Play Is Paramount: Discuss

[hawkeyefan]

Even that's more risky than low-prep or (my general preference) prep-as-you-go.

It is. But at this point, this was largely how I’d always run a campaign. And I’d never really had any issues. By this point, we were all adults and so leisure time wasn’t as abundant as when we were kids.

The problem I've always found with that is if someone sits out one game, there's a pretty good chance they'll never come back because they've hooked up with a game with another group, and they don't tidily end at the same time. I'd rather just run another campaign than start sloughing off players.

I get that. It’s not really a concern for my longstanding play group because we’re all friends going back to when we were kids. Most of us don’t have any other gaming groups.

But I get that’s a unique situation.

 

[Thomas Shey]

It is. But at this point, this was largely how I’d always run a campaign. And I’d never really had any issues. By this point, we were all adults and so leisure time wasn’t as abundant as when we were kids.

Yeah, different rest states produce different results.

I get that. It’s not really a concern for my longstanding play group because we’re all friends going back to when we were kids. Most of us don’t have any other gaming groups.

But I get that’s a unique situation.

Whereas while I've been friends with most of the people I play with for a long time--some as long at this point as a half-century--we're only friends because of gaming; outside my wife I didn't know any of them before i started gaming with them, and the period when we'd occasionally get together for other things (going to a movie, say) is long past. We've had multiple intersecting groups for a long time (well, they mostly do--I sawed off my second group about a year ago at this point because I concluded we'd reached the point we just weren't compatible any more, and I lack the energy to find one that would work for me these days).

 

[Retros_x]

A TTRPG without own worldbuilding can exist, some DM just take printed campaigns and run them by the book. But a TTRPG without the actual play - is not the real thing. Its like when you plan to always go on a hike, but you never do, you are not a hiker.

I think this is true for every activity, not just TTRPG, its a very general statement. The actual experience is the thing, thats what makes it real, thats how you learn to do it, thats how you gain experience, by experiencing (duh), the rest is just in your mind.

There is not much to discuss IMO, but its good to bring it back in focus from time to time. I myself land sometimes in planning new games for months and planning them through and through, without actually starting them. I have to kick myself, stop planning, stop worldbuilding, do the actual thing, invite the players, lets get the ball rolling.