#RPGaDAY2018

It is August 1st, which means that #RPGaDAY2018 is beginning to make rounds on the internet.  RPGaDAY2018 is series of daily questions about various topics regarding tabletop RPG’s.  I figure since I have a blog now I feel obligated to answering these questions to the best of my ability.  

Today’s question is…

What do you love about RPG’s?

Like most humans, I love a good story.  Whether thatstory comes from a book, video game, movie, or TV show, it will have an effect on my life.  I will quote movies and hear movies quoted all the time and although we may pass this off as inconsequential, it is an example of life imitating art.  Stories can make us more creative. They can make us more empathetic. They can make us cry. They can make us laugh or shudder in fear. Stories can make us experience a whole gamut of emotions that make us who we are. They make us more human.

While the story that comes from a session of a tabletop RPG may not have the production values nor the genius screenwriting of something in mass media, it is still a story nonetheless.  A story that we not only consume but that we have a hand in creating ourselves. Collaborative storytelling is a shared experience and sometimes, even a shared emotion.  It is an experience that will shape all the participants futures, even if by the tiniest of fractions.

I also love the surprising nature of tabletop RPG’s. I understand that other forms of media hold surprises as well.  The next page of that book, the final episode of the season, or the climax of a movie can all hold narratives that surprise you and make you say “I never saw that coming!”  But once you see that surprise, it no longer exists as a surprise.  It will always exist on that page or at that exact moment on film.  But a tabletop RPG’s will hold many surprises in every session.  Most tabletop RPG’s seem to rely on the randomness of a die roll or card draw to surprise the players but we can’t ignore the greatest randomizer of them all, each other.  The creative human brain is the home of infinite possibilities and the home to some of the greatest story twists in which you have never seen.

Finally, I’d like to touch on the social aspect of tabletop RPG’s.  I am a self-proclaimed introvert with mild social anxiety although I doubt I am an outlier in hobby that is chock full of introverts.  I don’t have many people I would consider friends but I do have a few that are my friends for life.  But for those few hours a week that I get to sit down for an online session, those people who share the tabletop experience with me are considered my friends.  That concept may seem strange to the majority of our extroverted world, but it is something I cherish.

This article dragged on a bit longer than I expected so in summary:  I love tabletop RPG’s because I love stories, collaborative story telling, surprises, and the social aspect of tabletop gaming. 

What do you love about RPG’s?