Tolkienesque Summaries

[TheMonarchGamer]

Howdy, y'all.
Well, I've been considering my group for a while, and among other things, I've decided to try to encourage in-character RP a bit more and discourage out of character comments during the game. One of the ways I've considered doing this is writing up the last ten minutes or so of each session in Tolkienesque fashion, and having the players skim over the tale before the session starts. Here's first rendition of the latest session. Thoughts?


Hilde stumbled out of the cave, dragging Arendir along behind her, crying out in momentary relief as the open sky bathed her drawn face in moonlight. She turned toward the opposite side of the gorge where she and the others had prepared their camp, and made out a very unexpected sight.
Not only was Nalrandir Swiftsteel, the elf-kind, sitting there, but a second figure, cloaked in grey robes, had joined him. Hilde’s eyes, not adept at piercing the dark, could scarcely make out the stranger’s tall, blue hat and silver scarf from the dim light of the campfire. Nalrandir sat easily, however, and Hilde felt instinctively that this stranger was no servant of the Shadow in the East.
At her cry, Nalrandir leapt up from the fire, and danced nimbly toward the rock precipice that served as a makeshift bridge across the gorge.
“Hilde, what has befallen the two of you? Where is Wulfred?” he called across the bridge as he made his way across and began to aid Hilde in carrying Arendir to the campsite.
“Spiders,” she said, still trembling in fright. “Their numbers were great – Wulfred was surely felled by their blows. Arendir and I were lucky indeed to survive.”
“He is wounded!” cried Nalrandir as he hoisted Arendir about his shoulders and carried him across the gorge. “Quickly, we must tend to him,” he said, laying him down near the fire. The wizened old figure, possessed of a very long greybeard, Hilde could now see, rose and strode over. He seemed a very tall fellow, having a great presence.
“Perhaps,” he said, “I can offer my aid.” He knelt down beside Arendir, placing on hand firmly on his brow. With his other hand, he gripped his staff the more firmly, and began to whisper secrets, long forgotten to all but the oldest of the elves, to the wind. He spun grand tales in tongues incomprehensible to those who listened, and called upon the names of the powerful to aid him.
Suddenly, with an abrupt gasp, Arendir sat upright, and, perceiving the grey-cloaked man in front of him, his eyes grew wide. And they grew wider still as he looked down at his forearms, and at his hands, and how the wounds they had born faded into his own flesh.
“I know you,” he said.
“Perhaps that is so,” the stranger said, and his eyes, nearly hidden by his bushy eyebrows, twinkled. “But the best thing for you now,” he continued, “is rest.”
“Harken, Hilde,” Nalrandir began abruptly, “you say that Wulfred is perished? And that there were a great many of these attercops? What number had they?”
“At least a dozen of them,” she said, and the stranger turned curiously toward her, almost as if he knew she did not speak the truth – or at least, the truth in its entirety. “Aye, ‘tis a terrible loss now that Wulfred is gone.”
Even as she said this, however, Wulfred and his hound strode out of the cave, the former covered in fragments of web, and the latter’s attention fixed on the newcomer to the group. Both relaxed, however, once they spied that the newcomer bore a great resemblance to one they knew well – Radagast the Brown, great friend to the Woodmen.
At length, Wulfred asked, “And what may we call you, Master Wizard?”
The stranger stirred, then replied, “I go by many names, though you may recall some as familiar. In the language of the elves, I am called Mithrandir, in the tongues of men, Gandalf the Grey.”

-TMG

[Rich H]

I've decided to try to encourage in-character RP a bit more and discourage out of character comments during the game. One of the ways I've considered doing this is writing up the last ten minutes or so of each session in Tolkienesque fashion, and having the players skim over the tale before the session starts. Here's first rendition of the latest session. Thoughts?

Hmmm...

You know your players better than anyone here but I'm not sure why you think that writing some 'fan fiction' and having them read it at the beginning of every session is going to get them RPing in character more than they currently are. It may actually put them off. Personally, if I was a player I simply wouldn't read it and if I didn't know you better would just think you were scratching some 'repressed author' itch or (un)subtly telling me that I'm not playing the game properly. So, if you have any players that are cantankerous old farts, like me, then I'd advise caution!

Have you simply tried talking to your players about this? Are they happy with their level of in-character RPing? If they are then why should they change? For you? Surely, if they are happy with their RPing then that's all that matters? This is a broad church of what is acceptable after all; that's what makes the hobby great.

Personally, my gaming group makes lots of out of character comments. Sometimes it gets on my tits so I politely tell them to reign it in, other times its extremely funny and is great to have at the table - after all, they are mates and we get together to role-play but also to catch up and have a laugh - quoting Monty Python is part of that experience.

YMMV and all the usual caveats.

[TheMonarchGamer]

Good points all.

I'm not really trying to restrict too much, just provide a bit of encouragement. More importantly, its a bit disruptive when people start talking OOC over other people that are in character. Since most of my group comes from D&D and very few have read any of the Hobbit/LotR/ME books, I feel like it will help to get in the mindset/speech pattern etc. Not that I need people saying 'thou' and 'art,' but there you have it. And evidently, I'm going to mention this to the players.

Anyways, I'm also throwing in some time before and after the session of just yip-yapping time.

Anyways, do y'all think the writing is sufficiently Tolkienesque?
-TMG

[Glorelendil]

I'll echo Rich's "you know your players" sentiment, but I for one am turned off by the "acting" sort of RP. I hate doing it myself, and I often grit my teeth when other people do it because, let's face it, most people are bad actors and equally bad writers. (Including me.)

Also, "narration" isn't necessarily "role playing" if there isn't an interesting and distinct role behind it. It's simpler to say, "I ask the barkeep if he's seen Edgar, and describe Edgar as best I can" than to turn that into 5 minutes (or 3 paragraphs) of bad prose that don't develop the unique character you're creating. Or, even worse, it might express your unique character, but in the same ways that you've been using over and over again. Like having Dwarves ask for beer with Scottish accents.

I think roleplaying is like...like...hmmm...how about make-up? Just a touch here and there to accent your best features works great, and doesn't keep your date waiting. Too much and it becomes garish.

[Rich H]

I'll echo Rich's "you know your players" sentiment, but I for one am turned off by the "acting" sort of RP. I hate doing it myself, and I often grit my teeth when other people do it because, let's face it, most people are bad actors and equally bad writers. (Including me.)

Also, RPing at the table at least, is very much a spontaneous and unprepared interaction so expectations should be set to understand that even if your players are in fact great actors and/or writers we all have to think on our feet and so there will be lapses, false starts, things said that wouldn't necessarily have been by the characters being played, etc. In other words, RPing in a game about pretend elves is not the same as reading a part in a script, playing a role in a film, or writing a book.

Also, "narration" isn't necessarily "role playing" if there isn't an interesting and distinct role behind it. It's simpler to say, "I ask the barkeep if he's seen Edgar, and describe Edgar as best I can" than to turn that into 5 minutes (or 3 paragraphs) of bad prose that don't develop the unique character you're creating. Or, even worse, it might express your unique character, but in the same ways that you've been using over and over again. Like having Dwarves ask for beer with Scottish accents.

I think that's a massively important point. I'm completely okay with this kind of RPing and often prefer it to tedious drawn out amateur thespian type RPing. As a bit of an aside, I used to game with a guy that when he role-played he used lots of modern vernacular even when playing in games like TOR. His attitude was that he's using language we understand at the table but his character(s) would be using the equivalent language in the worlds they inhabit. In other words the exact words used weren't important just the overall meaning of the statement/question/emotion/etc. I sometimes found it really jarring but I understand and agree with it a lot more now.

Like I stated in my previous post, role-playing is a broad church, and too many RPers seem to think RPing it has to be in-character and/or acted out. I'm not convinced by such a belief at all having seen great RP sessions never break into first person RPing at any point, yet they have still remained hugely entertaining and loads of fun.

[TheMonarchGamer]

Fair enough. Thanks for the input all.
-TMG

[Stormcrow]

I feel like it will help to get in the mindset/speech pattern etc. Not that I need people saying 'thou' and 'art,' but there you have it. [...] Anyways, do y'all think the writing is sufficiently Tolkienesque?

I didn't find the writing to evoke Tolkien, no. Tolkien carefully chooses his register based on how a particular group speaks. Hobbits are rustic bumpkins and speak informally among themselves. Tolkien chose an archaic form of English to represent Gondorian speech, because it is descended from the high culture of the Númenóreans and well-preserved. Many passages in The Silmarillion seem biblical because that is the style Tolkien wants to adopt in those passages.

Tolkien was also a masterful writer with an amazing ear for words and meter. He chose every word and every phrase carefully. He did not try to write thrillers—which is why he abandoned his start at a Fourth Age story. An unpracticed amateur can't hope to compare with his ability; I would never try to write fan-fiction set in Middle-earth.

[Rich H]

I'm not really trying to restrict too much, just provide a bit of encouragement.

Okay, so do you know that they want to 'role-play' more or are they happy with what they are doing? What you see as encouragement may be seen by others as telling them they're RPing 'wrong' etc. If they are happy with how they are doing it then leave 'em be!

More importantly, its a bit disruptive when people start talking OOC over other people that are in character.

That's easily dealt with by asking the person to please be quiet while the other player is playing their character. Here I'm assuming OOC chat is things like people asking what others thought of the Castle episode last night and the like.

Anyways, do y'all think the writing is sufficiently Tolkienesque?

I don't think it's badly written but it isn't Tolkienesque either; and Stormcrow does a great job above of explaining why.

Personally, it reads like decently written fan-fiction. If I was a player, I'd maybe read halfway through it and think "we've sorta already played this last week, what's the point", and put it aside; instead wanting to start actually playing. Sorry I can't be more helpful but it's not something I'd consider doing in my game for any reason, never mind doing it to try to get my players to role-play more.

[Rich H]

Fair enough. Thanks for the input all.
-TMG

Apologies if my responses weren't what you wanted to read. I really think your time would be better spent on creating interesting encounters, adventures etc than writing fiction based on the last 5 mins of each session. Your players are turning up because they like your game and what they get to do in it, after all, so do more of that!

[TheMonarchGamer]

Fair enough. Thanks for the input all.
-TMG

Apologies if my responses weren't what you wanted to read. I really think your time would be better spent on creating interesting encounters, adventures etc than writing fiction based on the last 5 mins of each session. Your players are turning up because they like your game and what they get to do in it, after all, so do more of that!

No, heh, its perfectly fine - even if it wasn't what I was looking for, it was probably what I needed. Thanks!
-TMG