RPGnet Columns
05-02-2005, 06:20 AM
Post originally by Againsto at 2005-05-02 05:20:17
Converted from Phorums BB System
Do you know *anybody* who ever has played Dark Continent?
Of the people who have read it, all are enthusiastic, as you can see from any review. But it is probably (ironically)(alas!) the good writing and the impression the author gives of having grocked the Genre/Place (difficult distinction, here), that scares people of. People might feel they couldn't do justice to the place.
And it is difficult, portraying actual places you don't know. Much easier in fantasy, really. I think.
But Africa ... there is so much that the movies don't show. It is of course there, in the explorers' tales, but hey, who is going to plow though 300 pages of "through unknown African countries" and some of its relatives as preparation for a game?
But to be able to toss in an occasional phrase; to be able to describe how something felt *for you*; to feel you can back up what you describe, now that is something that opens up new vistas in gaming, through analogy for outlandish settings, or as actual experience for real world games.
So go to Africa, and then play Dark Continent. Or just play it, and read read read, Mungo Park, Mary Kingsley, Bruce, Smith, Nachtigall or even Stanley.
Converted from Phorums BB System
Do you know *anybody* who ever has played Dark Continent?
Of the people who have read it, all are enthusiastic, as you can see from any review. But it is probably (ironically)(alas!) the good writing and the impression the author gives of having grocked the Genre/Place (difficult distinction, here), that scares people of. People might feel they couldn't do justice to the place.
And it is difficult, portraying actual places you don't know. Much easier in fantasy, really. I think.
But Africa ... there is so much that the movies don't show. It is of course there, in the explorers' tales, but hey, who is going to plow though 300 pages of "through unknown African countries" and some of its relatives as preparation for a game?
But to be able to toss in an occasional phrase; to be able to describe how something felt *for you*; to feel you can back up what you describe, now that is something that opens up new vistas in gaming, through analogy for outlandish settings, or as actual experience for real world games.
So go to Africa, and then play Dark Continent. Or just play it, and read read read, Mungo Park, Mary Kingsley, Bruce, Smith, Nachtigall or even Stanley.