http://craphound.com/disneylandleveldesign.txt
An interesting discussion about what Level Design can learn from Disneyland. It's aimed at video games, but many of the ideas translate to table top - especially for world building and mega-dungeon design.
That's an interesting read.
I noticed, right from the start that World Of Warcraft reminded me a lot of Disneyland... in all sorts of ways that are mentioned in that linked article.
I've also noticed that WOW has had a strong, positive effect on how I lay things out in PNP RPGs... (there's lots of stuff I don't like about WOW but it does a good job of making the place feel 'alive' with thick layers of history and loads of potential for exploration).
..."I want 10 wolf furs."
Quote from: Narf the Mouse;293196..."I want 10 wolf furs."
That's one of the (many) things I didn't like about WOW... kind of like the lines at Disneyland... or the crappy food... or the fact that the Haunted Mansion isn't really very scary (though it could be truly frightening).
Actually, 10 wolf furs is reasonable... but wolves without skins isn't.(forcing you to kill more like 60 wolves to get 10 skins).
Just the ideas of timing... pacing adventures to build up expectations of epicness... giving you glimpses of things you can't deal with yet... a feeling of being in the presence of vastly powerful stuff...
Having spent much of my life here in Southern California, I can say that Disneyland has long been a source of inspiration for me as a gamer.
Our family purchased annual passes this year, and as a matter of fact we were there today, to celebrate my wife's birthday. We spent a little time in California Adventure, and the entrance to the Hollywood Pictures Backlot (one of the "-lands" of CA) is a faux-Egyptian archway: I thought about Egyptian merchants attending the Fair of the Madeleine in Beaucaire, or a swordfight among the ruins of an ancient Egyptian temple, for my Flashing Blades game.
One of my consistent take-aways from Disneyland is the need for a rich roleplaying environment. By a rich environment I mean one with lots of bits with which the adventurers can interact: it could be "dungeon dressing," it could be jumping into a star system and encountering a half-dozen different ships and small craft going about their business, it could be a world-map with more than just forest/hill/mountain/desert/plains/water terrains.
That's always been very important to me as referee, because it gives the players interesting choices: the broken axe head lodged in the wooden door, the one the dwarf decided to take with him since he had space in his pouch, now becomes the shim used to keep a sliding wall from blocking the passage behind the party, or the gargoyles on the castle, the ones shaped like squirrels with big fluffy tails (a detail I noticed on Sleeping Beauty's Castle today), are a clue to the antic nature of the architect.
It seems so simple, but in my experience this stuff is often overlooked or left out, partly because it can require more work on the part of the referee during world-building and encounter design, as well as the need to adapt to all the crazy things the players and their characters will come up with when they do interact with this environment.
Another option is to encourage the players to add this kind of detail to the game: let them set the scene by adding details. That's not really my kind of thing, on either side of the screen, but I can see how it might help in creating a rich environment-like experience.
Quote from: The Shaman;293352Another option is to encourage the players to add this kind of detail to the game: let them set the scene by adding details. That's not really my kind of thing, on either side of the screen, but I can see how it might help in creating a rich environment-like experience.
I underdescribe environments to goad players into asking about scenery on the theory that it encourages immersion. It's more fun if they "discover" stuff on their own.
Quote from: The Shaman;293352One of my consistent take-aways from Disneyland is the need for a rich roleplaying environment.
This is the authorial equivalent of the "toss detail". It is the little detail added (tossed) to a scene that help makes it more than something glossed over. It is that added degree of description that needs to be there to make it real (or at least have verisimilitude)
You enter the dining hall and the long table is set for dinner.
You enter the dining hall, the last sunlight still streaming through the high windows. You can actually see all the portraits on the wall, normally obscured by shadows and poor lighting (previous castle owners from a different noble line). The Long Table, decorated with a red and gold table runner (heraldic colors of the lord), is set for a feast (something is up). Some of the food is already out awaiting the guests. (and happening soon).
Okay, added four tossed in details. Players could interact with any of them (or gain information from them). You have to be ready for players to act on any of your tossed details.
Some people toss details in, thinking they will be plotlines for later, but currently have no clue about them. If the players pick up on them, those are the ones you flesh out. This is the John Cochrane school of writing. The master of the dangling plotline. The players follow the hook, you supply something that interests them. Eventually, you grab a couple of old dangling details and forge something new with them.
Quote from: Narf the Mouse;293196..."I want 10 wolf furs."
WoW quests are fine for PNP RPGs if you factor in the speed scale between computer games and tabletop.
Instead of "I want 10 wolf furs", a perfectly fine PNP quest would be "I will pay 1000 gold for the fur of a giant wolf" and send the PCs off.
Quote from: MoonHunter;293446This is the authorial equivalent of the "toss detail". It is the little detail added (tossed) to a scene that help makes it more than something glossed over. It is that added degree of description that needs to be there to make it real (or at least have verisimilitude)
Very much so, in my experience.
Quote from: MoonHunterPlayers could interact with any of them (or gain information from them). You have to be ready for players to act on any of your tossed details.
That is the trick - but it's also the fun for me as referee.
Quote from: MoonHunterSome people toss details in, thinking they will be plotlines for later, but currently have no clue about them. If the players pick up on them, those are the ones you flesh out. This is the John Cochrane school of writing. The master of the dangling plotline. The players follow the hook, you supply something that interests them. Eventually, you grab a couple of old dangling details and forge something new with them.
That's one approach. Usually I have a good idea of the significance of the details in the setting, though, so either the players are pulling on some thread of the setting or they can use the information to start weaving their own new thread.