Monthly Review February 2007

This month has seen numerous investigations of different tools and approaches to play. Early on, Bradley "Brand" Robins described three approaches to making a story: Linear, Gestalt, and Emergent. Around the same time, Fang Langford discussed narrative persons as a means to understand the ways we can interact with the imagined parts of play. Later on, Rich Warren offers some tricks to avoiding GM frustration with lack of control over the game.

This flowed into a discussion of two recurring elements of RPGs, and their use in understanding and to a limited extend designing and playing RPG. First, Guy Shalev discusses the use of competition as a means to entice GM-like behaviors from players. Later, Fang Langford returns to his concept of Shared Imagined Space, to describe how players come to a common understanding about the fictional elements at the table.