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Message: <blockquote data-quote="robconley" data-source="post: 8248883" data-attributes="member: 5636">Appreciate it, hope it useful in some small way.I think is it well written and well considered and it like other similar well written and well written posts misses what I consider to be an important point.So first off, I am well aware that my views on the nature of tabletop RPGs not shared by many in the hobby or industry.  Also my strong opinion that any general description should be useful for hobbyists trying to figure out something fun to do.What the overall picture? It about focus.  It hard to see that because with 100s of new games released each day often the question for a group is what game we play today? Then the game gotten off the shelf and used. What if a different process is used? One with origins in the 60s and early 70s when published games were few and far between.  In a nutshell the group thinks of something fun to play and then assembles the rules and other stuff to make it happen.If you do that like back in the day, you will see pattern emerge centered around a general focus.<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">If the focus is on opponents trying to achieve victory conditions (cooperatively or competitive) then you likely wind up making a board or wargame.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">If the focus is on folks playing characters having adventures in a setting then likely you wind up with a tabletop roleplaying game</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">If the focus is on folks collaborating on creating a story or narrative with a game then likely wind up with a storygame. </li> </ul>Focuses even the broad ones I just listed are nuanced. Because of that hybrids are not only possible but actually comprise the fact majority of what hobbyist do.  The fact I have three categories doesn't mean that all there especially if we go beyond pen & paper and into things CRPGs and Live Action. The consequence of this is that playing a system is not the point of what the hobby does. The point is do whatever the fun thing we are focusing on. That the secret sauce of what happened circa 1970. Back then mostly they didn't have a choice because of the lack of published resources. Today it is obscured by the thousands of available published resources.Also tabletop roleplaying games (and storytelling) far more prone to hybridization than boardgames. Boardgames are often tied to physical items: cards, boards, pieces, etc. In contrast roleplaying games and storygames about how we talk to each other. For a roleplaying game, the player describe what it is they do as their character, the referee describes what happens. Storygames are even more diverse in who describes what and when. This makes it easy for the group to change up with they do from session to session or even within a session. Even when there something physical involved, like dwarven forge, it still primarily verbal.So what about the blog post. If you reread it you will see that the authors is actually talking about different folks focuses. Some observations the post has seems on point other I would disagree with. But the overall thesis of categories I think missed the mark. The problem is that hobbyists are not one note wonders, their interest varies from campaign to campaign, and session to session. Combined with the easy hybridization of roleplaying (and storygames) How many are classic gamers for very long, traditional games, OSR gamers, and so on? But it doesn't mean it all chaos, most groups I observed are centered around a focus that the group agreed to use. To find out what anybody is at a particular moment you need to find out what they are focusing on. Because it so easy to modify things, instead of figuring out what categories exist and who is in what category or in this thread case what percentage folks are of the different categories. Explain what you are about, and how what you do or say is useful for that purpose or focus. Refrain from overly broad claimsI think most hobbyist can figure it out from there. So what the consequences of what I just said.<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Think of something fun you and the group want to try. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Assemble the rules and material to make it happen.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Don't worry about categories use what make sense. If it happen to be all form a single system so be it.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Use rules and materials you and your group enjoy using.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Keep in mind it is ongoing thing. Tastes will change, your "toolkit" to make fun things happen will expand.</li> </ul>As for me,I focus on letting players "trash" my setting. I do this by focusing first on getting players comfortable with acting as their character as if they are there in the setting. I focus on letting players do anything they can their character abilities allow them to do as defined by the setting. The rules to me are just a useful tools to use and to tell players how things happen. I tend to focus on systems that answer things in a form of "If a character does this specific thing, how do I adjudicate ". But I will compromise when doing that is tedious or not fun. For example I will use some type of wargame or mass combat system rather than setup thousands of minis to playout a better. Although my favorites for a RPG campaign tie directly back to the how characters are defined. AD&D Battlesystem 1e and GURPS Mass Combat are two good examples.A consequence of my approach and focus is that when it comes to groups of player often it plays out is it would in life. The group discusses, considers, and cooperate in helping everybody get to their individual goals. There are limits to this as there is only one of me, and there are things I and the players rather not touch on in a campaign. Another consequence is that aside from the first person roleplaying that what my campaign is about depend on the setting and initial situatin the players created for themselves. TOR/AiME was great that I finally got how to run a Middle Earth campaign and not have it feel like my Majestic Wilderlands. Despite me using a lot of Tolkienisms in MW.Hope this answers your question.</blockquote>

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