Welcome to the GnomeCast, the Gnome Stew’s tabletop gaming advice podcast. Here we talk with the other gnomes about gaming things to avoid becoming part of the stew. So I guess we’d better be good.

Today we have Ang along with Phil & Senda. Today their going to talk about playing for an audience. With Panda’s. No. Wait. They’re the Panda’s. Just listen. It’ll make sense quickly.

B2: The Keep on the Borderlands, Part Two

I’m not going to summarize the history and purpose of the venerable module know as “The Keep on the Borderlands” again. You can check out my previous article on this topic for that information. Instead, I’m going to dive into the section entitled “Tips to the Players” on page 25 (out of 26) of the module.

Tips to the Players

First off, this is a horrible place to put player tips. It’s after the adventure. A player that’s picked up this module and wants to play it without spoilers probably stopped reading the text somewhere around page 2 where it explicitly tells the players to stop reading. There is no mention of reference of this section in the introductory text, so there’s no way for a player to find this section prior to playing.

My guess is that TSR needed some “filler text” to get rid of some whitespace at the end of the book. Someone put together these brief tips and dropped them into the whitespace. I could be wrong. I could be right. I don’t know. Regardless of the cause of placing player tips at the back, it’s not a good area to drop this kind of advice.

The section is broken into an introductory paragraph followed by five brief paragraphs of actual advice, so let’s dive into them!

Organized and Cooperative

The advice given in this paragraph is spot on and still applies to this day. The “organized” section of this piece of advice basically boils down to “know your character and be ready to respond.” The DM can’t know everything about every ability of every character. They have enough to worry about on their side of the screen. This means you, as the player, need to know your character well enough to be able to quickly answer questions like, “Does anyone have [insert ability here]?” If you need to glance at your sheet to determine your answer, that’s fine, but know where on the character sheet that information can be found.

The cooperative part of this section leverages the phrase “… a variety of alignments and classes.” This is a fairly narrow perspective of the differences between characters (and people in general). This shows how focused that game was on alignment and class choice back then. I’m glad we’ve moved on to incorporate more subtle aspects of characters in modern gaming, but that’s probably a different post. The point of this paragraph is that the players need to have their characters work together in a tight-knit team despite any differences the characters may have. If cooperation is not part of the party’s game play, then this will, “… cause delays, attract monsters, and often result in the deaths of some or all of the members.” This closing statement is still valid and very true for modern D&D.

DM Rulings

This paragraph is worded a bit too harshly for my tastes. It basically implies that players can be whiny and disruptive if they disagree with the DM. The advice is solid, but I don’t like the wording used. Let’s update it a bit, shall we? Here goes.

The DM is the final arbiter of rules and rules conflicts, but the DM should welcome your reasonable input and ideas while considering the final ruling. If a player disagrees with the ruling, then disruptive and abusive behavior should be avoided. The player should accept the final ruling and move on. If the final ruling is egregious, unsafe, or harmful, the player always has the option of quietly stepping away from the game or not returning to the game with the DM at the next session. Being disruptive at the table over a rules disagreement drains the fun for everyone, even those not involved in the disagreement.

Planning

This paragraph is equipment-focused, which is fine, but it’s the final sentence that really stands out to me. The closing of the paragraph says, “Plans should be considered for encountering monsters and casting spells.” I wish there were more advice in this vein, so I’m going to expand that statement.

The PCs should decide a watch order while resting and a marching order while moving across open land and through dungeons. This will assist the DM in running a smooth adventure, especially when encounters occur. The players should also be aware of all abilities of all characters, but they don’t have to have everything memorized. Just know that the wizard has low hit points, but can cast powerful spells. Know that the cleric can heal and that the fighter has the best armor class in the group. These key points can help keep everyone as safe as possible when encounters happen.

Knowing which spells are available to the party at a given time is also key. The spell casters should also know when it’s appropriate to use certain spells. Fireballing two goblins that are surrounded by the rest of the party probably isn’t the wisest choice, but casting Magic Missile at the goblins would most likely work out well. Clerics should also know when to apply their limited healing. Casting powerful healing spells on someone that is only down a few hit points would be a waste, but that same spell could get the almost-dead fighter back into the fray in a moment’s notice.

Caution

I love this paragraph and it still stands true today without modification, with one exception. The exception is that dangers can also come from within the party by way of lying and trickery. That might still be true with some groups, but not in groups I like to play with. The party is a team literally fighting for survival. Lying, trickery, backstabbing, and duplicity from within the party will guarantee failure, and possibly character death. Avoid that at all costs.

The remainder of the paragraph, though, is strong and well stated. Basically, it says that caution is necessary. Don’t charge forward with preparation or be ready to meet doom. It also says that too much caution is as dangerous as too little. Bold and quick action is sometimes necessary before all is lost.

Thinking

This is a good closing paragraph. It tells the players to think through problems and that their minds, wits, and imaginations will carry them further through the game than luck or brute force. The last sentence says, “The challenge of thinking is a great deal of the fun of the game.”

I couldn’t agree more with that last statement.

Is there a player in your group who always shows up late to the table, no matter how hard they try? Do you have a PC that struggles to keep up with the dice rolls during a fast combat round? Do you have someone in your party who forgets important details and often needs a reminder?  Is there someone who attempts — but fails — to keep track with accounting or bookkeeping in the game? Do you have a player who  accidentally pressed the delete button on the online character sheet before saving?

If you have experienced one or several of these as a DM or a fellow gamer, you may be running a game for — or playing with — someone who struggles with neurodiversity. In this article, I will discuss neurodivergence and neurotypical brains, and then will provide some helpful tips for both neurodivergent and neurotypical players in RPG.

Neurodivergent and Neurotypical Brains

The Cleveland Clinic provides a useful definition: “The term ‘neurodivergent’ describes people whose brain differences affect how their brain works.”   Examples of neurodivergence include but are not limited to ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), Autism, Down Syndrome, and Dyslexia.  Neurotypical people do not have these differences.

I am well versed in neurodivergence. I write about this topic as one of those people who struggle to navigate a neurotypical world.  Diagnosed later in life at age 38, it was a relief to discover that ADHD is not a gigantic character flaw but rather a cluster of symptoms of a medical diagnosis that needs to be managed. I still struggle with executive functioning. Like with all other things I either must do or like to do, executive functioning affects how I show up to the RPG table and participate.

Tips for Neurodivergent Players

As a neurodivergent player, I believe that there are two elements I need to bring to the game: accountability and communication. Under these elements are some tips that may help new or seasoned players have successful gaming sessions.

Accountability

• Although we struggle with neurodivergent brains, we still need to abide by the rules (within reason) of the game and of the group.
• As an example, if struggling to arrive on time to a session (this is a condition called time blindness), find out when is the best time to leave home or log on to a Zoom session and set an alarm. It is generally better to be early so the rest of the group isn’t kept waiting.  If you’re playing a one-shot game at a con, timeliness is imperative. If you’re late, your spot may be given to someone else.
• It’s okay to ask for clarification in a session, even if others do not need to. (I usually need assistance if there are multiple steps involved.)
• It may take longer to fill out the character sheet, and if you need more time, you can ask to meet with the DM or another player in advance. There’s no shame in asking for help.
• Having said that, if the DM or other players are disrespectful, exclusive, or insensitive, it’s a good idea to have a discussion or find a more inclusive group.

 Communication

• Depending on how well you know the other gamers at the table and how severe your symptoms are, it may be a wise idea to communicate with the DM and/or the group. If they do not know, they will not be able to accommodate you.
• I am open about ADHD and communicate with the DM and other players, not to expect special treatment, but to let others know that executive functioning is slower, my responses may be slightly delayed, and I get overwhelmed easily. This may provide some understanding with others.
• Be mindful of symptoms pertaining to communication. If you tend to interrupt or blurt while someone is talking, find a way to pause until the person is finished. (Sometimes I count to myself) If you make a misstep, apologize.

Tips for Neurotypical Players

Although I am unable to write from a neurotypical perspective, I can communicate what can be helpful for a neurodivergent player. I write this with both DMs and players in mind:

• If you’re one of the lucky ones who have a neurotypical brain, that’s awesome! Please try to be patient with gamers who are a couple paces slower, who ask you to repeat something, or forget a detail. We are also painfully aware of these differences and still attempt to dig our self-esteem out of the mud, so please be kind.
• If you see another player struggling to keep up with the mechanics of the game, please help.
• If the DM is running a game for a large party, offer assistance and encouragement. Even a simple “good job”  or “way to go” means a lot.
• If you have PCs with sensory issues, consider dimming the lights. Keep music to a background level. If possible, have comfortable chairs for the group, especially if the session is lengthy.
• Sometimes, neurodivergent players move more often or use stim tactics (I draw while I’m listening). If they are not disrupting gameplay, consider allowing them.
• If you are teaching something new to a player, handouts are helpful.

What are your experiences? Are there any helpful tips you would like to share?

Someone’s got to step up and run, right?!?

When a group of people first get into tabletop gaming together, there’s usually one fateful question: Who is going to be the Game Master? That question can be hard to solve when the group is entirely brand new to the rules and have only a vague understanding of the time and effort it takes to run a game.

If no one in your group is an enthusiastic volunteer, then not all hope is lost (and you don’t have to force someone to step up). Here’s a few alternative paths you can take when your group can’t decide on who will be GM.

Go on a rotation

If no one wants to be the GM, then everyone can be a GM! Each player gets a turn running a oneshot (a game that takes place within one to three sessions) for the entire party on a rotation. Best case scenario, you have one (or more!) people interested in running their own game. Worst case? You keep rotating the GM indefinitely on a cadence that fits right for your group. Some parties prefer it this way – especially if all of the games take place in the same world.

No matter where your group lands after testing this out, there’s an upside; everyone at the table gains a better understanding and appreciation of what it takes to run a game. Getting a taste of the other side of the screen

This strategy won’t work so well unless everyone at the table is fully on board to give it a shot. If you make an exception for one person, then you may need to make an exception for everyone else – and then you’ll be right back where you started!

Play a GM-less game

If your table is open to games other than Dungeons & Dragons, then you can take your pick of GM-less games like Gloomhaven, Fiasco, or  Arkham Horror: The Card Game. Similar to other TTRPGs, you have the benefit of playing virtually or in person, either as a physical board game or on Tabletop Simulator. 

A game like Gloomhaven mechanically leans towards being combat-forward, but there are plenty of opportunities to customize and role play whatever character you’d like to make – not to mention you can play a cohesive story over dozens and dozens of sessions with the same party. 

On the flip-side, Fiasco is a majorly story-driven game about ambitious, ordinary people with poor impulse control. You can play with up to five players with no setup needed. 

For a balance of both role play and combat, Arkham Horror: The Card Game blurs the lines between card game and role playing game in a Lovecraftian setting. This one is especially good if you were originally looking to play a horror game such as Call of Cthulhu or Delta Green.

If your group is looking to play a very specific tabletop game, then this route may not make everyone at the table happy. But if you’re willing to give it a shot, these games are very accessible for when no single person wants to step up to the plate.

Look elsewhere for a GM

Nobody at the table has to compromise if they don’t want to – there’s a whole wide world out there of GMs willing to run games for people they haven’t met yet. 

For an in-person adventure, check out your friendly local comic book store or game store – some stores host regular games for local DMs. You can also search on places like Meetup, Reddit, Discord, or Facebook to see if there’s a community of gamers in your area.

If you’re looking for an online adventure instead, you’ll generally have a lot more options to choose from (scheduling dependent). Roll20 has a section of their site dedicated to looking for games to join. You can also try your luck on a subreddit on Reddit like /r/lfg. 

Keep in mind that GMs are sacrificing their time and energy for you, and so many are looking for a paid GMing opportunity. If your group all just wants to be players, and doesn’t mind chipping in, then this option is probably your best bet. Free GMs exist, but they tend to be harder to find, and you typically have less guarantees for how the games will run. In addition to Roll20 and /r/lfg, you can find DMs for hire online at sites like StartPlaying. If you’re looking for an in-person game, you can reach out to your local game store to see if they can put you in touch with someone interested in being a hired GM!

With these options at your group’s disposal, you can talk together and figure out what works best for you. You may stop at one of these choices and decide that’s the best option – or you may try all three before sticking to your favorite. No matter the outcome, perseverance is key!

What other ways have you tried to solve this age-old conundrum? Let us know in the comments!

Together we can all make the game better.

When searching for words of wisdom for all things tabletop, there’s lots of resources for how to be a good Game Master – but few for being a good player. The GM facilitates the game, but everyone at the table is responsible for cooperation and fun. For those of us who care deeply about making our GMs (and other players) feel valued and appreciated, these tips are a love song to you. 

Know the rules and your character sheet

Nobody should expect you to have all the rules memorized immediately, but get a general sense of what they are and know where to find them in a pinch, and you should strive to know the ones that impact your character the most. During combat, try to figure out what you want to do before it’s your turn – giving yourself a few options in case you need a sudden change of plans.

Why it matters to your GM: Between building the world, characters, story, and encounters, your GM has enough on their plate. Though they are the final arbiter of the rules, you can help make the process a lot easier by understanding the rules that apply to you – including your character’s abilities.

Why it matters to your fellow players: Interruptions break up the immersion and momentum of the game. If you have to interrupt the story to look up a rule you should know, or hold everyone up during combat when it’s your turn, then the other players will disengage at best, and get annoyed at worst.

Set expectations with yourself, your players, and the GM

Learn about what type of game your GM wants to have – whether it’s a romantic comedy, grimdark, or traditional fantasy adventure – and share what you’d love to be brought to the table. If they haven’t already, suggest they host a Session Zero.

Why it matters to your GM: They need to know what type of game is going to be interesting for everyone at the table, as well as what elements are the most engaging. Most importantly, everyone needs to be aligned in order to have a mutually good time. What if you’re playing the game like it’s a lighthearted romp, but another player acts like it’s a gritty realism, and meanwhile the GM is running the game like it’s a political intrigue? Getting on the same page is helpful for a mutual experience.

Why it matters to the players: Most newer players don’t think on the meta-level of what themes or tone they want to explore, and so sparking this conversation and sharing what you personally enjoy will help to get others to think about what they would enjoy most out of a game.

A note for when the table can’t agree: No matter whether you’re playing with friends or randoms online, the group might not be the one for you. If you find that people aren’t on the same page, are crossing boundaries, etc, you may want to keep looking until you find the players you enjoy playing with. As the saying often goes, no D&D is often better than bad D&D.

Make a character that wants to engage in the story and with the other characters

You are in charge of your character, so create a character that wants to be an adventurer and has a reason for being with the party. When your GM dangles a cue or plot hook in front of you, take it! If they’re setting you up to start one quest, try not to go in the opposite direction.

Take this example: Shifty Pete the swashbuckler rogue is a loner (doesn’t participate in role play with others); steals from the party; goes off to do their own thing; and if they find loot, they take it for themselves and hide it from the party. This type of character is playing a single-player mindset in a multiplayer game. In-game, the other players don’t necessarily have a reason to stick around with them.

Instead, you can rewrite: Shifty Pete has a hard time opening up, but is working on it; steals for the party; volunteers for scouting missions, but usually takes a buddy; shares loot with everyone, even if they seem reluctant.

After you’ve figured out why your character wants to adventure and be with the party, you can explore some other ways of engaging with your fellow player characters. Check out Roles For Social Encounters for useful roles you can take to move your GM’s story forward.

Why it matters to the GM: Your GM generally puts a lot of effort into their game and wants to tell an entertaining story with a group. If they’ve spent a lot of time planning interesting plot hooks and adventures, and your character takes no interest in it, then their hard work would be for naught.

Why it matters to the players: If your character doesn’t want to participate, then the party would have to either leave your character behind, or spend a lot of time trying to convince your character to participate so everyone can get to the story they came there to play.

Share the spotlight with your fellow PCs

Try to notice when other characters are having a moment in the spotlight, such as a confrontation with an NPC from their backstory, or a return to their homeland. When you see this happening, give them the space for their character to shine. Don’t worry, you’ll have your moments, too! You can ask their character questions, and have your own quips, but try to avoid becoming the main character of the scene.

Why it matters to the GM: One of the unwritten rules of GMing is to tell a story where each player can be the hero (or the villain). To that end, they all deserve their moments to feel like a main character just as much as everyone else at the table.

Why it matters to the players: When it’s their chance to have a main character moment, it can feel bad to be pushed back to supporting cast. 

Engage throughout the game

Put your phone down, avoid browsing other tabs, and be an active listener. If you are someone who needs to multitask in order to focus, consider getting a stim toy or taking careful notes during the session.

Why it matters to the GM: The GM probably spent a lot of time crafting the world and the story, and so it would probably feel bad if the players were too distracted and didn’t remember any of it..

Why it matters to players: Seeing that one person is distracted gives others an indirect permission statement to also distract themselves, throwing the focus away from the game. On the flip side, engaged players foster engaged players – inspiring participation and, sometimes, more notetaking! More notes means more comparison and completion of information, which can lead to better party decision making.

Offer to help wherever possible

Ask your GM directly about any tasks that you could offer to take over, like being in charge of rescheduling games or tracking initiative. Make yourself available to do the task whenever needed and be proactive – don’t wait for the GM to ask you to do it each time. 

It’s also helpful to be responsive when the GM requests something from the players, such as answering a question out-of-game or coordinating the next course of action in-game. 

Why it matters to the GM: Creating a campaign is tough enough without also worrying about scheduling, rules arbitration, and initiative tracking. Offering to help — even if the GM doesn’t need it – can show that you’re supportive and willing to carry your own weight.

Why it matters to players: Helping out makes the game play out more efficiently, and encourages others to step up to offer their help as well. 

Respect consent and autonomy

Don’t remove the autonomy of another character, such as attempting to mind control or kidnap them, unless everyone at the table is on board (another aspect of setting expectations!). If your GM hasn’t already, it’s also good to offer Safety Tools to make sure everyone knows which topics are greenlit and which are off limits.

If Safety Tools are in play, you can enforce them by speaking up when a boundary may be breached. This can help the group feel encouraged to take them seriously.

Why it matters to the GM: Safety is not just the responsibility of the GM; it’s everyone at the table’s job. By bringing it up at the beginning of the session or campaign (and enforcing those boundaries throughout the game) you help everyone. 

If you have your own favorite safety tools, you could be teaching the GM about ones they haven’t heard of before, giving you the opportunity to improve the overall safety of the game. 

Why it matters to players: Making something happen to a player character against their will without any ability to prevent it takes away their agency. Frankly, it feels bad – especially if they’re playing the game as a manner of escapism from the real world. Uncomfortable story beats can also bring people out of the game and into a reality they may not be comfortable with. Safety Tools help ensure everyone at the table has psychological safety, which will help lead to mutually-assured fun.

These tips can boil down to a few themes: respect and enthusiasm for the game, the players, and the GM. Whether you’ve already done some or none of these before, you can try them out in your games going forward. Your friends at the table may appreciate it, and you may find yourself having more connection with them than you did before.

Do you have any other tips to be a better player? Let us know!

What makes my team work so well is that we each have defined roles and responsibilities that leverage each of our strengths and shores up our weaknesses. Suffice it to say, this requires that we have a good working relationship with each other. A part of this culture that makes it fun and functional is that we are all also gamers, e.g., D&D, board games, all sorts. We know the lingo, the humor, and the challenges.

How Assigning an RPG Archetype Applies to the Workplace: A Fun and Functional Perspective

Our entire workflow and culture has emerged into a living metaphor of a tabletop RPG gaming party. We’ve talked about how each of us fits into the archetype of tank, healer, or mage. Of course, some of us are hybrids, like Paladins, who are tanks and healers combined.

And, I wondered if this assignment of party “roles” has helped us realize when we need to act in a certain way, we know fairly quickly who should do that task. Should the tank start the presentation strong and forceful, and allow the healer to close with the softer tone of voice?

A Party Faces Challenges….and Overcomes

When there are challenges and problems in how we are functioning as a team, it is often true that we argue with each other. This degrades our ability to move as a single force toward that goal in front of us. We have “split the party”, which is a no-no in any gaming scenario.

It’s a neat observation that we can use our RPG gaming know-how to fix problems, meet challenges and overcome the surprising ghost who appears from nowhere. I’ll also say that there have been times when I’ve had to make a choice between two options.

Both outcomes are fairly good, such as deciding where to take our team to lunch with a visiting scientist. Of course, I don’t want to waste time on such an inconsequential decision (in the large scheme of things), so I take a d20 I have in my bag and roll it. Evens, odds, it decides where we go for food.

Quick Overview of Workplace Archetypes: Tank, Mage, Healer

First things first, what is an archetype?

Archetypes are inborn models of people, behaviors, or personalities that influence human behavior (source). Based on this definition, it makes sense that the people in our usual social circles would influence how we act, behave, and interact.

I’ve taken everything I know about RPG gaming and I mapped each archetype to what I feel best describes my work team members. For simplicity, I will obviously focus only on 3 archetypes: Tank, Mage, Healer.

Certainly, there’s a mixture of each of these archetypes in each individual, and sometimes when the situation arises, a person may need to take on the role of another’s archetype (i.e., when someone calls out sick, we need to adapt to take up the slack as it were).

So, now that we’ve laid out the archetypes (which you guys are already familiar with) how do they apply in the workplace?

1. The Tank

A tank is the person who blocks out everything to focus on one thing, be it work or playtime. I used to think this was an introvert’s game, but it turns out many extroverts like myself are also tanks (at least at work). Tanks generally go in headfirst into any situation. They are always up for the challenge, which makes them the leader in most cases.

The tank goes into the dark unknown places and usually helps setup the marching orders for a particular project. “Team, today we need to get these tasks done — I’ll start with this job, can you XYZ blast away at that bit over there?”

Look, let’s also get this out the way. Being a tank doesn’t mean being a bossy-pants, either. Tanks are just ready and willing to take a leadership role if a group or project needs direction.

2. The Healer

This archetype also requires a bit of explanation. A lot of people like to think of the healer as someone who is always there to pick up the pieces and make things better for everyone. Healers are problem solvers, but they take their time in getting there.

You’ll know when you have a healer on staff because they are not shy about voicing their opinion. They don’t mind sharing their insight either, but they won’t always force you to accept the direction they recommend.

Usually healers are very competent due to their deep understanding of how things work or should work. The healer is there to help everyone get back up after a fall — be it figuratively or literally. The tank NEEDS a healer to work well. The healer sees the big picture because they are swamped in the battle of working through a project.

Personality wise, a good healer is someone who isn’t afraid to speak up, but also knows how to do so tactfully. They aren’t poking the bear, trolling, or stirring up sentiment. They work through the personalities of others on the team to meet that goal. The healer has the mentality that “if we win, I win”.

3. The Mage

I find that this archetype is often (not always) the “type-A” personality — they get things done and they don’t care about how you do things, just as long as it gets the job done. Mages aren’t too delicate in their approach to doing business, but they are pretty efficient at getting the task at hand completed. Blam, nuke it ’till it’s dead.

A mage is highly specialized and knows how to get to the goal as soon as possible. Sometimes you want the mage to unleash their entire mana pool at the target because speed and efficiency are utmost. Of course the cost is often times a smoldering mess, which may include the mage’s drained state, e.g., stress and mental health.

It can often be the case that a mage will drive themselves so hard that the tank or healer have to slow them down. I love having a mage on my team because I can trust them to do their job in that particular area that we can control the project’s direction when it spreads too thin. A mage is crowd control and the key to winning the big fights. Divide and conquer.

On my team at work, we have several “mages” who are amazing at their specialized jobs. They are often toiling away at very niche tasks, but come together with their output to finalize a bigger project that is waaaaay better than the simple sum of its parts. I love watching mages work, while I’m slaying the tank-y things that may get in their way, e.g., paperwork, administrative red tape, getting the financial/material resources to feed the team.

What About All the Other Archetypes?

I absolutely skipped over the other RPG classes, didn’t I. Rangers, Bards, and all of the popular character classes are fit don’t they somehow into how we can think of this. But, if you think about it, most of the other classes are a mixture of the main 3 with some flair added in.

I might be touching a nerve with some of you by saying that, but simplicity makes it easier to think about how archetypes explain and help organize a team in a real workplace. Though, I’ve had this conversation with others in person, I would certainly enjoy learning what you think. Leave a comment below!

Does Alignment Matter at Work?

Good, evil, neutral alignments are predispositions to certain behaviors in characters. I think the same general principles apply to how a party operates when it comes to a workplace team environment. Of course, there are certain alignments for people on your team that should be avoided at all costs.

For example, I’m not sure chaotic evil people are the right kind of individuals you want around in real life at all….

To keep this article from going off in all sorts of directions — morality, ethical responsibilities are topics for another time — I will just say that oftentimes people have a chemistry that just “clicks”.

For those groups that don’t have that special chemistry, people will need to adapt to succeed. Splitting the party may happen by intention, on-purpose, or unintentionally. But, generally, division for long-periods of time when you’re trying to achieve specific goals is counter-productive.

For the party’s success (metaphorically this is also your workplace team environment), working together efficiently is more than just being good at your job. It’s also about how your personality, inclinations, and instincts work with others alongside you — and how your neighborly colleagues operate next to you as well.

Conclusion

Who are you in the workplace? Do you work in a team oriented environment? I will say that I love working with my team. When you have a good team, your workplace day to day atmosphere is so much more enjoyable. Sure, it’s not always roses and lavender, but when each person is someone you have a good relationship with, you know that you can execute certain strategies with confidence.

Oftentimes, when you roll for initiative, you don’t know what’s going to happen. But, knowing your class role will allow you to see where each person should go and act with less humming-and-hawing. I find the same is true when you work with a team with specific roles for each individual clearly defined.

Did you enjoy this article? I’m certainly just having fun with the idea of how RPG archetypes seem to overlay how a workplace team operates. This likely doesn’t hold true for everyone’s team, but maybe you’ve thought about it, too? Leave a comment, I’d love to hear what you think!

In this article, however, I want to chronicle how my experience as a player has been enhanced through the creation of character-specific musical playlists. It is a fun (and useful!) way to enhance your enjoyment of a character, and of a campaign. Best of all, it’s easy. Let me explain.

What is “Playlist,” Precious?

Let’s be clear about what we’re talking about. I mean a playlist of songs chosen by you, the Player, for one of your Characters. It may be shared with your GM, your fellow players, the whole world, or be entirely private.

The songs that make up the playlist may reflect who your character is as a person (e.g., an alien, monster, wizard). The songs may reflect what deeds the character has performed to gain fame (or infamy). The songs may reflect the mood your character encapsulates, be it brooding, cheerful, or refined. Or the songs may just be ones that remind you of the character for one reason or another, including any combination of the aforementioned!

What should a character playlist not be? Work. This is supposed to be fun. If at any point, it isn’t fun, you should just stop.

There’s lots of ways of exploring characters. This is just one.

Find what works best for you.

So with that out of the way, why should we make a character playlist?

Everyone Should Have A Theme Song

I am in no way musically gifted, and no one would suggest I possess a refined taste in music. All the same, I have had a blast putting together playlists for my characters, because it gets me thinking about my character in lots of different ways.

• What music would accompany my character’s appearance in a movie? The game becomes viscerally more exciting if I can imagine the music that plays while my character gets to be a badass.
• Maybe these songs capture who the character is? A playlist can capture the character’s thoughts and how they see themselves.
• Or maybe the songs recount the character’s background before or during the campaign? With the right playlist, I see my character’s deeds play out like a story in my head as each song triggers specific memories.

Music can also give insight into a character’s inner thoughts on an emotional level. At its best, a playlist can help you explore and figure out where a character comes from, who they are, and where they are going. It provides context to the question “what would my character do?” in any particular situation because you already know what song will be playing when they make that decision.

The work you put into a playlist, and the enjoyment you derive from it, can also last long after the character or campaign is no more. You may stop playing the character – whether because they died heroically or retired gracefully. The campaign may end – whether in a climactic showdown or quiet obscurity. But the playlist lives on. It’s always within easy reach if you want to revisit the character or campaign. Through the songs you select, you keep positive memories of both fresh in your mind. The lasting legacy your playlist leaves may also help you, as it does me, to keep making new characters and come back for more.

Your character’s refusal to like the music you like is an opportunity to explore musical genres you either aren’t familiar with, or that generally just aren’t your usual jam. A lot of music you would never enjoy casually may take on new meaning when applied to a character you created. Aaliyah of the Dust – a character in a Numenera campaign – led me to dive into music with a more Middle Eastern-flare (e.g., Anne Dudley and Jaz Coleman’s “Songs from the Victorious City”). Xiao Mei – a Chinese character in a campaign of Afterlife – resulted in a playlist that heavily features music from movies like “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and “House of Flying Daggers.”

A character playlist also gives your GM insight into who you are playing. If the GM knows how you think about your character musically then they can better tailor the campaign to give you more opportunities to grow and show off. The same applies to your fellow players. I did not fully “get” my wife’s Numenera character – Calliene, a Girl who Talks to Machines – until I listened to her playlist open with “I Am Not a Robot” (by Marina), and finish with Portal 2’s “Robots Ftw.” Sharing your playlist with your fellow players gives them clues about how you want your character seen. It may even inspire them to create their own playlists, riffing off yours!

That said, there’s nothing wrong with pairing your character with music you already love. Even music you are very familiar with can be re-invented through the prism of your character. For example, while listening to a Nightwish concert I genuinely thought that when the band started singing “Dark Chest of Wonders” they were singing about our Big Eyes Small Mouth campaign – The Kids Are Alright!

Lastly, a character-specific playlist is a great way to show your GM that you are invested in the campaign. Maybe you can’t draw (guilty), so making art isn’t a great option. Maybe you bounced off journaling (also guilty), either because it wasn’t fun for you, or took up too much time.

A playlist by contrast (even just an initial “draft”) can be thrown together quickly and painlessly. With the smallest of efforts, you can impress the heck out of your GM! An impressed GM is a GM invested in your character’s growth and story.

Doing The Work For You

So you’re ready to make a playlist for your character. Fortunately, there are lots of places to start. You may already have a set of songs in your head to form the playlist’s core. Or you may know whether you want your playlist to be more along the lines of background music to accompany your character, or a narrative documenting your character’s heroic deeds, or maybe some combination.

Lots of music platforms make creating a playlist simpler than ever. Perhaps the easiest place to start is by typing in a mood (e.g., haunted) or even a word (e.g., sword), and see what comes up as recommendations in your music player of choice (be it Pandora, iTunes, etc.). Personally, I use Spotify. If I have even a single song for a character playlist, I can use the “Song Radio” or “Playlist Radio” feature to discover an ever-expanding list of music Spotify thinks relates to my starting song. Spotify isn’t always right, of course. Sometimes, that’s part of the fun (stop recommending “Katrinah Josephina” Spotify, the song isn’t for this playlist!). In this way, it’s rare that I don’t find a new track or two to add to a playlist. Every new song added in turn generates a new list of recommendations, and off you go!

Even if you don’t have that single song to get you started, there are options to explore. For starters, there’s probably an existing playlist that mirrors some aspect of your character’s “feel.” You could also visit forums for inspiration. If you are looking for an “in” into a genre of music you are not familiar with, the Internet has no shortage of people eager to give you their opinion of what is the “best” introduction. Lastly, ask your community – your GM, fellow players, and friends. Even if you end up not going with their suggestions, the ideas they provide communicate loads about how they already think about your character – and whether you want to reinforce or reverse those sentiments.

My own methodology is to maximize the fun and leave the more difficult decisions for later (if at all). If I hear a song come on that I think might fit the character and the playlist, I just add it. I don’t think too much about it – doing so would be hard, and I hate hard decisions. Usually, my playlists get pretty bloated. That’s why eventually I rename them to be a “rough” draft of the final playlist. This little cheat removes any pressure I might have from deciding whether or not to add or delete a song. Once I reach critical mass, I curate a more limited playlist that is the “official” version (though I may keep the “rough” playlist tucked away because I just like the music so much). Having a “final” version helps me put a period behind a task, and move on.

That’s at least how I go about creating a playlist. You don’t have to be so rigid! Go with what feels right, and most importantly, fun.

Once you have a playlist, share it! Spotify, for example, lets you send a link that takes listeners directly to your playlist. You can also make your playlist public so it comes up in others’ searches. That way, others searching for “Mechromancer Playlist” can be impressed by your selections. You may even inspire a few folks to make their own playlists!

In the end…does it even matter? (yes!)

However you choose to go about creating a playlist, structuring it, or finding inspiration to add to it, hopefully this article has provided you a variety of ways to enhance your player experience. If you take away nothing else from this article, I hope you’ll give creating a character playlist a try. If you have tried it, post your experiences in the comments below, along with any helpful tips this article may have missed!

In the meantime, if you would like to explore some of the artists I have found particularly inspiring for multiple character playlists, consider checking out the following (but please return the favor and include your favorites for me to find in the comments below): Ashley Barrett, Blind Guardian, Darren Korb, DragonForce, Eurielle, Freya Catherine, Mary E. McGlynn, The Megas, Miracle of Sound, Nightwish, Sapphire, The Servant, and Unwoman.

The pandemic made it harder to stay engaged with our games. Video calls introduce distance because of the screen divide and the infinitesimal delay in responses. I like to be all in on my characters and my stories, so I found myself finding new ways to engage with the games, sometimes alone and sometimes shared. One that I fell headfirst for during 2020 is easy but not something I’d really explored very thoroughly previously: playlists. 

The same way that we used to (or sometimes still do!) make playlists for a romantic interest works for games too! It extends the emotional connection and gives you a way to connect even when the person (or the game) is not around. For games, it might be a character, a setting or location, a story, an encounter, or heck, the game itself. Steeping in the sensory inspiration for a scene or a character keeps me in the right headspace to connect with the game or story that they belong to.  It’s another individual way to remain connected to a game, but it can also be done as a social activity – a shared playlist where everyone’s interpretation of the game can expand how you consider it in the best ways! And if you are not a writer or an artist, it’s another option for a creative non-table outlet. 

Characters

I most frequently find songs for characters that are my representation of who they are in my head. In the same way Tales From the Loop has you pick a favorite song, having a song to associate with a character helps me nail down some of the intangible things about them and how I might play them that are sometimes hard to figure out immediately from the caricature on paper. Here are some of my favorites:

• bad guy – Billie Eilish – There are all sorts of bad guys that bad guy could inspire — but for me this year, it was a vampire. The confidence, sexiness, and self awareness all worked for a very deadly woman that I enjoyed very much. 
• Arrow – LEVV – This was the song of my “If Buffy were a 37 year old yoga instructor inspired by Artemis.” She was tangled in a difficult but fated relationship with a Djinn…exactly the sort of “monster” she was supposed to be out killing. The arrow symbolism mixed with the unlooked-for relationship worked perfectly for her. 
• Winter Bird – AURORA – For a dark fairy tale that was intended to have a tragic ending, the daughter of Winter wandered in search of her former self. 

Settings/Places

• Moiety Theme – Robyn Miller – If you remember Myst and Riven, you may understand why I find their soundtracks to be evocative. This particular one put me on the track of an abandoned desert temple dungeon a la Ocarina of Time. Imagine sand trickling through the beams of light shining from cracks in the ceiling and a giant statue in the middle of the entryway whose head was shrouded in shadow high above. There are so many things this expands into — sand is a cool landscape feature I don’t think gets used very consistently, but that could also just be my own games. 
• City of the Dead – Eurielle – For me this song feels like crumbling, moss covered ruins on a damp moor with occasional pools or boggy parts. Mist swirling around the dwellings of a civilization long gone eerily might be cut by the occasional breath of air clearing a sudden structure or a strangely shaped statue unexpectedly before closing in again. There is some poison here, a crawling, slimy thing that isn’t immediately visible. There was immense beauty here once, but can your characters escape the deadly mystery that ended this community?

Encounters

• Knights of Cydonia – Muse – This is such a narrative song with clear setting elements as well that I could well have put it in the category above also. What I want here is a moment of quiet sage brush vista suddenly broken by the whine of a hover car racing across the desert. The passenger turns to fire a laser weapon as the second hover car comes into view, and then we follow this chase over the dry cracked ground as lizards scramble for cover. It ends in a standoff in a mostly dry river basin with a thin trickle of water sliding down the middle. 

Games

• Minds Without Fear – Imogen Heap – This song inspired my last 200 Word RPG (We Can Once More Ascend). It’s a game that uses old folk tale feel to express something I needed to mechanize personally, which is how we move on from traumatic fear in our body response. It gets easier, but doesn’t go away; and just because you can still fail even when you’ve been practicing for a long time doesn’t mean you haven’t made progress. 
• Us – Regina Spektor – This song inspired a game I still haven’t finished about rediscovering yourself and your relationship to another person through bits and pieces of old newspapers or books.
• Machine – Imogen Heap – Strangely the game this song ended up inspiring doesn’t look anything like the original idea! It’s called Connections, and you can find it in the Love and Resistance compilation. It started out being about the process of losing yourself to the machine, but ended up being much more positive, about gaining empathy and care through learning about someone else. 

Is there a particular song or album that has inspired you? Do you make playlists for your games or your characters? Want to share?

I mean, make the leap. What’s the worst that could happen?

A few months back, during a short Star Wars campaign, my character made the brilliant decision to put on an enviro suit, go outside the space station built inside an asteroid, and try to sneak up on an Imperial troop ship blocking our landing bay.

One of my friends looked at me with a raised eyebrow, “Okay, let’s say you actually get onto the ship. What are you going to do once you’re on a troop ship that’s full of elite Stormtroopers?”

“One impossible problem at a time!”

Too often, we hear stories about players getting caught up in analysis paralysis as they try to account for every possible contingency before they act, and as a result the action of the game stalls to an interminable level. As if any plan actually survives first contact with the action or the enemy. I’m here to say that sometimes it is more fun to just dive in headfirst and see where the action takes you.

Now, most of us GMs have been at a table where we’ve had a player declare their action and the rest of the table groans and we go, “What?” There’s a reason many GMs swear by the adage that if you play stupid games, you win stupid prizes. But there is a big difference between being what my college group used to call ‘chaotic stupid’ and taking an impulsive action. The type of players who earn the ire of their fellow gamers and the GMs are often immature, inexperienced, used to a different play style, or are just being deliberate trolls. That’s not always the same thing as a player getting an understanding of the situation and having their character take an impulsive action.

So, let’s take this from the perspective of both players and GMs.

Some advice for players:

• Play to the action and the excitement. Most of the games we play are meant to be action and adventure games, so don’t get too caught up in trying to cover every potential outcome. Think about it from the perspective of your character having a split second to make a decision on the problem in front of them and go for it.
• That said, be mindful of the mood of the table. If your action is going to screw over any other characters, consider carefully before diving into those shark-infested waters. This isn’t to say don’t do the impulsive thing, just be aware of how it’s going to affect the rest of the table. Roleplaying games are a cooperative endeavor and if your choices are ruining the fun for other people at the table, you might want to reconsider.
• Speaking of other players, always try to pull them in on your harebrained schemes. Diving headfirst into the unknown with a heroic action is always more fun when you’ve got someone by your side, on board for the next impossible problem. This helps share the action with the rest of the table and can even help a more passive player experience a bit of impulsive fun.

Some advice for GMs:

• If you punish every impulsive action, you’re training your players to be passive and do nothing unless they’re absolutely certain no harm will come to their characters.
  If you punish every impulsive action, you’re training your players to be passive and do nothing unless they’re absolutely certain no harm will come to their characters. That sounds like a boring game to me and one I would hate running. Heck, I’ve been encouraging my players to be bolder and more proactive. Let your players surprise you and occasionally reward them when they do something bold and unexpected.
• Before immediately shooting down an impulsive idea, try to consider how to make it work. If you want your games to be exciting, you need to reward the players that help bring action to the table. Sure, sometimes what they propose will seem ludicrous to you, but consider the competency of the character and if their idea has any chance of working. Feel free to keep things challenging, but your games will be more fun if your players feel empowered to try bolder actions.
• If you do have one of those players whose impulsiveness seems like it’s coming from a place of inexperience or immaturity, try to take the time to guide them to something a little more productive. You can put boundaries on your game and keep the players all on the same page for the game. If someone is being a troll with their actions and deliberately trying to mess with things, put a stop to it. If you have to, call a break and have a conversation with that player. This isn’t fun, but when one player is not playing the same game everyone else is, it ruins the fun for almost everyone else at the table.

Much of this is a dance of finding the right balance between the players and the GM. We all want our games to be exciting and unexpected, so players need to trust that their GM is going to allow room for the players to do the impulsive thing, while the GM needs to trust that the players aren’t trying to wreck the game. If you can find that balance, I guarantee you that facing one impossible problem at a time is the way to go.

Want to play a game?

It’s the third week since my mentor was declared dead. She’s been missing for five years, after she went out on a search to find her per cryptid – the Pronghorned Desert Rat (dipodomys antilocapra). It’s obvious that we must carry on her research as its habitat is in danger – but why am I blocked at every turn? As I sort through the incoming mail, social media, and emails, searching for hints of anything that can help track down either dipodomys a. or Dr. Lee herself, the words trigger reactions and memories and stories of my own life. As I collect the ephemera and lay out journal pages, I am constructing the past and present of this character, while being fascinated with her future. 

While I’ve played solo games before (you can check out my thoughts on Twain, for example, here) the pandemic has been an opportunity to really dig in on solo play to fill out a dimension of my role play repertoire that’s been normally filled by my in person games. We haven’t stopped playing games with emotion and connection, but I still miss the eye contact and the deep introspective moments that are harder to create online. 

I should call out that there are, of course, many different types of solo games. Some seek to simulate the experience of having someone running a more traditional game, strategizing, and responding to the encounters that keep you from reaching your goal. Some are formulaic and walk you through a specific set of scenes or reactions, or have you generate circumstances to react to from a specific list. Some are much more freeform, giving you loose directions to guide your thoughts in a particular direction. My favorites are the kind that offer me a particular experience that I am attracted to emotionally playing through, either for fun, interest, or catharsis. Even more, I’ve discovered that I love playing solo games that generate an artifact– “keepsake games” (more on that as a specific term from Jeeyon Shim here). 

Solo games are also fascinating to me when they play with augmented reality. Augmented reality allows you to interpret events that happen in the real world both as yourself and through the lens of a character in your game. We’re used to hearing about augmented reality in terms of mobile games (think Pokémon Go or Ingress) where a device inserts extra visuals into our reality. Augmented reality for a pen and paper role playing game means allowing you the type of immersion that evolves naturally from your surroundings: I, now a cryptozoologist, give animal tracks in the snow near my house a good look instead of a passing glance. A walk through my nearby park becomes populated with memories of a walk there with my mentor, or the excitement of waiting for my twin. The walk is my own, but it’s my call when and how to decide to interpret the input of the world as myself or as my character. No one around me needs to know that glancing out the window I am giving myself a moment to feel the emotions of a different situation, a different person, and a different place. I personally find it much easier to stay in that dual layer headspace — part myself and part a character — in solo games going about the world, only because they don’t require the presence of anyone else to play. The types of solo games I’m drawn to all either encourage me or at minimum give me the opportunity to larp on my own, whether it’s just in character writing about events that have already happened, interpreting the tracks in the snow, or taking a walk. 

While solo gaming lacks the social action of a more traditional game, it’s the game that I can pick up whenever I want and engage with exactly how much I’d like, and to the exact depth I have the energy to play. It’s escapism in its rawest form — and escapism is always a facet of why we play rpgs. It’s the game I can dip in and out of in whatever chunks of time I have. I love playing when the end result of my experience is a tangible item that I can touch and share, a centering keepsake that connects me to that character and world. In these uncertain times, one thing I can be certain of is that I will be able to play my game, even if game night gets cancelled or we’re all a little too low on spell slots to dive in all the way. I suspect that even once the pandemic passes, solo games are going to stick around for me. 

Do you play solo games? What kind is your favorite?

There are a couple of keepsake games on kickstarter (that I am very excited about)  you may want to check out!

The Last Will and Testament of Gideon Blythe – Jeeyon Shim - A keepsake game about family legend, lineage, and the burden of destiny, for ZineQuest 3.

A Mending – Shing Yin Khor - A solo keepsake game about a journey to visit a dear and distant friend, using sewing, map-annotating, and story-building mechanics.

If you’re looking for a collection of a wide variety of solo games, you may also be interested in the Solo But Not Alone bundle on itch.io.