Frankly, I think this is a very good thing. One of the worst things to happen to roleplaying was a generation of GMs thinking they have to be Brennan Lee Mulligan or Matt Mercer.
Stop worrying about how marketable your game is. Stop worrying about how good your writing and your performances are. Roleplaying games are, by their nature, intimate. Every single game is an experience shared between a small group of people. And that’s exactly what makes them so powerful.
I’ve lost track of how many times players have literally cried during my games. I’m talking “Grave of The Fireflies” kind of tears here, not “My GM is an abusive dick” tears. Just the other day one my players told me that I’m the reason they can’t listen to a particular song without crying, because it reminded them of a particular moment in one of my games. And that’s the sort of thing that makes you think “Holy shit, I should be recording/livestreaming this.” But if I did that, none of those moments would have ever happened, because my players aren’t professional actors, and they would have been so self conscious about performing to a crowd that they would never have lost themselves in their characters like that.
Enjoy the intimacy. Enjoy the imperfection. There’s nothing else like it.
I’ve been doing TTRPGs since middle school and when Critical Role hit I was so frustrated with everyone trying to make games something you could sell! I don’t want a curated experience. I want the kind of drama you can only get when the dice are impersonal and the players are just trying to survive!
Frankly, I think this is a very good thing. One of the worst things to happen to roleplaying was a generation of GMs thinking they have to be Brennan Lee Mulligan or Matt Mercer.
Stop worrying about how marketable your game is. Stop worrying about how good your writing and your performances are. Roleplaying games are, by their nature, intimate. Every single game is an experience shared between a small group of people. And that’s exactly what makes them so powerful.
I’ve lost track of how many times players have literally cried during my games. I’m talking “Grave of The Fireflies” kind of tears here, not “My GM is an abusive dick” tears. Just the other day one my players told me that I’m the reason they can’t listen to a particular song without crying, because it reminded them of a particular moment in one of my games. And that’s the sort of thing that makes you think “Holy shit, I should be recording/livestreaming this.” But if I did that, none of those moments would have ever happened, because my players aren’t professional actors, and they would have been so self conscious about performing to a crowd that they would never have lost themselves in their characters like that.
Enjoy the intimacy. Enjoy the imperfection. There’s nothing else like it.
Thank you.
I’ve been doing TTRPGs since middle school and when Critical Role hit I was so frustrated with everyone trying to make games something you could sell! I don’t want a curated experience. I want the kind of drama you can only get when the dice are impersonal and the players are just trying to survive!