Idea Generation

I have discovered that many  RPG players that I know read or belong to an online message board dealing with the topic most near & dear to them.

It seems natural- like minded people sharing ideas and thoughts on a topic that is of interest to them. Most of the time, this communal sharing is a fun and exciting experience. There's usually a good spread of ability levels- total newbies post just as often as the guys discussing the esoteric offshoot ideas. Even when things go south, it's possible to learn something new and gain a new perspective on an idea or theme you've not seen previously.

I'm a huge World of Darkness fan, and have been since Mark and the gang first introduced Vampire. I loved the rich and detailed way they showed an idea that was both new and old at the same time. The group of friends I was hanging around with at the time already told stories and made them into games, but I know my group wasn't the norm.

A lot of old school guys did the same, but there was a group of folks out there that never ran anything but pre-writen adventures. This new concept was a huge leap in how games were thought about, and was the foundations for some great games to come.

So it should come as no surprise that I read the WOD boards very often. I check them out for new ideas, different scenarios, character concepts, etc. It just so happens that no one else in my WOD group  checks out the boards there. None of them had seen the pages of contracts based on Shakespeare, or the discussion of freeing slaves having a consequence of being charged for theft.

I steal ideas from the boards all the time. I might not use them the same way, and I may not even put the ideas into the game- but I steal things whole cloth from the WOD boards. I have a pretty good sense of how to make the ideas "mine"; but I sure didn't come up with them myself.

I know my husband takes ideas from outside sources very frequently also. He once based an entire run of a game off of lyrics of a song. He's not the only one. My son made a TV character into a villain in his game. I played in a "Miami Vice" RPG.  One of my favorite movies is pure Shadowrun inspiration.

Every now and then I get asked; "Where did you get that idea?". I'm always honest- "I was inspired by" or "I saw this and adapted it" are pretty standard answers. But I love that I have a resource that is pretty untapped and ready to be perused any time I have a moment.