Norwegian Style
Matthijs has sent me a copy of Norwegian Style (he said it would probably take a fortnight to arrive, but it only took a week or so...surprisingly good service from Lulu.)
At first glance, I'm really struck by a couple of key ideas.
1. I really like the idea of a roleplaying anthology.
It's a series of games all linked by the theme that they are Norwegian, even if this purely means that the games are written by Norwegian authors. I would love to see similar "anthology-style" books following other themes; "horror games", "swashbuckling games", "immersion games", "games using non-dice, non-card randomising tools".
2. The roleplaying poem.
The idea of a quick roleplaying game with minimal preparation that plays out over a period of less than an hour, maybe even 15 minutes. I'm so tempted to insert a couple of these roleplaying poems into my new D&D game, just to see how well the concepts work among players who aren't used to playing this type of game. Or playing a couple of roleplaying poems in the pub after a convention. It's interesting to think that a lot of the concepts in roleplaying poems are instinctive...pretend you're someone else for a while, riff of the elements introduced by other players...don't contradict people, just see where this leads.
I don't know if this is an advanced form of play, or if it's simply stripping the elements of roleplaying to their barest essentials. Either way, it seems pretty cool.
At first glance, I'm really struck by a couple of key ideas.
1. I really like the idea of a roleplaying anthology.
It's a series of games all linked by the theme that they are Norwegian, even if this purely means that the games are written by Norwegian authors. I would love to see similar "anthology-style" books following other themes; "horror games", "swashbuckling games", "immersion games", "games using non-dice, non-card randomising tools".
2. The roleplaying poem.
The idea of a quick roleplaying game with minimal preparation that plays out over a period of less than an hour, maybe even 15 minutes. I'm so tempted to insert a couple of these roleplaying poems into my new D&D game, just to see how well the concepts work among players who aren't used to playing this type of game. Or playing a couple of roleplaying poems in the pub after a convention. It's interesting to think that a lot of the concepts in roleplaying poems are instinctive...pretend you're someone else for a while, riff of the elements introduced by other players...don't contradict people, just see where this leads.
I don't know if this is an advanced form of play, or if it's simply stripping the elements of roleplaying to their barest essentials. Either way, it seems pretty cool.
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Comments
My experience with poems, both mine and others, is that it has succeeded. The rp-poem really opens up new ways of interaction and immersion. It enables us to make and play games with virtually no dramatic curve, and to enjoy them. It makes a singular focus on one situation or one athmosphere possible. The limited timeframe of the game, enables new ways of thinking rpg's.
Try it out, Vulp!