There are perils in knowing too much about RPGs. I tend to take RPGs more seriously than most people. Not more serious in the sense of curing cancer or feeding my family, but more serious in the sense of an RPGs being an expressive art form. I don't say that pretentiously, in fact, I have a fairly serious axe to grind with some corners of the RPG industry I would consider a little pretentious. What I mean is that RPG design and play is a form of communication and a skillfull endeavor that speaks to the human spirit. Game-as-art is very different than novel-as-art, although it has some aspects in common with poetics and drama.

It is simply this: when somebody says something about RPGs, my mind looks through a quarter century of gaming experience involving dozens of games (probably a dozen or more superhero RPGs alone), my own attempts at design, and conclusions hashed out in many, many RPG forum discussions. My worldview, on the subject of RPGs, is complex, and I can no more set aside my understanding of RPGs than a jazz pianist can set aside their sensitivity to music. To me, the world of RPGs is full of so much information that it is a language unto itself.

When I speak to someone to whom RPGs are "this game D&D I started playing a couple of years ago," there is a definite risk that I or this person may aggravate the other. I try not to be excessively philosophic when speaking with someone whose interest is obviously more casual. There are only a few people in this world, relatively speaking, who know their Vance from their Anderson, their Villains & Vigilantes from their Mutants & Masterminds, their steampunk from their Victoriana. Rather than dwell in frustration, however, I always strive to help receptive souls discover a wider world, a place outside their usual Friday group or the local gaming store. Some RPG writers are among the most creative people you could know, and to experience their art is to experience their mind.

So, bravo! Though I occasionally find myself in the serious category, the fact is that I love RPGs and consider them some of the most fun things on Earth.

pawsplay