![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alexmegamiFrom the essay Information Wants to be Free, Second of the Three Common Informative Mistakes:
"The Jive-Talking Wizard: I saw this term on Beth Kinderman’s website, and I think it’s pretty appropriate. It refers to the all-powerful being who appears to get the characters together and set them on the right track, but won’t, for reasons only known to himself, impart enough information to do the job well. When asked for details or more helpful information, he typically simpers, changes the subject, vanishes, thunders “That’s not for you to know!” or otherwise says “Screw you” to the players. I’ve seen him as a god of humor, an actual wizard (Gandalf is almost a literary example of this tactic, but Gandalf also takes personal risks and gets down and dirty in battle, too, so he doesn’t really count), a computer, a Sidereal Exalt, and mentors and rulers of all kinds. The “Voice from On High” that I refer to in Holding it All Together can very easily become a Jive-Talking Wizard of sorts."
Note to self: read all of BlackHatMatt's essays as required prep for Exalted.
"The Jive-Talking Wizard: I saw this term on Beth Kinderman’s website, and I think it’s pretty appropriate. It refers to the all-powerful being who appears to get the characters together and set them on the right track, but won’t, for reasons only known to himself, impart enough information to do the job well. When asked for details or more helpful information, he typically simpers, changes the subject, vanishes, thunders “That’s not for you to know!” or otherwise says “Screw you” to the players. I’ve seen him as a god of humor, an actual wizard (Gandalf is almost a literary example of this tactic, but Gandalf also takes personal risks and gets down and dirty in battle, too, so he doesn’t really count), a computer, a Sidereal Exalt, and mentors and rulers of all kinds. The “Voice from On High” that I refer to in Holding it All Together can very easily become a Jive-Talking Wizard of sorts."
Note to self: read all of BlackHatMatt's essays as required prep for Exalted.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-05-18 03:58 pm (UTC)That reminds me. I think I recommended this in my own journal a while ago, but especially YOU (and Allie, actually) should read Diana Wynne Jones' "The Tough Guide to Fantasyland", if you can find it. Similar stuff to the above, but in general fantasy terms and my GOD is it funny.
no subject
Date: 2005-05-18 05:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-05-18 05:42 pm (UTC)Unless, of course, the Voice on High doesn't have access to all the information either.
no subject
Date: 2005-05-18 06:59 pm (UTC)Unless the NPC is just an ass (but then why are the PCs working for him?)
no subject
Date: 2005-05-18 07:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-05-19 12:27 am (UTC)