Okay. A Big Dumb Object is any mysterious object (usually of extraterrestrial or unknown origin and immense power) in a story which generates an intense sense of wonder just by being there.
Love that? Flat definition. Wonderful.
Actually useless.
How does it apply to gaming? Where do you employ it? Why's it a good point to have them in games?
Sigh.
Easy, actually. Look. A BDO is something you put there for players. Think of it like fishing. Its something you throw out to them as a hook baited by something cool. Know that your players are thrilled to find out more about some nifty doodad you've crafted? Toss it out there. Put it in the backdrop of the world as a place for their to strive to achieve. It can be like Shangrila or Tanelorn that is forever sought but hardly ever found or just there, taunting them, close by but hard to find or get.
BDOs are fun from the GM perspective. They don't have to be places or even stuff. I frequently talk about a specific quest that I run in my games. Its called the World Ring Quest. As I'm sure you can guess its pretty self-explanatory on what they are striving to do. One held every 30 years or so in game time. I've had players across dozens of games work to get into the grand quest. Very few of them have ever played to the point to actually achieve it. In fact, I've only had 15 or so of the quest ever attempted. Each time, however, the games that flowed from it were exceptional ones that were told and retold for years afterward.
Its a BDO too. Events, places, times, things, whatever. Invoke and build on the the sense of wonder and you make them into BDOs. Just don't make a mistake and put too many out there. BDOs are hard to achieve but are inspiring for the journey. That's not appropriate for every quest. Sometimes you just want to get that request to go get milk from the store or slap downs some bandits marauding the area.
Use them accordingly.
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