RPGs & Storygames discussion

For many, there is a bold line between "roleplaying games" and "storygames". For others this line is blurry, and shifts over time as new techniques find their way from the edges of practice into the center of the Venn diagram. For those who consider this line to be significant, its definition has a lot to do with Player Stance and Collaborative Techniques, as well as the degree to which Narrative Control is shared around the table. For those who see it as a blurry area, it's just another aspect of building interactive fictional experiences.

Some games are clearly one or the other, if by no other reasoning than the author's own. For games that cleave closely to the "old school" we will use the word "Trad" or "Traditional". For games in which narrative control is broadly shared and all players spend most of their time in "author stance" or "director stance", the word "Storygame" may safely be used. But for games that fall somewhere in the middle, or which partake of techniques from both camps, there is no distinct name. Do we need one? Or is that imaginary line simply going to fade away as time goes by?

For the longest time I had no idea I was leading games into the story game realm. Although D&D wisdom encourages one to be their own DM I always felt like a renegade haphazardly leading my players astray. It was great fun for all none the less, but I still envied those GMs who could follow the rules and the modules to a T. Even though my best experiences as a player were with GMs who invented on the fly. Go figure!

I've found that being a good Player and being a good GM are very different skillsets.

There are definitely skillsets no doubt! I always found it interesting to see new players handle the reigns as a GM for a switch, particularly the critical ones who as players liked to kick back on every minutiae heh...