/tg/ -Writing Narrative Themes in RPG Campaigns

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Writing Narrative Themes in RPG Campaigns Anonymous 05/14/19 (Tue) 17:15:08 No.418687

I'm currently running a D&D campaign that's in its early stages, next session is session 10.

Though the PC's don't know it yet, the main antagonist for the campaign is a god who was tricked into betraying the other gods during their war with the titans, and for his betrayal he was imprisoned in a plane outside of space and forced to watch the ramifications of his actions for all time. He has been imprisoned for eons and eons, cursed with immortality, and his goal is to destroy the Wheel of Time (the meta-natural axis upon which all of space and time turn) to essentially end time and space forever so he can finally fucking die.

After watching the cycles of the universe turn for eons and eons, the BBEG wants to put it to an end. Infinite lifetimes of suffering is too much even for a god to bear upon his heart. Though he is imprisoned outside of space, after enough time he has been able to pry open the bars a little bit and finally managed to try and tug and manipulate the material plane (which is essentially the outer layer of the Wheel of Time, the plane in which it rests is at its very center and can only be accessed through the material plane). His goal is to create as much inter-planar traffic as he can by manipulating the conditions upon the plane, creating mass death, warfare, grand summonings and magic, disrupting the flow of magic through the material plane, etc. to wear down the planar barriers between the planes, hopefully causing them to evaporate and the planar defense around the Wheel of Time erased so he can be free of his prison and have access to the Wheel to destroy it.

This brings me to the narrative theme of the campaign- cycles. Every major faction and player in the story has goals that are summarized in "ending the cycle". The ancom dwarves want to end the cycle of oppression by nobility and tradition and faith upon the peoeple. The Duke of the city they are going to wants to end the cycles of political conflict within the city and the constant cycle of war between the city-state and the tribes of orcs to the south. The Champion of Bane who leads the united orc horde on their march north wants to the end the cycle of war between them. Each faction that has a goal like this has used, or will use the exact phrase "end the cycle" when talking to the PC's, and each one has a gambit of their own in trying to do so. And each faction like this is being manipulated by agents of the BBEG towards this goal. NPC's semi-frequently refer to patterns, cycles, and wheels in their sayings, describing their goals, etc.

Every tavern or inn the PC's have come to or will come to has had or will have a name related to weavings, wheels and mills. E.g. Weaver's Wish, Wheelwright's Rest, Broken Quern, etc. The puzzles and dungeons the PC's are going to encounter will often reflect cyclical themes- the water cycle, cycles of history, life and death, etc.

>pic related, symbol of the BBEG

I'm trying to find a way to make it noticeable to the more perceptive players. Some of them have begun to notice some of these and the sense of mystery has started to build.

Have you played in campaigns that the GM had written a narrative theme into?

Did the GM do it effectively or clunkily?

Have you written narrative themes into your campaigns in similar ways?

What do you think is the best way to incorporate thematic narrative elements into your campaign?

General feedback, thoughts and opinions or ideas to themes in RPG campaigns, implementing them, etc.?

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Anonymous 05/14/19 (Tue) 17:44:32 No.418692

>>418687

If I'm understanding the level of theme you've introduced so far I think you're right at the edge of how much to add before it gets too much. If you want to get a feel for this, go back and watch the first Terminator. The first 15 minutes has a lot of "machine" theme to it but it doesn't choke the viewer with it. A good analogy my teacher told me is "a Valentine's Day party should not look like an 8yo girl's fantasy bedroom." Don't get ham fisted with it.

I feel that "theming" is schlock and it shouldn't be done. It can be done tastefully and in that produce it's own flavor. Think of "asian" or "greek" themed frat parties. They are tacky at best and insulting most of the time. You can give something the flavor of these with out "theming" them. A good example of a flavored but not themed narrative would be Justified; it has a strong western flavor without feeling like a western themed show.

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Anonymous 05/14/19 (Tue) 19:41:09 No.418701

>>418692

What I'm hearing from this is when it comes to having a greater narrative theme woven into a campaign (or any fiction, really) is less is more and the subtler the better. I was mainly planning on having it (hopefully) be lost in the narrative "noise" you could say- characters speaking with idioms and metaphors, tavern names, puzzles in dungeons etc. so only the more perceptive players would pick it up.

Good point to keep in mind- don't make it ham fisted. Just let it be there.

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Anonymous 05/14/19 (Tue) 21:19:25 No.418712

>>418701

The reason to play TTRPGs is to have fun. People can have fun with something that's over-the-top cheesy and they can have fun with something that's more sombre in tone. Where a lot of people tend to get taken out of the fun is when the elements are in discord. Try not to yo-yo them on the need to suspend disbelief and the emotional context of the game.

If you're running a Terry Pratchett style game that's goofy and poking fun at it self, lay it on thick. If you're going more grimdark, you might want to keep the theme elements subtle.

Two ways I could see a running theme work in a more serious context would be if all the theme elements came from a single source or if you were using the theme as a way of showing supernatural connection context. If you had a villain that owned the bar, set the trap, and crafted the idioms used by his henchmen, then it isn't a a stretch to see the connections between the theme and the obsession of the main villain. In contrast, you could have some unseen supernatural force that is trying to guide the party via hints and suggestions and will link the path the players need to take via a common theme. Done subtly I could see the players feel cleaver when the discover the links and are able to use them late in the adventure.

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