Hamlet's Hit Points in Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff Bookshelf

Feb 15, 2016 Benjamin added it

Shelves: writing-advice

Robin D. Laws is a game designer and author who I like a lot; he's also a cineaste and a cook. Which all adds up to: this is a guy who is serious about his enjoyment.

I finally got around to reading this book (borrowed from an improvisor friend and fellow nerd -- what a capacious Venn diagram that is), which is all about "a system for analyzing stories tuned to the needs of roleplaying gamers."

(Laws gives that summary in the section wonderfully titled "How to Pretend You’ve Read This Book.")

In ot ...more

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Apr 02, 2025 Mark rated it it was amazing

A book for RPGers--mostly game runners--that does a close analysis of the "beats" in Hamlet, Casablanca, and Doctor No. A beat, as used here, is a dramatic unit of somewhat arbitrary length (but short: Casablanca has around 175.)

I read this after re-watching the works described, which meant the floor for my enjoyment started pretty high; even when the observations on a beat are straightforward it still has the relaxed appeal of reading the recap of a show you've enjoyed. Mixed into this are tie ...more

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Oct 01, 2010 John rated it liked it

Shelves: role-playing, non-fiction, gaming

Some very interesting ideas here. I'm not sure that they warrant a complete book, but presenting three protracted examples does tend to hammer home the points being made.

Well worth the time it took to read. ...more

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