Stop Asking, Start Doing

I’ve been reflecting on a seeming preoccupation with getting things ‘right’ in RPGs, as seen by the number of associated questions in places like Discord. Rules questions are fair game mainly, but there’s a preponderance of questions about setting, to which a few experienced members of a game’s community provide answers, recommendations, and examples of how they addressed vagaries in the setting of the game.

I’ve found that the Symbaroum community is particularly helpful, with experienced members providing lots of advice for people new to the game.

Where I start to develop a low-level background sense of discomfort is seeing people behaving nervously about taking a decision at their table, which is subsequently perceived as incorrect, or contradicting some canonical element of the game’s setting and background. Does such nervousness constrain freedom of thought and interpretation? Our hobby is fundamentally a creative pastime, wherein we assume a degree of authorial right over our games. Reading some discussions online it feels like there must be some kind of RPG police force that will raid our homes if we alter an aspect of a game’s setting during play. I’m fairly certain that such an organisation doesn’t exist, especially as my front door has never been kicked in, despite the oh so many changes made at our table over the years.

Engaging the drive of the WayBackWhen (TM) machine for a moment, I recall buying the box set of 2nd edition RuneQuest when I was 12 or 13. I’d been playing mainly AD&D until this time and fancied something different.

The book in the box presented far more questions than answers as far as the setting was described, but it was abundantly clear that Glorantha was a richly complex world. Rather than feeling overwhelmed and daunted by the lack of information, I simply made stuff up with my friends. Aside from other, older gamers in the area, there was nobody to ask for advice about the setting. Even better, there was nobody to tell us we were getting it all wrong, which in hindsight of course, we were. It didn’t matter one jot that our Glorantha was different to the official version*, we had tons of fun with the game and loads of fantastic adventures. Perhaps we were fortunate to live in a time when we had no option but to make it up ourselves, I don’t know. I do know that we took the same approach to every single game setting, from Greyhawk to the Forgotten Realms via the Old World, early 20th century New England, and across Middle-earth in the less-well documented areas (we couldn’t afford all the ICE supplements). Not once did we feel nervous about maybe getting it all wrong. We loved and embraced the freedom of making these worlds our own, and I believe that should remain true today.

*I need to mention that Greg Stafford and the glittering list of fantastic contributors that have added to the world of Glorantha have always espoused the idea that Your Glorantha Will Vary (YGWV), actively welcoming and celebrating all interpretations of the setting.

I can’t decide if all of the above rambling has a tinge of grumpy old man about it, that’s certainly not my intention. Perhaps it’s just that I feel a little sad at the thought of someone allowing their creativity to be stifled from a fear of getting something wrong, when in reality there is no single, objectively true version of any RPG setting. Any road, thanks for reading my ramblings. Next time I’ll be reflecting on the cultural reference points we employ when playing and running games. Until then, game on!