Part 2 (of 5) in my series inspired by GaryCon XVII
Imagine 4–7 people sitting around a board game. In your mind’s eye, what are they doing? If you’ve ever played a board game with friends or family, you know the scene well.
No doubt, they’re interacting—maybe rolling dice or exchanging cards. There are moments of fun, tension, competition, and deep thought. That’s true of all tabletop games, which we talked about last time.
Tabletop roleplaying games are a segment within tabletop games. And they are similar to other games you might be more familiar with. People still gather around a table, having a good time. But TTRPGs (short for tabletop roleplaying games) have some distinctive differences. They are…
🎲 Imaginative
🎲 Cooperative
🎲 About Storytelling
🎲 Across different genres
TTRPGs Are About Imagination
If you could be a character in your favorite movie, which hero (or villain) would you choose—and why? What makes that character interesting or compelling to you?
Just by answering, you’ve already stepped into the realm of imagination. You’re thinking about who that character is and how they operate. That kind of imaginative thinking is fundamental to TTRPGs.
Typically, each player in a TTRPG represents one character in an unfolding story. It’s essentially “playing pretend” for all ages. In my first TTRPG, I played Gideon Elberith—a divine warrior for justice in a medieval fantasy world. In my most recent game, I was a lug-headed mechanic stranded on a jungle planet in a dystopian sci-fi setting, something like Alien.
When playing a TTRPG, everyone at the table is pretending—or play-acting—as a different character, working together (or not!) to achieve their goals. It’s somewhere between improv acting and the playground antics of childhood.
TTRPGs Are About Cooperation
That might sound odd, but let’s add another layer.
In most traditional board games, card games, or miniatures games, players compete against each other—everyone’s trying to win. But in TTRPGs, the players typically work together to achieve a shared goal.
There is one unique person at the table: the one presenting challenges and scenarios for the group to navigate. This role goes by many names—Game Master (GM), Referee, or (of course) Dungeon Master. While the players control individual protagonists, the GM handles all the antagonists and supporting characters they might meet along the way.
This dynamic can lead to moments of tension between the players and the GM, but that’s not the point. Even the GM is cooperating—working with the players to create a fun and memorable experience.
Which brings us to the heart of it all…
TTRPGs Are Fundamentally Storytelling
Before we had TVs, computers, or smartphones—even before books or writing—we had stories.
🎲 Stories about the past
🎲 Stories about people we admired
🎲 Stories about God, humanity, and the world
🎲 Stories about the stars
We told those stories to ourselves, our families, our friends—even to strangers. Humans are, by nature, storytellers. Our brains are wired for it.
TTRPGs tap into that primal instinct. A group gathers to tell a story together. That’s the unwritten social contract at the table: Let’s create a story we all enjoy.
Sometimes it’s a tale of noble victory against impossible odds. Sometimes it’s a horror story about our smallness in a vast universe. Sometimes it’s The Maltese Falcon. Sometimes it’s Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It can be anything—as long as everyone’s engaged.
That’s why there’s no real “winning” or “losing.” Even if your character dies, the questions are: Did you have fun? Did you enjoy the story?
Not every game is your favorite—just like not every show or movie hits the mark. But you return to the table, again and again, because of the friendships you’ve built in the real world—and the shared world of your imagination.
TTRPGs Fit Different Genres
You may have already guessed this: there’s more than one kind of TTRPG.
Just like board games, there are hundreds (probably thousands) of different TTRPGs. Each has its own set of rules and setting—an “imagined world” where the story unfolds. A few examples:
🎲 Dungeons & Dragons
A high fantasy, swords-and-sorcery game where you play warriors, wizards, thieves, barbarians, and the like. Think Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones.
🎲 Star Wars RPG
Be a Jedi, a smuggler, a pilot, or even a droid in a galaxy far, far away. Join the Rebellion, or give in to the dark side… if you dare!
🎲 Pirate Borg (affiliate link)
This is the game I’ve been playing most recently. Players are pirates in a post-apocalyptic 1700s Caribbean, riddled with dark magic, zombies, and eldritch powers. Think Pirates of the Caribbean with a touch of your favorite zombie flick.
There are TTRPGs set in real-world history—like World War II or the present day. Others are inspired by beloved children’s books like Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, or The Wizard of Oz. I’ve even seen one where you play as raccoons collecting trash. The sky really is the limit.
And each genre comes with its own unique mechanics. In a Wild West duel, both players might roll at the same time to see who draws first. In Star Wars, the Force might tip the odds in your favor. Every game, every setting, has its own rules designed to serve the story.
So there you have it: TTRPGs are imaginative, cooperative storytelling across different genres. Each game comes with rules that help players shape a shared story—each person playing their part.
Come back tomorrow to find out… why would I fly to Wisconsin to do that?
Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. That means if you click and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks for supporting the blog!
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