Games and Writing, Part 4

Unlike video games, which are completely scripted, tabletop role-playing is much more interactive and flexible. However, you can’t play solo, as you might with a video game. There has to be a group of several players and a Gamemaster to run the game.

Like video gaming, there’s a range of how adaptable the game is, and there are a multitude of genres. Fantasy role-playing is probably best known, but there are also superhero, science fiction, horror, detective, spy, wild west, and many more. While some are overtly comedic, others are more dark and brooding.

Many GMs prefer to play from modules, which usually are sold by the game manufacturer with all the rules and such built in. Modules are easy to run, since they come with maps, character lists, and a written story that’s broken into chapters so the group can take logical breaks.

For other GMs, they enjoy all that world-building just like writers do. Drawing the maps, deciding on climates and cultures, putting in creatures and characters for the players to encounter. Many elements are planned, and there is a story to follow, but the players have more freedom to decide what they are interested in.

Still other GMs run their games like improvisational theater. There’s a general setting and germs of a story, but the players and GM are creating the game together. The players build the story with their actions and the GM determines what the rules of the game allow.

In all role-playing, there’s a lot of spontaneous interaction. The GM lays out the situation, but the players then respond. Sometimes the players focus on a casual detail the GM threw in for flavor, and take the game off to that direction while the perplexed GM tries to keep up.

In one recent game, the GM had us meet up in a tavern. We were hired to look for an evil wizard, but the clam chowder was really good, so the characters spent the night drinking, bantering and eating chowder. Was that supposed to be the game? Nope, but it was how the players reacted. Some of the characters later rented rooms above the tavern, so now a crucial element of the game is… clam chowder.

The heart of role-playing, in tabletop or video format, is the little stories and anecdotes that come out of GM and player interactions. And this is absolutely something that writers can bring to our written work. A story that’s too tightly plotted can feel stale and formulaic. Including small moments of spontaneity can really bring the tale to life.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my web site, Facebook, Instagram and/or Twitter.

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