Creation of Narrative in Tabletop Role-Playing Games - Jennifer Grouling Cover [20]
Similarly, if we return to the structure of the gamebook, we see that the most satisfying endings also come after a long series of choices. One does not simply jump ahead to the happy ending, but must sustain a series of correct choices to get there. As seen in figure 1, in Winter Wizard, the reader has to make at least five and as many as seven choices to reach p. 69, which then leads to two satisfactory endings. One ending is violent, while the other is peaceful (Lowery, 1983, pp. 85–89, pp. 113–116). Both endings last for several pages (unlike the short, unsatisfactory endings) and both result in the safe return of the wizard Alcazar, which was the goal set out at the beginning of the book. However, the reader who chooses p. 85 is scolded for the choice of violence, and their character is told to remain a student until he or she has learned more peaceful methods (Lowery, 1983, p. 88). This ending is thus less satisfactory than the peaceful ending where the protagonist is reunited with Alcazar and championed for choosing peaceful methods over violence. The best choice results in the best ending.
Sometimes modules in D&D may also lead to narrative punishment or reward. However, that is rarely the point of a TRPG. Monte Cook explained to me that in his module The Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, it was sometimes possible for creative players to get to an island that should have been unattainable until they were higher level (personal communication, June 30, 2009). Unfortunately, this could lead to character death or (at the very least) player frustration at not being able to meet the objectives on the island. Cook listed this as a limitation of the module because he noted that players should instead be rewarded for ingenuity and creativity. He also noted that skilled DMs would be more likely to adjust the module as needed to avoid punishing players for reaching what was intended to be an unattainable goal at that point in the game.
Interestingly, rewards and punishments in TRPGs are more likely to surround characters, which varies from either the gamebook or cybertext adventure game. As previously mentioned, unsatisfactory endings may come in the form of character deaths, but the game will still go on. Likewise, there may be consequences if a player does not play a character true to form, particularly in groups where character acting is an emphasis. Scott recalled an example later in the Sorpraedor campaign when a player was not very true to his character. This particular player was in charge of a cleric, Wrestfur, who stood for all things good and righteous. Clerics have spells in D&D that they learn through prayer. However, this particular character, through poor management by the player, committed a series of evil doings. For this, Scott orchestrated a storyline where another member of the same church sought out Wrestfur in the game in order to relieve him of his priestly duties. In addition, there were days when the cleric’s prayers to his god for spells were unsuccessful, something that does not usually require a dice roll or even DM approval to succeed. Thus, the player was punished for veering too far from the role that he had laid out for his character within the narrative.
This sort of punishment, however, is more likely to be carried out in the social interaction of the game rather than in the story. If a player is not contributing to the story in a manner that is acceptable to the DM and other players, that player may not be invited to return, or social pressure may be applied to change the behavior. More often than not, a suggestion to do something that is out-of-character may come up when players are negotiating