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Let’s talk about Diversity in Tabletop

Hey guys, Krone here.

 Today I want to talk about a subject that is a bit difficult to discuss without the conversation becoming heated for a lot of people. Diversity is a hotbed topic in many forms of media, and Tabletop RPG's aren't any different. Who we are and our difference from one another is important to us. It makes our society deep and culturally interesting, and for the worlds we create in our games, that is no different. We look at works of the old greats, people like J.R.R Tolkien, who create wonderful, fully alive worlds that peak our interest to the extreme. Yet, there are many flaws within his work, not the least with the subtle and sometime overt racism and misogyny parked within the movies and book. There are, of course, strong character moments for such characters, but the overall worldbuilding for his work paints most in a rather unpleasant light. How do we avoid this? How can we make our worlds and NPC's as diverse and culturally appropriate in the setting we create? And how can we influence and reward our players to take part and enrich that diverse world we create?

 First of all, to understand how build diverse and interesting cultures in our own games, it helps a lot to look at and to research previous history in our world. Having at least a partial understanding of how in general cultures, kingdoms, and nations work and how their formed is very important, as it will give a breath of life into our world. Most important, is taking stock of our setting. Where are the characters? When are the characters? This this a world of fantasy, or a world more grounded in reality? Answering those questions gives us fuel for our engine; it gives us a lot to go on. Say we're making a Medieval Fantasy world. It does us good to generally understand the definition of "Diversity" and "Culture" that existed in that time. During the Medieval Age, the word "race" was almost never used to describe a group of people. You were French, Egyptian, Ottoman, Polish, Danish, etc. The world of the Medieval times was much more separated than our world today, and it's important to understand that distinction. However, that doesn't mean that you have to follow history to the tee. Introducing two different cultures into one nation is an interesting idea, and it practically oozes deep narrative points that your players can tackle as they see fit. We just have to make sure that we don't shortchange these cultures, as that will just make them feel shallow and artificial. We're trying to create a living, breathing world for our PC's.

 With understanding our setting and researching all the info we need, we can get down to building the culture. This can be started many ways and is really up to you. Has one of the players made an interesting PC and you want to expand and flesh out their culture into the world? Maybe we introduced an NPC that sparked the player's interest, and we wanted to expand on their character farther than who they are as a person? Whatever it is, we have to create nation/culture/nation/empire, and we have to start somewhere. Most likely, you already have a few characteristics and ideas that stick out to you. Maybe this culture are great blacksmiths, or maybe they have an intergalactic monopoly on xerothermic crystals. Whatever it is, expand on it. Why are they great Blacksmith's? What happened that they were able to gain a monopoly on such a rare good? How do other cultures view this unique trait from the outside? How does the culture itself view this trait themselves? For the world to feel real, it's important for these opinions to exists, as it directs you how to roleplay these certain characters. Next, think of some generalities for these cultures. Decide how their physical appearance is distinct from others like them, and most importantly, WHY they are distinct from different cultures. Go as far back in their history as possible. Don't just have them be physically distinct just to be different, that's the lazy way out. Nothing is a coincidence in the real world, so it shouldn't be in your world either. Next, decide on a few more special characteristics past physical appearance. Similar with how we expanded their first trait, approach these other traits in the view of outsiders and from the view of the culture looking in on itself. Answer not just the What, but the Why, and always try to make sense of how this works in the bigger picture of your world. Lastly, connect the culture with your world. Give them history with other cultures; make them go to war, make them create alliances, incorporate them into larger cultures. Make sure that before you go in the game, you can have a mock conversation with two culturally different NPC's and understand how they feel about each other as two cultures interacting with each other.

 Now, it is impossible to talk about culture without talking about individualism. It's good to understand a cultures stereotypes and cliché's, but it goes further beyond to contemplate how each individual adheres and strays from them. After all, we are trying to create a world that feels real at the surface for our players, and the absolute easiest way to ruin that is to make every single character in the culture you have created adhere to all the stereotypes and traits that you have set up. Both PC's and NPC's are far more interesting when they break through the cultural norms that you set. It makes play more interesting, and it gives NPC's reason to discriminate upon the PC's, which is a very good thing no matter how bad it sounds. Depending on how serious and grounded of a game you're trying to make, this may be where you put most of your work. Stereotypes are very important in promoting good play. It sets up a line of expectation for both the GM and the players, and that makes it so much cooler when we shatter those expectations, to subvert them to their core. I live for that feeling, it's why I play games in general. To create a culture that feels real to the players and then to introduce a character that shatters their expectations is, to me, the epitome of playing diversity and cultures correctly at the table.

 As usual, thanks for reading.  I think there was a lot more that I could talk about with this topic, as it is a truly huge topic, but what I've talked about gives a good framework to flesh out your cultures even further. I'm not the greatest writer in the world, so I'd love any advice for improving sentence flow and word choice. I'd also love to hear your thoughts on diversity at the table and how it influences your games! It certainly influences mine quite a bit. I've been currently watching a few shows that have really inspired and influenced my GM'ing, so next week, I think I'll write about using your favorite media as a basis for your own work, so keep a look out for that. And as always, thanks for reading.

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Let’s talk about Railroading.

Hey guys, Krone here.

 Today, I want to talk about a buzz word that lay heavy on the minds of GM’s old and new. The word that I am talking about, of course, is “Railroading.” Now, for those who don’t know what the word means, “Railroading” is a term used in a tabletop game, where the GM (Game Master) leads the PCs  (Player Characters) from encounter to encounter, trying to set up situations in a way so that they know exactly what will happen, from Point A to Point B, and finally to Point C. Points A, B, and C aren’t usually interchanged, and the prep is entirely dependent on the players following the chain of events that the GM has set up. Railroading is usually an indirect comment on someone’s GM’ing and not an actual playstyle, in the way of, “Oh man, that session felt really on rails today.” The term is usually held in a negative connotation, as many people see it as a restriction of player choice in the fiction. Player Choice and Agency is a big deal; it’s basically the reason why we play tabletop role playing games at all. Unfortunately, the term sometimes creates a blanket effect, and tends to encompass play styles that focus on Mission or Quest Based Narratives, since they are often seen as a restriction of choice for the players. This often shies GM’s away from constructing a campaign based on Missions, instead trying to cover all bases in an expansive sandbox world, which is really freakin’ hard to pull off! It sucks to be put in that position, where your players unintentionally expect you to have answers for every nook and cranny they take their characters. That’s why linear missions are great! They allow you the ability establish the narrative within new games and be able to get the players invested in a setting they previously have no idea of. Yet there’s this fancy concept that sandbox, or open world games, are the only way to go; that you must have prep and a solution FOR EVERY SINGLE THING THAT CAN EVER HAPPEN EVER. No. That doesn’t have to be the case. I’m here to tell you that “Mission Based Narrative” can be a bunch of fun and still grant player agency, while keeping a linear flow that a GM can keep an easier track of.

 So what does “Mission Based Narrative” mean anyways? Well, let’s break it down into two, easier to digest, parts. “Mission Based,” meaning almost exactly as it reads; the campaign you are designing will be mostly mission or quest based. How the players come upon these missions is up to you. You could handle them the traditional way, i.e. have them receive missions from a mayor in a town, from a mega-corporation in the city, a friendly alien race on the planet Hraxmar, etc. Or, you could frame it like a show, with each major “episode” being another mission for the players to do. The point I’m trying to make is, while you create a vibrant setting in which the PCs exist, you want to use missions to help build the world around the characters, allowing your players to create and experience the fiction within them. Missions give you a way to direct the 2nd word, Narrative. “Narrative,” meaning what is happening right now right here as I am talking to my players about orcs and eating potato chips. It is the ongoing idea, fostered to myself by the great mind Adam Koebel, that the idea of story does not exist until after the session happens. This makes narrative about the now, focusing on what is happening from moment to moment. So in a sense, the main definition of “Mission Based Narrative” is the style of GM’ing through constructing missions that unfold in play. Prep is a good thing, but not when it tells you how the session is going to unfold before the dice are even rolled. That’s no fun! It also eliminates possibility of that buzzword that I used a lot before, “Player Agency.” Player Agency is, simply put, the amount of power that the players have to contort and change the fiction through their player characters. It’s an important thing, and something that we as GM’s want to inhibit as much as possible. So how do we do this? Mostly through the prep and rules we set for ourselves as the GM.

While railroading mostly focuses on the idea of going from A, to B, and then to C, we want to have a similar structure, but not exactly to that extent. We want the A’s, B’s, and C’s to be in the game, but we don’t want them to function as stepping stones for the players. Think of them instead as forces of nature driving the narrative into directions that the main antagonist(s) wants them to go. Let them be interchangeable, and let them be interrupted, but  don’t ever let them dictate what happens after the players run into them. Set a situation, give the forces of evil motives to work towards, and let the players place themselves within it. Then, let the dice roll. One of my favorite games of all time, Dungeon World, words this perfectly. “Play to find out what happens.” Don’t ever let yourself create situations that you know exactly what will happen if player x does thing y. Use your imagination and think in the moment. You may think you’re bad at it, but trust me. Once you have the hooks, npc’s, and player motives in your notebook, the next logical thing will come naturally. Personally, what I do to help myself with this, is to ask questions in my prep, not make statements. Why does the Wizard want the staff of xanatar? Who does player x not expect to see again at the tavern? Will the Bruised Knees help out their gang brethren? Questions like these don’t limit you to one possible outcome. They let you brainstorm as the narrative wheel is churning, and when the time arrives, you can make use of one of your questions and turn it into a statement answered by the players actions towards your A’s, B’s, and C’s. If I ever need to include statements about what is going to happen within the next session, I always stick to this rule of thumb: Never include the players in the events that will be going on. Let the player’s be outliers, and the events as turning wheels that won’t stop just because the players ignore them. That way, events will happen unless the players stop them, giving them reason to engage and you opportunities to make their lives a little bit more complicated. We do, after all, play to see what happens, whether good or bad. Let the narrative flow with the players as the main attention point, but don’t feel afraid to let the cogs turn behind the scenes. Last, but not least, let your players do what they want. I’ll say that again. Let your players do what they want. I’m not talking about letting your players grow wings without being aasimar or leviate into the air without a jetpack. I’m talking about things that catch you off guard, things that might sound crazy to start out. If they’re difficult or risky, add extra consequences upon failure, but let them roll if you believe that it is something that is possible for them to do within the mechanics of your game. This is how the stories that all your players tell their friends afterwards are created. They are the life breath of the game. Say yes to rolling the dice.

                 So you’ve reached the end! If you made it this far, thanks! This is such a passionate hobby and I find people who teach me new things every day. As usual, I’m Krone and I like to play the occasional role playing game. I’m pretty new about this writing thing, so if you have some advice to help me with writing, or just want to talk more about we can reinforce linear narrative, feel free to comment! I mentioned two names: Adam Koebel, and Dungeon World. In fact, Adam Koebel is the co-author of Dungeon World, and is an all-around cool guy. He currently GM’s a few games over on YouTube on Rollplay, and is actually one of my main inspirations towards becoming a better GM, so go check him out! I’ve talked about prep a good deal in this post, so I think I’d like to talk a little bit more about the different types of prep there are, mainly the difference between High prep and Low prep, so keep a look out for that. And as always, thanks for reading.

CIA�: