Are Video Games Ruining Your Role-playing?

I love RPG video games, but they might be causing some sub-optimal habits in our tabletop role playing. So what’s a GM to do about it?

Picture courtesy of Pixabay.​

It's Dangerous to Go Alone. Take This (Advice)!​

Way back when, video games and RPGs weren’t too different. The video games often focused on killing stuff and getting treasure and so did plenty of dungeon modules. But it wasn’t very long before tabletop games moved into more narrative and character driven play which video games had a hard time following. While some video games like Dragon Age have tried to mirror role playing, you still only get a selection of options in interaction.

Nowadays, tabletop gaming has branched well beyond the elements that have been automated in video games. For players coming from video games, those elements can cause a biased approach to tabletop gaming that might make the game less fun. Below are some examples of how "video game creep" can affect tabletop RPG play styles and how to address them.

The Plot Will Happen Regardless​

While no one likes an interminable planning session, they do at least remind us that the players are not just participating but driving the story. In a video game the story happens whether you like it or not. You just need to keep putting one foot in front of the other and the story will happen regardless. So the bad habit here is a desire of players to ‘just move on’ assuming the GM will just give the plot to them as they go. This often comes unstuck in an investigative RPG where the players need to plan and consider, but it can cause problems in any game. Just pushing ahead will often clue in the bad guys about what is going on. Worse, without some effort to uncover clues, the players will just be floundering, wondering why the plot hasn’t miraculously appeared.

To get players out of this mode the GM might have be initially be a bit more obvious with clues. Almost to the point of putting a helpful flashing icon over them so the players can find them. The key here is to get them looking for clues and trying to understand the plot rather than just assuming inaction will solve the adventure regardless. Once players remember the clues will not come to them they will start trying to find them again.

“Nothing Is Too Much for Us!”​

With the option to save and return to a tough problem, video games offer the idea that any character can potentially tackle anything that is thrown at them. After all, the hero of a video game is a pregenerated character with all the right skills (or at least the means of acquiring them). This is also coupled with the fact that if the video game throws an army of zombies at you, then you expect to be able to fight them off. No problem is insoluble as long as you are prepared to persevere.

While perseverance isn’t a bad trait, sometimes the player characters shouldn't attempt to face all obstacles with brute force. The GM might have put them against insurmountable odds because they should be retreating. They assume putting 100 zombies in the room will make it pretty clear the way is blocked, then get surprised when the PCs draw swords and dive in. Then they are even more confused when the PCs accuse them of killing off their characters by putting too many monsters in, when no one forced them to fight them.

It is hard for some players to realise that retreat is also an option. But if you are used to facing and defeating supposedly insurmountable odds it is unlikely you’ll think of making a run for it. This attitude might also give some players the idea that any character can do anything leading to some spotlight hogging when they try to perform actions clearly suited better to other characters.

At this point the GM can only remind them retreat is an option, or that the thief should probably have first call on the lock picking. If they ignore that warning then they’ll eventually get the message after losing a couple more characters.

“I’m Always the Hero!”​

In many games the player characters are heroes, or at least people destined for some sort of greatness. But in a video game you are usually the chosen hero of the entire universe. You are the master elite agent at the top of their game. The problem is that in any group game not everyone can be the star all the time. So it can lead to a bit of spotlight hogging, with no one wanting to be the sidekick.

That is usually just something they can be trained out of with the GM shifting the spotlight to make sure everyone gets a fair crack. But being the greatest of all heroes all the time may mean the players won’t be satisfied with anything less. There are some good adventures to be had at low level, or to build up a great hero, and starting at the very top can miss all that. So, players ranking at the lower level of power should be reminded they have to build themselves up. Although there is nothing wrong with playing your game at a very high level if the group want big characters and bigger challenges.

Resistance Is Futile​

One of the things RPGs can do that video games can’t is let you go anywhere. If there is a door blocking your path, in an RPG you can pick the lock, cut a hole in it, even jump over it, where in a video game it remains unopened. If you get used to this concept it can lead to players thinking the opposite of the insurmountable odds problem. A locked door means they should give up and try another route or look for an access card. They start to think that like a video game there are places they are meant to go and meant not to go, and that they should recognise that and not fight it.

This might apply to any number of problems, where the GM is offering a challenge but the players just think that means they shouldn’t persevere. Worse, the players might think they need a key to open the door and will search for as long as it takes to find one, never imagining they might smash the door down.

This is a tough problem to get past as it means the GM needs to offer more options and clues to the players. If this doesn’t remind them they can try other things, then that opens up the following issue. So the GM should try and coax more options out of the players and make a point of rewarding more lateral thinking in their part.

“I’m Waiting for Options”​

While there may be several ways to defeat a problem, and the players know this, they might not be used to thinking of them for themselves. They will expect the GM to suggest several ways to defeat any obstacle or interact with an NPC rather than think of them themselves. This is easy to spot as the GM will notice that any clues or suggestions they make are always followed rather than taken as a helpful starting point.

The simple answer is to stop offering options and let the players think of them themselves. After all, RPGs are not multiple choice, they should be infinite choice. So the GM might also make a point of throwing the question back to the players and ask them what they will do about the encounter. The GM might offer clues if asked, but they should try and keep the focus on the players thinking of a way through rather than giving them clues.

Gaming in Every Medium​

The issues above aren’t a problem if that is how you all want to play. But they do put a lot of pressure on the GM to hand out all the answers and takes away the player’s agency to interact and influence the story. So it is worth taking a look at your group's gaming habits, particularly new players, and reminding them that although video game RPGs and tabletop RPG have a lot in common, they should be played differently.

 

[beancounter]

I tell my players for the sake of simplicity. Your characters can "know" whatever it is you think you know about monsters - whether or not that is actually the case (whether in general or specific) has to be determined through confirmation and/or experimentation.

This comes up a lot in metagaming discussions. IMO, if it's reasonable for character to know about something in the context of the world they live in, then it's not metagaming. In the case of the troll's vulnerability to fire, IMO, it would be reasonable to assume it's general knowledge (or at least a widely known legend)

 

[tetrasodium]

There are still DMs who jerk people around and get off on power trips. The best way to deal with them isn't in the rules but to just avoiding playing in their games.

5e very much goes too far in the opposite direction in a lot of cases where the rules are setup to ensure that it's difficult for the gm to swing the dial away from deadpool & make them look like they are being abusive if they try because there are so many areas of the rules that need one off changes

I guess I am looking at it from the PoV of as a group we are trying to get X done and move on. If X is causing an issue and thinking up Y gets us around it the moment, that is more important than "This one time my maximized character thing didn't work out like I think it should." On average, the character with the higher bonus who has bought into the approach the group is going with is going to do the finding - so I have no problem is Grog the Drunken Barbarian with a Head Injury benefitted from "dumb luck" in the form of tweaking the narrative for that scene.

There are a couple things wrong with the pixelbitching search of the room, both are pretty critical parts to what you seem to be perceiving as the problem.

• First there is the fact that searching rooms like that was once the norm in very old editions because d&d was still in its childhood learning to walk & had not progressed with mechanics that go beyond that. Even back in the day groups would very often have a standard checklist of ~"and we do the usual" just to avoid wasting tons of gametime on mindless & banal repetition of the same few 20 questions. D&D moved beyond that point long ago however & there is no reason for the gm to entertain player attempts at going back rather than saying no & pointing out the failure
• Second is the fact that "I'm a roleplayer [not a dirty filthy rollplayer]" gets elevated into some kind of shield to justify anything so often that it becomes difficult for the gm to shut it down & say something like "no bob your -3 investigate roll doesn't find anything there either. You all gave it your best & don't think you can find anything" without coming off as the bad guy at the table even if bob never actually declared himself a roleplayer. The fact that the 5e rules have so many areas dedicated to being barriers against a hypothetical mythic killergm bent on dominating & abusing their poor helpless players while failing to equip the gm with either tools or guidance beyond what is basically "fix/finish it yourself" being repeatedly foisted off onto the gm makes it even more difficult for the gm to shut down.

 

[el-remmen]

Exactly this. It's not like there's no middle ground between the two poles; and the vast majority of groups fall somewhere in that space. And they probably do so without even explicitly thinking about it in the way one does in a discussion like this.

I have been thinking on and off about this topic (thus my use of the term "The ENWorld Effect") for a while, like in these threads:

• "No two people ever seem to play D&D the same way, but we can usually find people to play with anyway."
• Perception, Search Rolls, and Game Style (thinking about expectation for how rules play out at the table).

The funny to me looking at that second thread, is that despite being from only April of last year, my style of approach has already shifted a bit (like I might not call for the Investigation check if the PC specifically says he turns the moose head), but I used that as extreme example where the PCs have a reason to be paranoid (which is a point I did not explicitly make back then).

 

[el-remmen]

pixelbitching

I really object to this pejorative and unnecessarily gendered term. I'd personally prefer if people got their point across without using it.

 

[Stormonu]

Really, that's not something that most DMs do? Being ready to improvise if necessary was my first concern when learning to DM.

You’d be surprised - I’ve seen many a DM crash and burn when the PCs either can’t read the DMs intent or they do something that was unexpected. DMs aren’t born fully formed, and even the best are always learning new tricks.

 

[el-remmen]

• First there is the fact that searching rooms like that was once the norm in very old editions because d&d was still in its childhood learning to walk & had not progressed with mechanics that go beyond that. Even back in the day groups would very often have a standard checklist of ~"and we do the usual" just to avoid wasting tons of gametime on mindless & banal repetition of the same few 20 questions. D&D moved beyond that point long ago however & there is no reason for the gm to entertain player attempts at going back rather than saying no & pointing out the failure
• Second is the fact that "I'm a roleplayer [not a dirty filthy rollplayer]" gets elevated into some kind of shield to justify anything so often that it becomes difficult for the gm to shut it down & say something like "no bob your -3 investigate roll doesn't find anything there either. You all gave it your best & don't think you can find anything" without coming off as the bad guy at the table even if bob never actually declared himself a roleplayer. The fact that the 5e rules have so many areas dedicated to being barriers against a hypothetical mythic killergm bent on dominating & abusing their poor helpless players while failing to equip the gm with either tools or guidance beyond what is basically "fix/finish it yourself" being repeatedly foisted off onto the gm makes it even more difficult for the gm to shut down.

yeah, neither of these resonate with me or my experience running games in at least the last 25 years.

 

[overgeeked]

I guess I am looking at it from the PoV of as a group we are trying to get X done and move on. If X is causing an issue and thinking up Y gets us around it the moment, that is more important than "This one time my maximized character thing didn't work out like I think it should." On average, the character with the higher bonus who has bought into the approach the group is going with is going to do the finding - so I have no problem is Grog the Drunken Barbarian with a Head Injury benefitted from "dumb luck" in the form of tweaking the narrative for that scene.

Sure. But, in my experience, the player with that cool thing will flip out and argue and argue and argue until they’re blue in the face, until the DM gives in, or until the group collectively tosses the problem player to the curb.

 

[Scruffy nerf herder]

Sure. But, in my experience, the player with that cool thing will flip out and argue and argue and argue until they’re blue in the face, until the DM gives in, or until the group collectively tosses the problem player to the curb.

Sees player flip out, sparks a joint and passes it to him. "It's a game bro, I made grilled cheese and ham sammies, want some?" Lol, I love nerd culture but it figures we're all so passionate that things can get heated.

I remember coming to my uncle's shop to play Warhammer 40k and seeing a guy flip a table he was so livid over the game. Hahahaha, now there's a neckbeard that goes right down to the toes!

 

[el-remmen]

Sure. But, in my experience, the player with that cool thing will flip out and argue and argue and argue until they’re blue in the face, until the DM gives in, or until the group collectively tosses the problem player to the curb.

I'm really sorry you play with such people.

 

[overgeeked]

I'm really sorry you play with such people.

I've played since '84. There's been at least one in every group I've ever played with. That's a lot of groups over the years. And a lot of people.