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Science: The Difference between Narrative and Story - Pt 3

It has been pointed out that writers and sociologists have different definitions of the word "narrative". But the differences are not as great as we might think, and in the last installment of this series I promised to square that circle. Here we go.

From the writerly camp we get several definitions for the word "narrative" (leaving aside those which simply use it as a synonym for the word "story"):

  1. A Narrative (common noun) is an arcless, themeless retelling or reporting of events.
  2. Narrative (abstract noun) is a direction or theme which guides or gives purpose to retold events.
  3. The Narrative (common noun) is the form taken by the events of a character undergoing change.

From the sociological camp we have the definition in which a Narrative (common noun) is an open-ended network of stories or statements that a group of people tell themselves about themselves, about their history, about their values, or about their place in the grand scheme.

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Happy Birthday Drupal

Today the Drupal project reached the grand old age of fourteen. This is a great milestone for the community and the project, and in celebration, the Drupal association has released the results of their 2014 Community Survey. Among the insights:

80% of Drupal Users who responded say they have plans to adopt Drupal 8, and another 8% say they are planning to evaluate the new release.

Upgrading is an inevitability, because "the drop never stops" - i.e. there's no backward-compatibility in the Drupal universe. But personally, I've always waited about a year before recommending major upgrades for my Drupal-based clients.

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Science: The Difference between Narrative and Story - Pt 2

In the last installment of this series, we looked at the differences between Story, Narrative, and Narrative Structure. A Narrative Structure is the shape and purpose of a Story, absent the mundane, non-archetypal details. As for "Narrative" vs "Story", some banal but substantiating links I found were this and this.

But for my money (and politics aside), the most interesting one by far was this

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Game Design: DayTrippers Adventure Modules 1 & 2 Released

Hot on the tail of the core rules, the first two adventure modules for DayTrippers are now available on RPGnow.com: "Less Little" and "Vidome 123".

Less Little is an introductory module for 1-2 players. The tone is dreamlike and humorous with some mildly adult situations, and the plot is firmly guided. This module is recommended for beginning players and campaigns with a whimsical touch.

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Game Design: DayTrippers - Surreal Science Fiction Roleplaying

Calling all DayTrippers! The DayTrippers core rules set is now available on RPGnow and Scribd. All The Realities await you!

"In some sun-bleached barn outside Sacramento, CA circa 2099, a group of physicists, shady g-men, grad-students, tourists and an array of amateur explorers and nü-gonzo-revivalist writer-dudes gather around a collection of strange vehicles that resemble lunar landers. Each is painted a garish colour and prepped to "slip" into a crazy new plane of existence."

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Art: The Devil's RPG Dictionary

The Devil's RPG Dictionary was the second in my "Too Far?" series at story-games.com.

A tongue-in-cheek exercise designed to encourage bonding and alleviate boredom, the project is still ongoing and new submissions are always welcome. Project contributors include... oh, numerous people, some of whom you may know.

The current edition of the DRPGD can be downloaded here.

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Game Design: ScenePlay enters Beta Testing

ScenePlay is a card-based collaborative narrative game that creates movie and tv stories. It's one of my latest obsessions.

ScenePlay Version 0.13 is a beta test document, which has been released to all members of the As If Collective for edification, playtesting and feedback.

Join the Collective for access to playtest documents and Patron-Only content.

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by Dr. Radut