"Stuck for a scenario" Topic

I've just come across these on the Dice Shop Online site

With over 10 million combinations you never need to be stuck for an idea again!

Not sure the plane would fit in some games but you could class it as a dragon

Andrew
Mini site: 2mmwars.kings-sleep.me.uk

Interesting.

Pointless.

There are literally thousands of scenario possibilities in pulp magazines, serials, radio dramas, adventure comic strips and films from the pulp era.

Good to see a sternly utilitarian view being taken about the serious business of, umm, playing with toy soldiers.

All the best,

John.

@John D Salt: Hilariously astute comment, sir! You are, as the young folk say, The Man! ;)

- Shawn.

>>Good to see a sternly utilitarian view being taken about the serious business of, umm, playing with toy soldiers.<<

"Sternly utilitarian"??? How about sensible? I can't speak for every group that was cross posted to, but at least in the pulp group we have so many ideas for scenarios all ready and waiting that there is no need whatsoever to roll dice to "plug in" the elements to devise one. Now, having said that, I appreciate the "heads up" that "Story Cubes" exist, but I can't imagine why anyone here would need them. But hey, if you have no imagination they would probably work very well for you.

All the best back at ya.

Those are kind of cool.

I am (primarily) a pulp player, and unlike Shadow, I can see using these for scenario generation in pulp games. Sure, we're overrun with good scenario ideas, but sometimes you need a method of focusing your thoughts, or some inspiration to break out of a rut, and there are worse ideas than rolling some dice and then brainstorming to see how the icons could be linked into a semi-coherent story.

I am thinking that you are walking into a village and the shaman/insane chieftan/Voodoo visionairy/psycotic villager that everyone listens to has had a dream/vision/message from the gods/phil the blue alien/ that (roll the dice and interpret the vision) that may or may not be applicable to your game but tie it to getting additional help/hostility in accomplishing your task.

Indiana Jones are great action movies, but he had to use his knowledge a bit to to to get into alot of those situations.

Kind of middle of the road on this.

Purely random elements have their place in gaming, moreso in the pulp, scifi, and fantasy areas this was posted to. That said, they still require interpretation and manipulation. F'r'ex, is the symbol facing forward under the eye a tower? the Tower from the Tarot deck? a castle? a solitary outpost on the hinterlands? a chess rook? Symbols are a powerful tool, and as such, they require effort to use them.

Even with the power they have, purely random elements lack the structure necessary to build truly enjoyable and challenging scenarios for most genres over time. Many of the elements of strategy rely on sequencing steps based on information outside the immediate milieu. When *all* of these elements are random, that element of strategy reduces to the math of permutations and combinations.

All in all, they might be a usefull addition to my arsenal, especially for a "break" of one-offs, or to seed a development process. But in general, I would rather stick to tables that have linked elements and themes built in to them. And there are tons of well done instances of that out there.

>>Even with the power they have, purely random elements lack the structure necessary to build truly enjoyable and challenging scenarios for most genres over time.<<

Nicely put. Thanks. The only disagreement I have with your input is that it wouldn't take much time at all to see that "purely random elements" are inferior to scenarios that have been invented and presented by some of the best fictioneers that ever lived.

They could be a good gift for children to help them make up stories based on what the dice show.

Kind of like guided improvisation dice, or as it says on the box.
Story Cubes.