Tag Archives: RPG Playcraft

Toy Dogma 5.3

Posted on December 17, 2010 by admin

Peer Mode

Definition: Peer mode supplements game rules and essential customs with goals and standards drawn from an imagined community (real or not) — so much so that the relationship with the community can overshadow play.

Examples:

  • The

…

Posted in RPG Theory | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Toy Dogma 5.2

Posted on December 4, 2010 by admin

Egoistic Mode

Definition: The egoistic play mode uses both explicit game rules (usually a technical text) and customs of play (passed on orally or through non-technical text) to fix player roles and manipulate relative status between players.

Examples:

  • All

…

Posted in RPG Theory | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Toy Dogma 5.1

Posted on December 2, 2010 by admin

I want to look at moral stages of play some more. Let’s call them modes instead of stages. Even though the source literature is about overall moral development, I’d rather highlight discrete techniques, leave room for good people to wander into bastardry,…

Posted in RPG Theory | Tagged , , | 14 Comments

Toy Dogma 4

Posted on November 30, 2010 by admin

So last time, I stabbed at a working definition of what happens in tabletop roleplaying games:

  • In TRPGs, participants communicate using rules and customs to establish details about related fictional narratives that are not yet defined.

. .…

Posted in RPG Theory, The Miscellaney | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Toy Dogma 3

Posted on November 14, 2010 by admin

The first thing we need to do is stop lying.

Tabletop roleplaying game theory used to concentrate on finding ways to describe the hobby and find connections with other types of art and culture. For about a decade, this form…

Posted in RPG Theory | Tagged , , , | 40 Comments

Toy Dogma 2

Posted on November 3, 2010 by admin

We’ve been led astray by small imaginations, fearful, status-conscious habits and the rise of a new communications medium that lets unsuccessful hobbyists stay parasitically attached to the hobby. We’ve moved from mysterian enthusiasm to dismal certitude — and it’s certitude…

Posted in RPG Theory | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Toy Dogma 1

Posted on November 1, 2010 by admin

Tabletop roleplaying games and many (but not all) related games provide distinct pleasures, pains and intellectual diversions compared to other artistic media, including media cited as models and inspirations for players and designers (let’s just call them all “gamers” —…

Posted in RPG Theory, Tabletop RPGs: Art Without Prestige | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Code of the Hater

Posted on October 21, 2010 by admin

I’m not Mister Positive. You? I think you could do better at your passion and that thing you like probably sucks. But it’s not all random negativity. In fact, it’s not that negative at all.

What people assume versus where…

Posted in RPG Theory | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Don’t Be Afraid to Give Up!

Posted on August 4, 2010 by admin

So I was running a supers game. It was okay, but not great. I didn’t like it. I loved worldbuilding with my friends, talking about alt history and fiddling with systems, but I didn’t feel like actually running the…

Posted in Tabletop RPGs: Art Without Prestige | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Friends Are Even Better Than That

Posted on March 29, 2010 by Malcolm

Over at Jim Henley’s Livejournal I made an offhand comment that many games under the “indie” banner are designed to be played by people who meet at conventions, primarily know each other online or have similar remote, vaguely suspicious relationships.…

Posted in RPG Theory | Tagged , , | 29 Comments