DitV is a canonical - sorry -
> example), I think it does a disservice to many of the more interesting
> worlds.
>
> Take Crimson Skies, for example. The pitch isn't about PC activities at
> all - it's "alternate-history pulp 1937 with airships, weird planes and
> a balkanised USA". The "basic story" could be given as "PCs are heroic
> aviators who fight sky pirates", but there's a whole lot more of
> interest; I've just finished running a hard-boiled private investigator
> game, which did have occasional flying but was mostly earthbound.
>
> It's a useful tool, in other words, but like any tool it's easy to
> overuse.


There's a difference between the core story of a game's mechanics, the 
core story of a setting, and the core story of a campaign.  The mechanics' 
core story points toward the kind of play emphasized in the game.  The 
setting's core story gives you the flavor of the game.  The campaign's 
core story shows the emphasis of the game.

For instance, D&D's core story looks an awful lot like "kill things and 
take their stuff to gain experience and riches."  The core story for the 
Forgotten Realms setting might be "New powers rise in a land scattered 
with the ruins of powers that have failed."  A campaign within the Realms 
could have as a core story, "Adventurers explore the ruins of an ancient 
city, searching for lost magics, riches, and glory."

Often the campaign's story is drawn from the characters' backgrounds and 
motivations.  However, if the characters are different enough, a basic 
story for the campaign itself ("The evil villain DeathShadow masterminds 
the largest organized crime syndicate ever assembled!" or "Plant monsters 
from outer space are trying to take over the world!") gives a direction 
that the characters can connect to in order to bring them together as a 
team.

At least, that's my take on how the idea of a core story can be used 
effectively.


-Bill
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