My TTRPG Principles

I’m going to outlay the core principles I hold to for TTRPG’s. These are primarily about what I focus on when running games but they are core to what TTRPG’s are about for me when playing as well.

If I’m running I’ll be looking to adopt these principles. If I’m playing I’ll be looking for them to be present. The degree to which they are present vastly influences the amount of engagement I will have at the table over time.

Fiction First

The game should run on a solid foundation of fiction first. I’ve literally given up caring about any other model working or being for me. It’s the only method I now care about. The rules and decisions in the game should be focused on resolving the fiction. 

What is the fiction to be resolved? Decide. Pick the right tools from the rules. Resolve the fictional outcome. Done. The rules should also be working at the level of the fiction.

I fully believe a TTRPG is an art form for which the outcome is a work of fiction. Novels, scripts, plays all have the intentional outcome of a work of fiction. As far as I am concerned so does a TTRPG. A fiction first approach is the first foundation to not screwing that up before you even start.

Emulation Not Simulation

I have zero interest in my game being some sort of physics engine in any shape or form. I’ll go beyond that and say any game that has a simulation as the primary focus of its rules verges on being toxic for me. I suspect they’re generally toxic, but that’s quite a bold and sweeping statement and not one to resolve today.

The truth is such rules aren’t realistic, they’re just a choice which is likely to be as wrong as it is right and only realistic if you happen to agree with that interpretation of reality. It also creates stress as it creates an environment where people are constantly asked to come up with realistic answers to fantastic situations. How much can my superhero lift exactly? Exactly how many miles is it between two cities and what miles can a horse cover in a day? It never ends. In some groups, these questions can literally..never..end.

The game isn’t simulating reality. It really isn’t. It’s simulating a fictional construct or a challenging game. The simulation of reality as a third option doesn’t exist or is just an annoyance disrupting the purity of the other two choices.

Since I believe a TTRPG is an art form with an intentional fictional output the last thing I want is to hamper it with a low-rent physics engine. Emulation is where it’s at. Emulate what you want things to be like and like Fiction First, emulate it at the fictional level. 

Characters Solve Problems

I’m a white guy, rapidly approaching 50, with a technical background who is now more of a consultant and project manager. What I’m not is the character that exists on my character sheet with all the stats, abilities and skills he has on that sheet of paper.

If my white, middle-aged ass is asked to solve the problems my character has the skills to solve I’m just going to get pissed off. I admit it, I have strong opinions about this.

Don’t ask me to solve puzzles my character with an astronomically high intelligence score can solve without breaking a sweat. Don’t ask me to figure out how I’m going to infiltrate a secure building and pixel bitch me when the decision doesn’t make sense when my character has a very high Infiltration skill. Don’t make me dig around for the cleverly hidden clue when my character has a plethora of skills to connect to the clues.

Players shouldn’t be focused on solving problems. The characters solve the problems. 

Let them use their skills to solve problems. Let their skills shine to connect them to the clues and connections they need to find to route them to the next interesting situation. Let the player’s ideas on how to do things be right because they have a high skill as often the how they do something isn’t important but the opposition they face in trying is – or at least let their high skill provide them with the information they need to come up with something cool…

…which brings me to my next point.

Players Make Decisions

If players aren’t solving problems what are they doing? I want to make decisions. You see I can do that. I can put myself in my character’s head and in exciting situations. I can make decisions that send the story spinning off in interesting directions, send signals to other players, have weight, impact and consequences and all of the above.

A player can’t solve his character’s problems, but once the character has got him the information, the player can make the soul-searching, dramatic decision the story demands.

A TTRPG session for me is a series of exciting scenes or situations in which I need to make decisions with just enough information that it’s exciting. I may not have all the facts. None of the choices may be ideal. But I can role-play the making of that series of fateful choices and the repercussions for my character and the relationships he has and the story that is being told.

Implications Over Facts

Note: This principle was added 12.07.2021 after the following Twitter thread

People often concentrate on generating and venerating encyclopedic lists of facts. When these facts come together it can often be referred to as The Canon.

While I don’t discount the need for some level of consistent fabric to bring things together I tend to think you need a whole less of it than many people believe. This is because I think implications at the point of decision are vastly more important than some sort of encyclopedia of canonical facts that exist with a life of its own. I am not bothered by the universal truth of a setting just the implications at the point of decision.

I want to be driven to role-play out important, dramatic decisions and relationships at that point in time as long as I understand the implications of events and the choice that is all I need to know.

A canonical encyclopedia just constrains creativity.

TTRPG’s As A Practice

I believe it is an art, but I’ve avoided that term as I don’t want to descend into too much pretentious twaddle. I accept the TTRPG experience is a game with an intended outcome (and it’s that outcome that differs for individuals) I also believe it’s more than that.

It’s not just a game, it’s a practice. What do I mean by that?

It means I don’t just see my engagement with TTRPGs as playing a disposable game that is fun at the moment. It is a practice that involves a bundle of skills to create something unique as a group. Like any practice worth the effort it can be improved, reflected on, practised and improved and this in itself is part of the experience and the fun.

The whole experience has to have some sort of new or challenging factor, it doesn’t have to be big and profound, but something that sees me improving my application of the practice or a subset of the skills within it. This tends to apply to all things I undertake, so it’s no surprise TTRPGs are no different.

System Does Matter

People who say the system doesn’t matter exist under a delusion. They’ve basically abstracted the system into such a basic set of things it obviously doesn’t matter as they have stripped away everything that made it matter.

Back in the real world, people saying Dungeons and Dragons and Fate don’t have a radically different feel and outcome are smoking drugs. I can overlay a fiction-first sort of philosophy over Dungeons and Dragons but it will be mostly divorced from the system and it’ll fight me in every way.

Why do that? Well, you don’t, it’s a waste of time and energy. You pick a system that matches your philosophy and approach to TTRPG’s or the philosophy and approach for a specific campaign and you run with it.

You do that because the system does matter.

And, Finally…

The reason I have these principles is simple: it makes me happy and reduces stress. It does this because I have absolute clarity over what I want out of my TTRPG experiences. They also act as a set of guiding principles to get what I want out of the things I run.

The fiction you’re emulating doesn’t care? The challenging game possibly doesn’t care either. As for simulative verisimilitude? It’s a false doctrine and will only lead you down a fractious, aimless and pointless path.