Contributor
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I have been thinking a bit on RPG writing as art. I mean, there are moments when I'm writing something (or running something) and I think, well, that is actually artful. It makes the story mean something or evoke something in a way no one sitting at the table expected.
This seems to happen mostly in the context of clever and beautiful writing, and I think 3pp publishers have the advantage of being able to step away from the standard a bit more than Paizo, though I think Paizo has been innovative in important ways.
The Goblin Song in RotRL of course works in this way; it's as effective as the poetry in the LotR at setting the stage. The tarot cards in Ravenloft (or the Harrowing), the Tomb of Horrors with its remarkable art and ruthlessness, the mouldering foulness of the Styes...
I think the concept of Sigil and Planescape works like this. It makes me believe that I could game in an Italo Calvino novel. Vampire: the Masquerade used pseudo-Biblical material in a similar way.
In one of my current projects I have poems and songs. I think a step away from prose narrative helps.
What are some examples of an adventure or work that is evocative in a way that transcends our genre?