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.