I was raised in a religious household in the 90s so of course things like D&D were haram. I even went to an evangelical college (that’s a whole post there), so I was never exposed to TTRPGs.
And it sucks, because from the little I know about them, I know I would have loved to play them.
But… how do they actually work? I think I have a very basic framework. I know you have one character you control/play as. You roll to… make things happen? Or they determine things that happen? I know there’s a game master who doesn’t just read a story out loud… they actually influence things?
I’m gonna eventually get into Disco Elysium and I feel like actually understanding TTRPGs would help. And there’s a game store near me that hosts games, I’d like to show and not be a total noob.
It means a million different things. The “accepted” way to play these days is comic book style with heroes vs. villains. It is more like interactive improv theater than the ancient style of RPGs with dice and graph paper maps. Although that still exists, it’s called the “Old School Renaissance” and you can find them if you search.
The actuality is that you’re going to be with a bunch of strangers and you may or may not like them. People’s personalities come out in a weird way in TTRPGs and you’re going to get people basically giving themselves therapy. People say they want to play and then constantly no-show, they’ll use the entire session as an excuse to crack stupid jokes, deliberately sabotage things because they think it’s funny, etc. Then there are the DMs, and there is an entire different set of problems with them. The latest adventure module I saw sets the players to find a witch in a community, it’s a detective story. They’re supposed to talk to witnesses and find out whodunnit. However, there is no witch, and the point of the adventure is to expose your players as horrible people.
If you get a good group, congratulations. But most of the good groups are closed to new members and have been for years. Once you get a good thing going, it’s hard to give it up, and new players just ruin the vibe you’ve got going.
The latest adventure module I saw sets the players to find a witch in a community, it’s a detective story. They’re supposed to talk to witnesses and find out whodunnit. However, there is no witch, and the point of the adventure is to expose your players as horrible people.
this is brilliant
it’s not about hating your players. it’s about getting them to rethink assumptions about the game. just cause some NPCs tell you to go on a witch hunt doesn’t mean you should.
