Path to true creativity is though not consuming any media at all, that way your every though is guaranteed to be original.

>>97901480
That’s even worse. There’s such a low barrier for entry to be deemed a fan of fantasy. Any unwashed retard who hasn’t read any other book but The Hobbit is deemed a fan of fantasy, for instance, but seems to also be seen as exemplary of fans of the genre. You should read way more than Tolkien or Rowling or Hobb or Redwall to be considered a fan. We know you can’t just say you’re a fan of sci fi just because you read one Star Wars novelisation. But we, for some reason or another, do not consider an illiterate Tolkiendrone as what they are: someone who doesn’t read. If you’re going to get into fantasy, you should draw from sword and sorcery, weird fiction, adventure romances, the Romantic period, and more.

>>97901461
How can you be said to even understand the genre of fantasy enough to run a fantasy game if you don’t read fantasy novels, short stories, nor poetry?

>poetry

POET HANDS WROTE THIS POST. DISREGARD THE WHOLE POST

>>97901487
That's a common characteristics of fandoms, barrier of entry is usually very low. Many soccer fans don't even play the game. Vidya fans often fixate on just one specific genre. And so on. A fan is largely meaningless self-appointed descriptor.

>>97901461
I think you should read all kinds of things, not just fantasy. Personally, every time I go "I'm running [game x] so im gonna immerse myself into the literary tradition of [genre x]!" I end up having a bad time. Just read a lot, read many different genres, read history, read nonfiction, and be quick to quit a book if it's not grabbing you. The rule I use is ([your age]-100) pages and if you aren't digging it, move on to the next one.

>>97901461
Reading books takes effort and nu-fandoms are composed mostly of tourist who see hobbies as social events and not as things in which to invest time and effort.
>>97901487
Shouldn't you be completing your own book instead of seething about Tolkien, Martin the fat fuck?

>>97901461
>Reading is somehow magically special
Get a load of this retard

Reminds me how those /lit/ faggots are all entirely about philosophy and haven't read a single farming manual or historical manuscript in their lives.

>>97901970
>manual
>historical slop
>for writing good fantasy
why are zoom-zoom tourist so stupid

>>97902031
>Why would knowing facts help me write fiction?
>Why would knowing about the past and about how farming works help me write a fantasy?

Christ, you children are doomed.

>>97901527
You clearly do not own a vorpal sword

>>97902036
>knowing random "facts" = good writing
>knowing random historical facts = fantasy
you have to be 18 to post here

>>97902071
Fuck, you niggers can't even READ.
This is so bleak. How do I prevent this tragedy from happening again?

>>97902096
try Alt + F4

>>97901461
Proof?

>>97902099
So the height of your wit is... trying to have me close a browser?
Not even, like, a video game that could maybe take a minute to boot up and then have a full server, no, a browser who can be rebooted and back on the same page within the span of time it takes my hand to close.

>>97902173
kek mad

>>97901461
Ever tried reading a rulebook?

I give it 75/25 chance on weather the troll is the OP or if he just decided to make someone else's thread unusable on a whim.

>>97902410
Only troll here is you, retard.

>>97901461
I would go further than this. One should read not only fantasy, but also history, philosophy, religious texts, and traditional literature. Understand the genre and its conventions, yes, but also how people think, how they approach the miraculous,

But one should not only read, one should also watch—pacing in a game is vastly different from pacing in a written work, and movies and television shows will give you a better sense for what makes a good back-and-forth. Classic movies are beloved for a reason, and anything that became a cliche was once resonant and impactful. One of my friend loudly derided the “Who’s on First?” sketch as overdone and unfunny until he was finally shown an original Abbott and Costello performance of it, at which point he couldn’t stop laughing. Understand why something was first emulated and you’ll understand what actually worked and why imitations fall flat.

Also watch any adaptations of works you’ve read. Understand what changes they made and why they made them, even if you disagree with those changes. Were they for audience appeal? Pacing? Simply trimming the fat? The games you run are for your players as well, not just you, and so you should take into account why different people might have made decisions you wouldn’t have.

Multi-season television shows can also provide important perspective on pacing decisions and when they do and don’t work. When does filler feel like filler? When does it feel like a natural delay? Does a single, central conflict drag on too long? Does the show fail to deescalate properly between multiple successive villains or threats?

>continued

>>97901461
>>97903020
And not only should you watch, but you should also play. Video games, as a medium, are old enough that we have beloved classics that are worth experiencing - not for inspiration in mechanics or puzzles, but for perspective on a narrative unfolding while you control one of the characters. Play those, understand why they’re beloved classics, and then play more modern games. Understand the changes, why they were made, and which ones you disagree with. Ganondorf sniping the Triforce in Ocarina of Time was an impactful moment, but how many games force you to stand around and act like an idiot to force the plot line forward? If you understand when you feel constrained, you’ll have a better understanding of how to avoid evoking the same feeling in your players.

You’ll note I’ve increasingly focused on looking for flaws in works. Admiration and enjoyment are all very well, but they merely encourage imitation and repetition. When something doesn’t work, when it annoys you, you’re inspired to something new.
>I could never build a world as vast and immersive as Tolkien
is a sentiment that leads to complacency and a mere attempt to copy what worked. By contrast,
>Jesus Christ, I could make a more coherent global conspiracy than this Rowling bitch
will push you to do just that. If you seek to improve, you need to understand what improvements to make. It isn’t just a case of “I enjoy this work” or not, and you should never disregard something just because you personally don’t like it, but rather a question of what makes for a harmonious experience and what annoys you.

So read great books and read terrible books. Watch films you could see again and again, but also endure a season or two of serial crap that offends you. The important thing is that you never stop thinking, never stop analyzing the work before you. Never passively consume, but actively devour.

>>97903020
>>97903074
One final note: While people may dislike it when “serious” games get too comical, good comedy is a function of timing - and timing is also crucial to both horror and drama. So don’t eschew something simply because it isn’t the tone you want. Understand comedy as well as tragedy, consider how tension builds in horror through the lens of a punchline, and you’ll be better equipped to execute on any tone when it becomes appropriate. Moreover, understanding what makes something funny can help you avoid accidentally making something humorous when it’s supposed to be serious.

>>97901461
Reading matters. People who "don't read" are not worth engaging. They do not have active minds.

Fantasy novels are pretty trashy, but there's nothing wrong with reading trashy things. But read history and literature, too. And poetry is good! Poetry (as opposed to free verse) improves your language skills and intelligence.

>>97901487
Even fans of "sci-fi" will tell you that Star Wars is space opera, not "sci-fi".

>>97902181
This Anon is correct to ask such a question. Rulebooks are the only books that matter to playing games.

>>97901487
Pretty bad bait. Tolkien is easily the best writing in the "fantasy" genre. Hobb is certainly up there. If by "sword and sorcery" and "weird fiction," you're thinking Conan and Cthulhu, you're an illiterate. Lovecraft and Howard are just terrible writers. They have poor writing skills and their use of language is clumsy and poor. I mean sure: read them. Read everything. But you'll get very little out of those two. Because they were bad at writing.

But I'm all for Romantic and Gothic novels. So at least you got that part right.

>>97903186
The anti-tolkien cuck doesn't read. He has this same shtick in /lit/.

>>97903186
I wouldn't call them 'bad' writers anymore than I would call Camarilla a bad novel.
They were pioneers creating a new style. Primitive would be just fine, tho.

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>>97901487
To be fair, not enough people are reading the classics. They'll read chink cultivation novels or manhwa and then try to apply that shit and it's just a fucking garbage mess. I would say the bare minimum for fantasy lit is:

>LotR
>The first 3 books of ASoIaF
>The Belgardiad and optionally the Mallorean
>Dragonlance Chronicles (the first 3 books) and optionally Dragonlance Legends (the Twins series)
>Either Wheel of Time or Malazan Book of the Fallen or both
>The first three Earthsea novels

>>97903818
I read all of that, only one worth remembering is lotr. Earthsea has great magic system, but that's about all there's good about it. Less said about the rest, the better.

stfu nogames

>>97903811
Howard wasn't creating jack shit. He was a hack who wrote pulp poorly by opening a thesaurus and saying "know what this sentence needs? Fifteen more adjectives and adverbs that say nothing." And Lovecraft was only creating a "new style" insofar as "run-on-sentences of an author trying to work out what he's describing in real time but never quite figuring it out" counts as a style. They were both just terrible writers. They weren't any good at it.

No such thing as should. /thread.

>>97903978
>Tolkien bad!
>Howard bad!
Zoomercuckold...