storytelling game

{{Main article|Collaborative fiction}}

Collaborative fiction is a form of storytelling which uses collaborative writing as the primary medium. A group of authors share creative control of a story. Exquisite Corpse, a Surrealist parlour game, is an example of a collaborative writing game.{{cite web |last=Breton |first=André |author-link=André Breton |date=7 October 1948 |title=Breton Remembers |url=http://exquisitecorpse.com/definition/Bretons_Remembrances.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080127195653/http://exquisitecorpse.com/definition/Bretons_Remembrances.html |archive-date=27 January 2008 |access-date=30 September 2019}} Exhibition catalogue, {{Lang|fr|Le Cadavre Exquis: Son Exaltation}}, La Dragonne, Galerie Nina Dausset, Paris (October 7–30).{{cite book |last=Brotchie |first=Alastair |title=Surrealist Games |author2=Mel Gooding |publisher=Redstone Press |year=1991 |isbn=1-870003-21-7 |location=London |pages=143–144}}{{Cite book |last1=Kochhar-Lindgren |first1=Kanta |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IdeR6vrFBeEC&dq=Exquisite+corpse+henry+miller&pg=PA320 |title=The Exquisite Corpse: Chance and Collaboration in Surrealism's Parlor Game |last2=Schneiderman |first2=Davis |last3=Denlinger |first3=Tom |date=2009-12-01 |publisher=U of Nebraska Press |isbn=978-0-8032-2781-1 |language=en}} The parlour game Consequences is similar.{{cite book |last1=Brandreth |first1=Gyles |title=Everyman's word games |date=1986 |publisher=Dent |isbn=0460047116 |page=76}}

In storytelling card games, players use cards containing narrative prompts or plot details to tell a collaborative story. Examples include Once Upon a Time{{Cite book | contribution=Once Upon a Time | title=Hobby Games: The 100 Best | last=Gascoigne | first=Marc | authorlink=Marc Gascoigne | editor-last=Lowder | editor-first=James | editor-link=James Lowder | publisher=Green Ronin Publishing | year=2007 | pages=224–226 | isbn=978-1-932442-96-0}} and For the Queen.{{Cite web |last=Wieland |first=Rob |title=Darrington Press Brings For The Queen Back To Her Throne |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/robwieland/2024/05/15/darrington-press-brings-for-the-queen-back-to-her-throne/ |access-date=2024-08-13 |website=Forbes |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Robinson |first=Tasha |date=2024-05-23 |title=For the Queen’s creator on the new edition, her many copycats, and her balloon-kink RPG |url=https://www.polygon.com/tabletop-games/24161224/for-the-queen-second-edition-changes-darrington-press-descended-games |access-date=2024-08-13 |website=Polygon |language=en-US}}

{{Main article|Tabletop role-playing game}}

Storytelling TTRPGs take various forms. Some require one participant (a gamemaster or narrator) to describe the setting and take supporting character roles, while others distribute this function among multiple players. White Wolf Game Studio's Storyteller System, which is used in World of Darkness role-playing games such as Vampire: The Masquerade, is a well-known TTRPG described as a "storytelling game."{{Cite web |last=Shannon Appelcline |year=2007 |title=A Brief History of Game #11: White Wolf, Part One: 1986-1995 |url=http://www.rpg.net/columns/briefhistory/briefhistory11.phtml |access-date=2007-09-16 |publisher=RPGnet}}{{Cite web |last=Shannon Appelcline |year=2007 |title=A Brief History of Game #12: White Wolf, Part Two: 1993-Present |url=http://www.rpg.net/columns/briefhistory/briefhistory12.phtml |access-date=2007-09-16 |publisher=RPGnet}} These use a narrator. Other storytelling TTRPGs distribute narrative authority equally among all players. Examples include The Quiet Year,{{cite web |last=Jackson |first=Gita |date=14 August 2016 |title=How the Quiet Year Brings People Together |url=https://kotaku.com/how-the-quiet-year-brings-people-together-1785265299 |website=Kotaku}} Fall of Magic,{{Cite web |last=Robinson |first=Tasha |date=2021-03-30 |title=How handmade components put Fall of Magic on the map |url=https://www.polygon.com/22358342/fall-of-magic-city-of-winter-kickstarter |access-date=2023-04-01 |website=Polygon |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Harrist |first=Josiah |date=2016-05-06 |title=Fall of Magic turns everyone into a gifted author |url=https://killscreen.com/previously/articles/fall-of-magic-turns-everyone-into-a-gifted-author/ |access-date=2023-04-01 |website=Kill Screen |language=en-US}} and Companions' Tale.{{Cite web |last=Spears |first=Jessica |date=2022-02-21 |title=Black History Month is for Gaming |url=https://games.ala.org/black-history-month-is-for-gaming/ |access-date=2024-08-27 |website=American Library Association |language=en-US}}

In contrast to improvisational theatre and live action role-playing games, TTRPG players describe the actions of their characters rather than acting them out, except during dialogue or, in some games, monologue.

{{Main article|history of role-playing games}}

Matrix Game (c. 1988) by Chris Engle was an early collaborative storytelling game not based in simulation. In this system, a referee decides the likeliness of the facts proposed by the players, and events happen or not according to a dice roll. Players can propose counter-arguments that are resolved in a dice rolling contest. A conflict round can follow to resolve any inconsistencies or further detail new plot points.{{Cite web |title=Matrix Gaming Rules |url=http://www.onr.com/user/bturner/far_colony/fc_matrix.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081010134232/http://www.onr.com/user/bturner/far_colony/fc_matrix.html |archive-date=2008-10-10}}{{Cite web |title=Engle Matrix Games |url=http://www.bloomingpedia.org/wiki/Engle_Matrix_Games |website=Bloomingpedia}}{{Cite web |title=Engle Matrix Games |url=http://www.hamsterpress.net}}

In 1999, game designer Ian Millington's Ergo offered a collaborative role-playing system. It was based on the rules of the Fudge universal role-playing system, but eliminated the need for a gamemaster, distributing the responsibility for the game and story equally among all players and undoing the equivalence between player and character.{{Cite web |title=Places to Go, People to Be Issue 20: Co-operative Roleplay |url=http://www.ptgptb.org/0020/coop.html |website=www.ptgptb.org}}{{Cite web |title=Ergo |url=http://www.collaborativeroleplay.org/games/ian/ergo/ergo_one.txt |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030827023732/http://www.collaborativeroleplay.org/games/ian/ergo/ergo_one.txt |archive-date=2003-08-27}}

The coin system in Universalis (2002) relies less on randomness and more on collaboration between players.{{Cite web |last=Bell |first=J B |title=A review of Universalis at RPGnet |url=http://www.rpg.net/news+reviews/reviews/rev_7310.html}}

Starting in the mid-00s, storytelling TTRPGs based upon historical events began to emerge in indie role-playing game design communities. Examples include Grey Ranks (2007) by Jason Morningstar, which takes place during the 1944 Warsaw Uprising,{{Cite web |title=The Diana Jones Award for Excellence in Gaming |url=https://www.dianajonesaward.org/08winner.html |access-date=2024-10-09 |website=www.dianajonesaward.org}} and Montsegur 1244 (2008) by Frederik Jensen, in which players tell a collaborative story about the Cathars.{{Cite web |title=Thoughtful Games - Montsegur 1244 |url=http://thoughtfulgames.com/montsegur1244/ |access-date=2024-10-09 |website=thoughtfulgames.com}}{{Cite web |last=Jensen |first=Frederik |date=2023-04-06 |title=The story of Montsegur 1244 |url=https://thoughtfuldane.com/2023/04/06/the-story-of-montsegur-1244/ |access-date=2024-10-09 |website=Thoughtful Dane |language=en-GB}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Storytelling Game}}

Category:Game terminology

Category:History of role-playing games

Category:Role-playing game terminology

Category:Storytelling