So, does anybody here write fanfics for their favorite RPG settings? I do, and I am currently writing a Vampire: The Masquerade fanfiction that is a work in progress, and I just posted the third chapter today.
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11719904/1/Game-Night
Now that the obligatory Fanfic advertisement is out of the way, I want to know if anyone else here does this or am I alone on this? I like fanfiction and find it to be a good way to kill time and it's very fun. I know a lot of people don't like fanfics, but I do and it's all just in good fun anyway.
As a GM, I find writing fanfics for my favorite RPG's helps me get in the mind to build a campaign for them. So, it can have practical applications in actual games depending on how you do things.
I mean, after all, most RPG's have some storytelling components in them (to say nothing of the whole movement of "Story Games", whatever the fuck those are) and for me, writing these fanfics help flex my creative muscles for RPG's and lets me use campaign ideas I haven't been able to run.
Anyone else interested in fanfics and how they relate to RPG's?
And yes, officially licensed books such as those Forgotten Realms novels count as RPG fanfiction in my book. Also, I know I created a similar thread to this a long time ago, but I don't want to commit thread necromancy on a thread that is over a year old.
God no. But more power to you.
I wrote a short story for Star Frontiers for Dragon wayyyyyy back. But TSR dropped SF and then folded so it ended up unused, as was a new race article. Not fanfiction as it would have been published.
Theres also some in the new SF mags. Im not sure if those count as fanfiction or not as its neither official nor actually paid published. One of those YMMV grey areas. What counts? What doesnt? Never made any sense.
Quote from: Doc Sammy;973123Anyone else interested in fanfics and how they relate to RPG's?
*
splashes white gas on thread, lights it on fire with a flare*
Quote from: Black Vulmea;973193*splashes white gas on thread, lights it on fire with a flare*
Is that your RP fanfic of this thread?
Quote from: Harlock;973196Is that your RP fanfic of this thread?
The only kind of fanning Black Vulmea does involves flames.
Never understood this, why not just write your own world and characters? Thankfully it never seemed to catch-on with RPGers, unless you consider shite like Terry Brooks D&D fanfic.
My sister used to write up campaign logs for our Amber Diceless games, and she embellished some of the scenes and details. They were useful for me to help remember what happened in the campaign, but I doubt that anyone else would enjoy reading them because they weren't designed to be real literature.Maybe that counts as fanfic.
When people write about their characters or games, I much prefer to read how John rolled a crit and Jeanette aced her save roll instead of it being written as an in character story or something.
D&D fanfiction exists in a weird context. You have the generic fanfiction, licensed novels and so forth which are indistinguishable from anything else in the fantasy genre. Then you have the fanfiction which takes the idiosyncrasies of the 3rd edition magic system to its logical extreme and creates a bizarre quasi-scifi fantasy world with little resemblance to traditional fantasy worlds. Then you have the even more bizarre fanfiction where the 3rd edition rules are literally the laws of physics and the characters act with the self-awareness that they are characters in a narrative with specific genre conventions.
The latter two are probably the most entertaining fantasy fiction ever written, particularly when crossed over with the first.
I thought it was called playing rpgs solo (https://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?806488-Solitaire-DWRPG-Mythic-Doctor-Who-The-Revenge-of-the-Dominators)?
Quote from: Dumarest;973152God no. But more power to you.
This! :)
Quote from: RunningLaser;973262When people write about their characters or games, I much prefer to read how John rolled a crit and Jeanette aced her save roll instead of it being written as an in character story or something.
Same here. I'm always disappointed when an actual play report on a game I am interested in fails to get into the mechanics and how the GM handled the system. Someone giving a blow-by-blow report of a fight with a bear was what got me to pick up RQ6.
Quote from: Baulderstone;973200The only kind of fanning Black Vulmea does involves flames.
Yes, but he is cooking with a flare, so I approve.
I keep an in-character player journal I write up the day after a session. Mostly because I tend to forget details after a time and this is my form of combating that. Sort of like taking notes in class, then re-writing them as a memorization/study technique. I just do it in character because it helps my roleplay and reads back better when I go over them again.
One other funky thing that I find sometimes in gaming fanfic is that the writer uses gamer terminology in places where muggles don't tend to use it. For example, one TSR book (I forget which) kept having someone "gain initiative" which is technically accurate but a total gamer phrase. Or someone refers to "high level" something. That kind of thing just sounds awkward when reading the story to see this stuff in fiction.
So, has anyone read my fanfic "Game Night"? If so, what do you think of it so far and what can I do to improve future chapters?
Quote from: Harlock;973328I keep an in-character player journal I write up the day after a session. Mostly because I tend to forget details after a time and this is my form of combating that. Sort of like taking notes in class, then re-writing them as a memorization/study technique. I just do it in character because it helps my roleplay and reads back better when I go over them again.
Yeah, I keep a notebook and just write brief bulletpoints of what happened in the game so I can remember just what happened. The entries are brief, stuff like "PC's killed goblins, freed prisoners. Found map."
Quote from: Doc Sammy;973382So, has anyone read my fanfic "Game Night"? If so, what do you think of it so far and what can I do to improve future chapters?
Honest feedback: too many cliches in the language and the characters talk in info dumps. But I've read worse.
A few years ago, for my campaign journal, I tried to write it in a story format that I suppose technically falls under the "fanfic" umbrella, but these days when I recap a game, it's more like, "Then John said he wanted to bust the door down, but rolled really shitty, and Alex called him a dumbass because now all the monsters would know they were there. Fred was too busy pounding beers to give a shit and said he would cast his fireball at them both if they didn't shut up. They ended up killing three trolls, sneaking past a giant and stealing some good loot." More brief and more of an emphasis on recapping the real-life social aspects of the game, I suppose. Kind of how I would answer if my wife, who doesn't care about gaming, asked, "How'd the game go?"
Quote from: Black Vulmea;973193*splashes white gas on thread, lights it on fire with a flare*
* gets the marshmallows *
Quote from: Chainsaw;973609these days when I recap a game, it's more like, "Then John said he wanted to bust the door down, but rolled really shitty, and Alex called him a dumbass because now all the monsters would know they were there. Fred was too busy pounding beers to give a shit and said he would cast his fireball at them both if they didn't shut up. They ended up killing three trolls, sneaking past a giant and stealing some good loot."
These are the things that I can read and enjoy reading about someone's game.
Quote from: Gronan of Simmerya;973611* gets the marshmallows *
Agreed, my General; I suspect that this is not the market for my little effort; I seem to have omitted all of the things people like, in favor of what they don't like. It has been handy market research, though... :)
I can't really enjoy RPG fanfic unless it's yaoi style involving Tanis and Raistlin.
Quote from: ArrozConLeche;973669I can't really enjoy RPG fanfic unless it's yaoi style involving Tanis and Raistlin.
and now the thread has died in a fire....
Quote from: ArrozConLeche;973669yaoi
I had to look that up. I hate you.
Quote from: Harlock;973688I had to look that up. I hate you.
Meanwhile I fearfully refrain from looking it up...
Quote from: Harlock;973688I had to look that up. I hate you.
Harlock takes one for the team. Good lad.
We need some clarity of definition. Is the OP talking about simply writing the campaign chronicle from an in-character point of view, or actual "fan fiction" in the campaign universe about things that didn't happen in the game (like Tyrian Lanister buggering Elminster)?
Not all fanfic need involve buggering, that is a subgenre known as slash ficition. The original slash fiction was Cpt. Kirk and Spock, made pre-internet by mostly female fans.
Quote from: Voros;973219Never understood this, why not just write your own world and characters? Thankfully it never seemed to catch-on with RPGers, unless you consider shite like Terry Brooks D&D fanfic.
Some people just like to write for a setting. They like some element of it and it inspires them to write. Others are just really horrible at setting and so having a frame to work with is great for them. Others see a lack of fiction for the setting and want to fill that. Others essentially turn their RP logs into a short story. (Its how Record of Lodoss War started. It was the replay logs of their BX sessions.) Tons of reasons to write for a setting rather than make your own.
Quote from: Gronan of Simmerya;973702We need some clarity of definition. Is the OP talking about simply writing the campaign chronicle from an in-character point of view, or actual "fan fiction" in the campaign universe about things that didn't happen in the game (like Tyrian Lanister buggering Elminster)?
Personally I prefer the RP logs turned into stories type. Ive never seen one written from the PCs point of view. Would probably read like a diary.
QuoteDear Diary: Today we descended into the depths of the depthless dungeon and Quill the thief found a trap. We had to return to the temple to have him raised. Later we encountered some orcs and they let us pass for some of our rations. Then I was killed by a kobold with a dagger. Being a magic user sucks...
Quote from: Gronan of Simmerya;973702We need some clarity of definition. Is the OP talking about simply writing the campaign chronicle from an in-character point of view, or actual "fan fiction" in the campaign universe about things that didn't happen in the game (like Tyrian Lanister buggering Elminster)?
That's worth making a distinction. I remember my freshman year of high school, I began writing up a Palladium game I was running as a story before deciding RPGs didn't really translate that well to fiction. I wouldn't call that fan fiction though, as it all involved characters from our own group. Character journals are not fanfic.
Quote from: Omega;973713Some people just like to write for a setting. They like some element of it and it inspires them to write. Others are just really horrible at setting and so having a frame to work with is great for them. Others see a lack of fiction for the setting and want to fill that. Others essentially turn their RP logs into a short story. (Its how Record of Lodoss War started. It was the replay logs of their BX sessions.) Tons of reasons to write for a setting rather than make your own.
Not to mention, why reinvent the wheel? Tony Bath used the Hyborian Age for his late 60s-early 70s wargame campaign because it was a glorious, devil may care mishmash; you can have Vikings and Hundred Years War English and Ptolemaic Egyptians and Picts and Spanish Main buccaneers and Greek hoplites and cavemen and monsters and Zulus and just about any damn thing you want.
I use it for my D&D world for the same reason. After decades of trying to build a world that does the same thing but isn't the Hyborian Age, I just gave up.
Quote from: Voros;973219Never understood this, why not just write your own world and characters? Thankfully it never seemed to catch-on with RPGers, unless you consider shite like Terry Brooks D&D fanfic.
Well, what else would you consider Terry Brooks:D?
Quote from: Omega;973715Personally I prefer the RP logs turned into stories type. Ive never seen one written from the PCs point of view. Would probably read like a diary.
Never seen an Actual Play written in what I consider the default style?
Here you go (http://storiescharactersandsystemsinrpgs.blogspot.bg/search/label/Wandering%20Heroes%20of%20Ogre%20Gate) and hope you like wuxia;).
Quote from: Omega;973715Personally I prefer the RP logs turned into stories type. Ive never seen one written from the PCs point of view. Would probably read like a diary.
Agreed, which is why I avoided writing like that and doing it more like that Howard chap. No game mechanics, though, which I've been lambasted for. It's not the kind of thing I'd like to write about, as I do not find game mechanics all that interesting; I'm much more into setting, which I'm told by various readers I've managed to do.
Quote from: Gronan of Simmerya;973802Not to mention, why reinvent the wheel? Tony Bath used the Hyborian Age for his late 60s-early 70s wargame campaign because it was a glorious, devil may care mishmash; you can have Vikings and Hundred Years War English and Ptolemaic Egyptians and Picts and Spanish Main buccaneers and Greek hoplites and cavemen and monsters and Zulus and just about any damn thing you want.
I use it for my D&D world for the same reason. After decades of trying to build a world that does the same thing but isn't the Hyborian Age, I just gave up.
Fortunately my fellow players are largely savage, ignorant illiterates and have no familiarity with Robert E. Howard beyond the Arnold Schwarzenegger movies using the Conan name, so I can steal willy-nilly and seem creative and original.
Quote from: Dumarest;973869Fortunately my fellow players are largely savage, ignorant illiterates and have no familiarity with Robert E. Howard beyond the Arnold Schwarzenegger movies using the Conan name, so I can steal willy-nilly and seem creative and original.
Lucky bastard. :D
(Actually, about half of my players would recognize, we just don't CARE.)
I've written over 2000 pages of fiction based on one of my Planescape campaigns (it's around 60% finished at this point) and tons of side stories related to various NPCs from said game. I tend to write side stories in parallel to ongoing campaigns that I play in, simply to explore the setting, explore the characters, and just to have something to write if I'm not being paid to write anything at the time. *shrugs*
Quote from: AsenRG;973829Well, what else would you consider Terry Brooks:D?
Incredibly successful millionaire?
I hope to one day write as badly as Terry.
Quote from: Voros;973712The original slash fiction was Cpt. Kirk and Spock, made pre-internet by mostly female fans.
Was Star Trek the first fanfic?
I remember picking up a book of Star Trek short stories in the late-1970s. Also, a Star Fleet medical guide in the early 80s.
Aren't the Forgettable Realms books just well marketed fanfic? The few I've picked up certainly read like it. Shudder.
Quote from: Spinachcat;973905Incredibly successful millionaire?
No, that's who Terry Brooks is. His works are another matter, and they're fanfiction:).
QuoteI hope to one day write as badly as Terry.
You probably do already, but that wouldn't translate to the same financial success;).
Quote from: Baulderstone;973309Same here. I'm always disappointed when an actual play report on a game I am interested in fails to get into the mechanics and how the GM handled the system. Someone giving a blow-by-blow report of a fight with a bear was what got me to pick up RQ6.
If its an example of play, I like for the mechanics to be mentioned alongside a narrative describing the scene from an in world perspective, maybe in different sections. I like seeing how the mechanics translate into the style and mood of the setting. I like campaign logs, blue books and other types of direct campaign records and compilation to be done more in world and as fiction.
Quote from: Omega;973715Personally I prefer the RP logs turned into stories type. I've never seen one written from the PCs point of view. Would probably read like a diary.
That's how my character journal reads: first person descriptions of events as they happened in game.
Some of my amber players have produced in-campaign fiction for bonus points. It was never very good.