The Play's The Thing

"Alas, poor Yorick, his GM started playing WoW."

I love RPGs.  I love the clatter of dice, the great friends I've made from this hobby, and the great adventures we've shared over the years.  Back in the old days (high school in the late 80s) we would game all day every day.  Sometimes we had epic wars and world-shattering adventures that we still recount when the old group gets together.  Sometimes we just goofed around.  And while I look back and want to say it was all fun, it really wasn't.  The fun was great, but there was a lot of 'dead air', because we weren't paying any attention to the story, or understanding how to create it.

The thing about 'story' and 'roleplaying' in RPGs is that it means different things to different people.  To some, story is what happens when you aren't fighting, and is the thing that leads you to the next fight.  To others, the story is the important part, and combat is only interesting when it serves the story.  To me, story is the heart of an RPG.  It is the element that makes these games more than the sum of their parts.  Its not just who rolled what on a die, or moved a miniature where, but that all this went into a shared imaginative space, a place we all saw and remember.

Think back to your fondest gaming moments.  Do you remember it as you and your gaming buddies, sitting around the table, rolling dice and cracking jokes?  Well, I remember some of it like that, but I also remember my thief, seeing his best friend captive with a dagger at his throat, and landing an arrow straight into the assassin's head.  That has stuck in my mind more than any action blockbuster, and was met with cheers all around.  (I do remember a bit from the table as well, because I rolled a nat 20 on that sucker).

As I got older, the group moved apart and I had to find new people to game with.  It was difficult and frustrating, until I adapted my gaming style from that of a kid to that of an adult.  I'll go into more detail on later blogs, but the core idea is that things which make for a good story make for a fun game.  Not everything, there are tons of specific examples that illustrate that.  But in the general, the tools to make a good story will make for a great game.

Because the play's the thing.  When I was 15, I could game the summer away.  I really didn't have anything better to do, so it was acceptable to play for 12 hours every weekend, and 4-6 on weekdays.  It was a small town, nothing much to do besides game and tip over cows.  We could wait for the moments of awesome to come.

I can't any more.  If this game TONIGHT isn't awesome, we probably won't have another one.  And it needs to happen in 3-4 hours.  If it doesn't there probably won't be a game for very long.  Why is this?  Do the players just not care?  Aren't they devoted?  Of course not, they love this hobby as much as I do.  But Bill doesn't get off until 7, and Jane and Frank both have to work early in the morning, and Sue and Steve are popping for a babysitter to come and play in my elfgame.  We're adults with busy lives, and hobbies are costly in terms of time.  Free time, especially regularly scheduled free time, is a valuable commodity, and if they aren't getting their money's worth they'll have to shop elsewhere.

So make your game awesome.