How I REALLY play tabletop RPGs ~ (2024)

[@QuestingGM]

Listening to this is making me reevaluate the Holy Trinity and rethink the worth of something I said before regarding reasons/how to play RPGs with people. Something that can be thought/talked about in session 0 perhaps: Intention: What is the intention of play? Roleplaying in-character as character? Learning and/or experimentation of rules? Social gathering/vibing? Examination of game mechanics and design? Tactical roleplaying? Story as product? Story as by-product? Or some Venn diagram in between? Commitment: The level of commitment to reach that intention of play. Fixed, committed scheduled sessions? Play-by-ear scheduling? Casual, informal, as long as we have 'fun' kind of fun? Strict, structured, practiced form to have 'fun'? Roleplaying Skill/Level: Level of in-character 'immersion, in-character, out-of-character, acceptable level of hybrid/mixture between the two. Depth of character's motivations, backgrounds. Thorash Skullcrusher vs, Dingle Mcdinglefart. System Mastery: Current level of system mastery to attain or be an obstacle to intention and commitment. Rules referring is ok or breaks 'immersion'? How familiar are you (or want to be) with the mechanics to achieve intention of play? Do we break/ignore rules that gets in the way of intention of play? I guess on some level answering these by yourself informs your own bias and preference of play. And if you are a really nice person, you can adapt these levels to the people you are playing with, and/or find out if you want/should play with them. Just a thought, not sure where it can go or how useful it is.

[@ivanmike1968]

Good list! It’s important to discover these about yourself and the group.

[@Nearside]

"Healthy play" is an interesting phrase, and might make a good video topic?

[@ivanmike1968]

Absolutely!