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Most inaccurate game fiction!

Started by Warthur, April 21, 2008, 12:15:25 PM

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Warthur

April 21, 2008, 12:15:25 PM
You know what irritates me? RPG fiction in rulebooks which depict characters doing stuff which is actually impossible (or at least totally unsupported) under the rules. I'm a bit more forgiving of standalone novels - they need a little poetic licence, after all - but if you're using space in a rulebook for fiction, it's presumably intended to give me some idea of what I can do with the game. If I can't replicate the action in the story using the rules you give me, you've screwed up.

What are the most horrific examples of this sort of thing people have encountered?
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brettmb2

#1
April 21, 2008, 12:32:47 PM
I hear you. That annoys the crap out of me too. I can't think of any examples of hand though.

I run into that problem as a publisher, specifically for adventures, so I have to either modify the text, invent a new rule, or use what I call "relics," which basically allow someone to do things beyond the rules.
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Settembrini

#2
April 21, 2008, 02:12:54 PM
I for one, am GLAD that Batlletech fiction is not modelled after the rules. It´s better for the game...
If there can\'t be a TPK against the will of the players it\'s not an RPG.- Pierce Inverarity

kryyst

#3
April 21, 2008, 02:54:34 PM
SLA Industries - the fictional adventure example of the book was entirely contradictory to the rules - discounting the whole 'it wall all a dream factor' the game fiction reads amazing the rules just don't support it at all.

Few examples are when they stated out Carnivorous Pigs, Manchines, Headhunters, Carrion or pretty much anything else.  They just weren't scary at all once you compared their stats.
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RPGPundit

#4
April 21, 2008, 03:00:10 PM
All in-game fiction contains varying levels of suck. I've never seen a book with in-game original fiction that was worth the space it was written on.

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jrients

#5
April 21, 2008, 11:13:29 PM
I'm with Pundit on this one.
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noisms

#6
April 21, 2008, 11:16:02 PM
Quote from: RPGPunditAll in-game fiction contains varying levels of suck. I've never seen a book with in-game original fiction that was worth the space it was written on.

RPGPundit

Yep.

If the people who write in-game fiction were any good at it, they'd be writing proper fiction and having it published.
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jeff37923

#7
April 21, 2008, 11:16:37 PM
Quote from: jrientsI'm with Pundit on this one.

I've got one foot on this bus.

The only time I've seen game fiction not entirely suck was in the now defunct Star Wars Adventure Journal. The story was about 1/3rd actual story, 1/3rd artwork of various quality, and 1/3rd game information about the stuff in the story. That worked for me.
"Meh."

TheQuestionMan

#8
April 22, 2008, 03:30:54 AM
Shadowrun Novels are pretty bad. Written mostly by authors who are unframiliar with the Game Mechanics.

Yikes!

QM
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jhkim

#9
April 22, 2008, 03:43:55 AM
To be fair, often I feel the failure is in the game mechanics more than the fiction.  For comparison, there are a lot of games based on established material (i.e. Conan, Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, Buffy, etc.) where the rules fail to emulate the fiction to various degrees -- and in those cases we tend to fault the mechanics.

FASERIP

#10
April 22, 2008, 03:51:20 AM
Game fiction is typical geeksploitation.

It's bad because it doesn't have to be good. It doesn't have to compete in the marketplace. Geeks will buy it anyway.

As to the shit in the rulebooks, it's always a waste of space. Short blurbs, etc, are far more evocative, and less obviously a case of "writer had to find some way to fill this page."
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Speak your mind here without fear! They\'ll just lock the thread anyway.

Olive

#12
April 25, 2008, 12:18:01 AM
I liked the Dan Abnett stuff in the WFRP book.
 

David Johansen

#13
April 25, 2008, 12:51:54 AM
The T4 novel has to win some kind of prize for this one.  The far trader in it has a force field of the startrek variety and IRRC a meson gun.
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JongWK

#14
April 25, 2008, 01:45:22 AM
Quote from: TheQuestionManShadowrun Novels are pretty bad. Written mostly by authors who are unframiliar with the Game Mechanics.

Yikes!

QM

Most of them are quite bad, yes. The exception seem to be Nigel Findley's books, as he was one of the best SR authors.
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