Editing Storytelling game

{{Short description|Type of game}}A '''storytelling game''' is a [[game]] where multiple players collaborate on [[Storytelling|telling a story]]. Some games primarily feature spoken storytelling, while others primarily feature collaborative writing. In some storytelling games, such as many [[Tabletop role-playing game|tabletop role-playing games]], each player represents one or more [[player character|characters]] in the developing story. Others involve more [[third-person narrative]].

==Collaborative writing games==
{{Main article|Collaborative fiction}}

Collaborative fiction is a form of storytelling which uses [[collaborative writing]] as the primary medium. A group of authors share creative control of a [[Storytelling|story]]. [[Exquisite corpse|Exquisite Corpse]], a [[Surrealism|Surrealist]] [[parlour game]], is an example of a collaborative writing game.<ref name="Breton">{{cite web |last=Breton |first=André |author-link=André Breton |date=7 October 1948 |title=Breton Remembers |url=http://exquisitecorpse.com/definition/Bretons_Remembrances.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080127195653/http://exquisitecorpse.com/definition/Bretons_Remembrances.html |archive-date=27 January 2008 |access-date=30 September 2019}} Exhibition catalogue, ''{{Lang|fr|Le Cadavre Exquis: Son Exaltation}}'', La Dragonne, Galerie Nina Dausset, Paris (October 7–30).</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Brotchie |first=Alastair |title=Surrealist Games |author2=Mel Gooding |publisher=[[Redstone Press]] |year=1991 |isbn=1-870003-21-7 |location=London |pages=143–144}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Kochhar-Lindgren |first1=Kanta |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IdeR6vrFBeEC&dq=Exquisite+corpse+henry+miller&pg=PA320 |title=The Exquisite Corpse: Chance and Collaboration in Surrealism's Parlor Game |last2=Schneiderman |first2=Davis |last3=Denlinger |first3=Tom |date=2009-12-01 |publisher=U of Nebraska Press |isbn=978-0-8032-2781-1 |language=en}}</ref> The parlour game [[Consequences (game)|Consequences]] is similar.<ref name="brandreth">{{cite book |last1=Brandreth |first1=Gyles |title=Everyman's word games |date=1986 |publisher=Dent |isbn=0460047116 |page=76}}</ref>

== Storytelling card games ==
In storytelling card games, players use cards containing narrative prompts or plot details to tell a collaborative story. Examples include [[Once Upon a Time (game)|''Once Upon a Time'']]<ref>{{Cite book | contribution=Once Upon a Time | title=[[Hobby Games: The 100 Best]] | last=Gascoigne | first=Marc | authorlink=Marc Gascoigne | editor-last=Lowder | editor-first=James | editor-link=James Lowder | publisher=[[Green Ronin Publishing]] | year=2007 | pages=224–226 | isbn=978-1-932442-96-0}}</ref> and [[For the Queen (game)|''For the Queen'']].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Wieland |first=Rob |title=Darrington Press Brings For The Queen Back To Her Throne |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/robwieland/2024/05/15/darrington-press-brings-for-the-queen-back-to-her-throne/ |access-date=2024-08-13 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Robinson |first=Tasha |date=2024-05-23 |title=For the Queen’s creator on the new edition, her many copycats, and her balloon-kink RPG |url=https://www.polygon.com/tabletop-games/24161224/for-the-queen-second-edition-changes-darrington-press-descended-games |access-date=2024-08-13 |website=Polygon |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Tabletop role-playing games==
{{Main article|Tabletop role-playing game}}
Storytelling TTRPGs take various forms. Some require one participant (a [[gamemaster]] or narrator) to describe the setting and take supporting character roles, while others distribute this function among multiple players. [[White Wolf, Inc.|White Wolf Game Studio]]'s [[Storyteller System]], which is used in [[World of Darkness]] role-playing games such as ''[[Vampire: The Masquerade]]'', is a well-known TTRPG described as a "storytelling game."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Shannon Appelcline |year=2007 |title=A Brief History of Game #11: White Wolf, Part One: 1986-1995 |url=http://www.rpg.net/columns/briefhistory/briefhistory11.phtml |access-date=2007-09-16 |publisher=RPGnet}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Shannon Appelcline |year=2007 |title=A Brief History of Game #12: White Wolf, Part Two: 1993-Present |url=http://www.rpg.net/columns/briefhistory/briefhistory12.phtml |access-date=2007-09-16 |publisher=RPGnet}}</ref> These use a narrator. Other storytelling TTRPGs distribute narrative authority equally among all players. Examples include ''[[The Quiet Year]]'',<ref name=":12">{{cite web |last=Jackson |first=Gita |date=14 August 2016 |title=How the Quiet Year Brings People Together |url=https://kotaku.com/how-the-quiet-year-brings-people-together-1785265299 |website=Kotaku}}</ref> ''[[Fall of Magic]]'',<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Robinson |first=Tasha |date=2021-03-30 |title=How handmade components put Fall of Magic on the map |url=https://www.polygon.com/22358342/fall-of-magic-city-of-winter-kickstarter |access-date=2023-04-01 |website=Polygon |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Harrist |first=Josiah |date=2016-05-06 |title=Fall of Magic turns everyone into a gifted author |url=https://killscreen.com/previously/articles/fall-of-magic-turns-everyone-into-a-gifted-author/ |access-date=2023-04-01 |website=[[Kill Screen]] |language=en-US}}</ref> and ''[[Companions' Tale]]''.<ref name=":02">{{Cite web |last=Spears |first=Jessica |date=2022-02-21 |title=Black History Month is for Gaming |url=https://games.ala.org/black-history-month-is-for-gaming/ |access-date=2024-08-27 |website=American Library Association |language=en-US}}</ref>

In contrast to [[improvisational theatre]] and [[Live action role-playing game|live action role-playing games]], TTRPG players describe the actions of their characters rather than acting them out, except during [[dialogue]] or, in some games, [[monologue]].

==History of storytelling TTRPGs==
{{Main article|history of role-playing games}}
''Matrix Game'' (c. 1988) by Chris Engle was an early collaborative storytelling game not based in simulation. In this system, a referee decides the likeliness of the facts proposed by the players, and events happen or not according to a dice roll. Players can propose counter-arguments that are resolved in a dice rolling contest. A conflict round can follow to resolve any inconsistencies or further detail new plot points.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Matrix Gaming Rules |url=http://www.onr.com/user/bturner/far_colony/fc_matrix.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081010134232/http://www.onr.com/user/bturner/far_colony/fc_matrix.html |archive-date=2008-10-10}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Engle Matrix Games |url=http://www.bloomingpedia.org/wiki/Engle_Matrix_Games |website=Bloomingpedia}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Engle Matrix Games |url=http://www.hamsterpress.net}}</ref> 

In 1999, game designer Ian Millington's ''Ergo'' offered a collaborative role-playing system. It was based on the rules of the [[Fudge (role-playing game system)|Fudge]] universal role-playing system, but eliminated the need for a gamemaster, distributing the responsibility for the game and story equally among all players and undoing the equivalence between player and character.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Places to Go, People to Be Issue 20: Co-operative Roleplay |url=http://www.ptgptb.org/0020/coop.html |website=www.ptgptb.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Ergo |url=http://www.collaborativeroleplay.org/games/ian/ergo/ergo_one.txt |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030827023732/http://www.collaborativeroleplay.org/games/ian/ergo/ergo_one.txt |archive-date=2003-08-27}}</ref> 

The coin system in [[Universalis]] (2002) relies less on randomness and more on collaboration between players.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bell |first=J B |title=A review of Universalis at RPGnet |url=http://www.rpg.net/news+reviews/reviews/rev_7310.html}}</ref>

Starting in the mid-00s, storytelling TTRPGs based upon historical events began to emerge in [[indie role-playing game]] design communities. Examples include [[Grey Ranks (role-playing game)|''Grey Ranks'']] (2007) by [[Jason Morningstar]], which takes place during the 1944 [[Warsaw Uprising]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Diana Jones Award for Excellence in Gaming |url=https://www.dianajonesaward.org/08winner.html |access-date=2024-10-09 |website=www.dianajonesaward.org}}</ref> and ''Montsegur 1244'' (2008) by Frederik Jensen, in which players tell a collaborative story about the [[Catharism|Cathars]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Thoughtful Games - Montsegur 1244 |url=http://thoughtfulgames.com/montsegur1244/ |access-date=2024-10-09 |website=thoughtfulgames.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Jensen |first=Frederik |date=2023-04-06 |title=The story of Montsegur 1244 |url=https://thoughtfuldane.com/2023/04/06/the-story-of-montsegur-1244/ |access-date=2024-10-09 |website=Thoughtful Dane |language=en-GB}}</ref>

==References==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Storytelling Game}}
[[Category:Game terminology]]
[[Category:History of role-playing games]]
[[Category:Role-playing game terminology]]
[[Category:Storytelling]]