There’s that moment that hits many gamers (GMs and players alike) where it’s difficult to come up with or proceed with an idea. This is typically known as writer’s block or creative block. But the game must go on, so what does one do to finish preparing the adventure, or creating a character, or (as is my case this week) write an article on gaming?
Most articles on creative block suggest that the best way to get over the hump of not creating is to persevere and create anyway. It might not be the best output, but it keeps one’s brain in the right mode. It’s definitely worked for me in the past when it comes to writing, but not always as a gamer, when there are people with whom I’m trying to collaborate. Fortunately, there’s a solution that gamers have that would be frowned on in other creative forms. We can steal.
If you’re having trouble creating a character’s personality or story, there’s no shame in essentially re-creating a character from a separate fictional space, like novels, movies, or TV shows. Even if that character is lifted whole cloth, they’ll still be under the control of the player or GM and not in the defined space of the original fiction. As a GM, I do this a lot when adding ancillary NPCs into the game. And I’ve known players who use this mechanic as a base for all their characters. As they play and interact with other characters, their “stolen” character becomes its own entity, separate from the fiction.
Likewise, for plots and adventure seeds, GMs can steal from their fiction, too. The main thing to keep in mind, however, is that the players may be familiar with the fiction and meta-gaming could spoil any plot twists. Also, like any adventure planning, don’t expect the characters to follow any sort of linear path or adhere to the fiction. Good game mastery should always be about improvisation; lifting an adventure from another source is more about the idea than the exact execution.
GMs can also steal from themselves. I’ve re-run the same adventures for different groups. I’ve also taken an adventure I’ve written for the same group and just changed its genre; a plot about an android in a cyberpunk setting can be shifted into a story about a simulacrum or golem in a fantasy world. Like using a plot from established fiction, the same story can become very different due to the actions of the players and characters.
The above applies primarily to friendly gaming groups and not published characters or adventures. This includes blogs and other non-profit publishing. If one does a whole-cloth lift for their ideas, then that idea should, at the very least, be properly credited.
Writer’s block can be overcome, and gamers have those unique advantages of being able to “borrow” and take what was made elsewhere for themselves to reshape. And, sometimes, even thinking about how to lift an adventure from a TV show into the realm of tabletop gaming can give a weekly blog writer an idea for a column.
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