The best stories tell themselves
I never watched Game of Thrones. Well, I saw the first season, got my fill and left it at that.
It means I was never disappointed by the infamous Season 8.
And I’m disappointed by my lack of disappointment. As someone who thinks about storytelling a lot, there are two types of TV shows: good ones and useful ones.
I can enjoy the good ones and learn what not to do from everything else.
So I can’t talk about what went wrong with the final season. After all, I didn’t experience it.
But I can tell you what other people have told me.
One of the key failures?
The earlier seasons were excellent at worldbuilding. They constructed a world with its own history, geography, cultures and people.
Then they stepped back and let the story unfurl.
With the last season, though, the writers wanted to tell their story, not the world’s. They imposed what they wanted onto the setting, whether it made sense for it to do so or not.
Now, that’s abstract. What do I mean when I say the writers stepped back and let the story unfurl?
Well, if you’re a TTRPG enthusiast, you have a clear reference for this.
Imagine two tabletops. At the first, the GM has a clear vision in mind. They have a story they want to tell and the PCs are just actors.
At the second, the GM establishes the world, the factions, the rules, the villains and the allies.
Then they step back and let the PCs tell the story.
Sure, sure, it’s possible to be too hands-off as a GM.
But come on.
If you’ve played TTRPGs before, you know the second table will be more fun, more of the time.
It’s more fun for the players, because they have the freedom to tell the story they want.
It’s more fun for the GM, because they get to hear a story – one that’s more fun than anything they could tell on their own.
Plus it’s easier to prep for, run and improvise with.
It’s truer to what the experience should be – free, spontaneous, unpredictable and tailored to everyone at the table.
How do you create this, though?
Surely it can’t be as easy as describing a meadow and leaving your players to take it from there?
Maybe not, but it’s not much harder than that.
Footprints shows you how to create creatures that live in your world, not just on it. They react to and shape the world around them.
This is worldbuilding.
Put a few of these into your setting – maybe some as allies, maybe some as foes – and the stories will almost tell themselves.
You can let your players do what’s fun for them and more interesting for you: driving the story.
If you want that – and if not… are you sure? – then grab it here: