Great article, I tend to agree on pretty much everything written here.
As a total aside, I'm relistening through Into the Megadungeon and I have to say I miss it! No pressure at all if it was a one-time thing, but it was absolutely inspiration for my friends and I starting our own megadungeon campaign.
I've been thinking about this a lot, for a game I'm currently working on, and I very much agree with what you say. And although I started out doing something similar to what you describe (in the way of presenting lore) I found that by arranging the little bits of lore in random tables help me to think of them as little moving parts, which someone could take and sort to their liking. I've done this mostly for location, by building tables with a lot of specificity in their entries, so that different bits can be linked as the GM/players think is most interesting.
I just want to bring up the point that tables can be a good way to communicate to players that even if the specificity of the entries is “necessary” the ways in which they connect can be up to them, but maybe it's just my taste for the sandbox style of play that makes me feel this is a practical option, or the rigidity I've felt in some of the published adventures I've GMed (probably most of these were full of "bad lore").
Great article, I tend to agree on pretty much everything written here.
As a total aside, I'm relistening through Into the Megadungeon and I have to say I miss it! No pressure at all if it was a one-time thing, but it was absolutely inspiration for my friends and I starting our own megadungeon campaign.
Cheers!
I have plans to bring it back in the very near future for a season 2
I'm so looking forward to this. I've been relistening as well, trying to catch new connections and more ideas.
Good advice and examples of lore. (Better to be descriptive than prescriptive.)
I'll also toss in an endorsement for Ben's patreon. It's a fantastic way to throw him some support, while getting a deeper look at Zyan.
Great post!
I've been thinking about this a lot, for a game I'm currently working on, and I very much agree with what you say. And although I started out doing something similar to what you describe (in the way of presenting lore) I found that by arranging the little bits of lore in random tables help me to think of them as little moving parts, which someone could take and sort to their liking. I've done this mostly for location, by building tables with a lot of specificity in their entries, so that different bits can be linked as the GM/players think is most interesting.
I just want to bring up the point that tables can be a good way to communicate to players that even if the specificity of the entries is “necessary” the ways in which they connect can be up to them, but maybe it's just my taste for the sandbox style of play that makes me feel this is a practical option, or the rigidity I've felt in some of the published adventures I've GMed (probably most of these were full of "bad lore").
Also, I love "Through Ultan's Door"!