5 Ways to Use Tabletop RPGs as a Writing Tool

Looking for a fun, new way to get to work on your worldbuilding? Today, as a part of a new series on roleplaying, Gretchen Turonek shares some tips on how to use roleplaying to strengthen your writing: 

Until a few years ago, I was kind of intimidated by the idea of tabletop gaming as a hobby. It seemed like something I might be into, but for the longest time, I avoided it. That all changed when I was brought on to a Dungeons & Dragons campaign, and now I regret not having started sooner because it’s one of the
best things I’ve ever done for my writing.

Tabletop role-playing games allow you to tell stories with a group of people. There’s no winning or losing except in the form of telling the best and most memorable story possible, and there are so many options for games across genres and complexity levels that there’s something for everyone. Here are
five ways things that roleplaying could help bring to your novel:

1. Collect Story and Character Ideas

If you’ve created a character you really enjoy, try working their adventures into your writing. You could chronicle the campaign from their perspective, or you could really flesh out their backstory or other “off-screen” adventures. If you’re a game master that’s running a game, you could do something similar, or base your novel on the path your players didn’t take.

2. See What Kinds of Stories Inspire You

When you’re creating and playing a character, think about what drew you to the concept and the story hooks you want to explore. Do you want more about your character’s relationship with their family, their love interest, or the other members of the party? Are you invested in their resolve to finish the
mission or the temptation to stray from their path? The stories you gravitate towards when you make your RPG characters are the ones that hold your attention and make you want to find out more: even if you don’t plan on writing a novel themed around your game, think about the stories you enjoy, because
they’re probably the ones that will carry you toward your word count goal.

3. Create Through Collaboration

We writers have kind of a reputation for locking ourselves in our rooms and only emerging when we’ve made progress, the day job calls, or we’re out of caffeine. Getting away from your desk and interacting with other people—yes, even during NaNoWriMo—can sometimes be the best thing for your story.
Even if you’re not thinking about your novel directly, being in a place with other people thinking creatively about the same story can be inspiring.

4. Encouraging Fearless Improvisation

NaNoWriMo is all about getting your words on the page in a limited amount of time without agonizing over whether they’re perfect. RPGs are very similar, but with an audience: there’s a (real or virtual) table of people waiting for your next decision, which is more often than not made on the spot and gets instant
feedback and results. It sounds scary, especially because some decisions might not seem “right,” but as long as the story is moving forward and everyone is comfortable with what’s happened there really are no wrong choices.

5. A Healthy Change of Pace

At some point, you’re going to hit a wall in your writing. There’s something to be said for sitting in a chair and making it happen, but if you’re staring at a blank notebook or a blinking cursor and you can’t get any words out, a change of setting and medium might help. If the writer’s block happens to arrive on
game night, you’ll be stepping away from your novel and into creating a different story, but you’ll probably come back to your novel refreshed.

Gretchen is a seven-time WriMo and Camper from Michigan. She’s a copywriter and fantasy writer who is in the process of revising a former NaNo novel that was, in fact, inspired by a Dungeons & Dragons campaign. She also has a few small game design projects in the works. It’s unusual for her not to be creating or consuming content in fictional worlds, but she does occasionally dabble in fiber arts and baking.

Top photo by Alex Chambers on Unsplash