James D’Amato - The Ultimate RPG Gameplay Guide: Role-Play the Best Campaign Ever—No Matter the Game!

Praise forThe Ultimate RPG Gameplay Guide

James DAmato is one of those rare storytellers who can not only make those delightful and unexpected choices that make the table laugh or their eyes go wide, but he has that second, rarer gift. When doing it, he can build upon whats already been established, weaving a little more and passing the tapestry to someone else to be inspired from.

Alan Linic, writer for Saturday Night Live and cohost of the tl;dm podcast

Look, Im gonna level with you: James DAmato is doing the coolest, most exciting, and original work in tabletop game design right now and provides a truly vast assortment of tools and techniques for you to immediately and profoundly improve the narrative experience of your game. If I were you, Id be getting this book in my hands as fast as possible!

Brennan Lee Mulligan, host of CollegeHumors Dimension 20 D&D RPG show

Ive been role-playing for thirty-five years and Im still learning how to make our sessions more fun and more emotionally resonant by listening to the great One Shot podcast. James has put together a great collection of ideas thatll appeal to a wide range of players, from newbies to old hands.

John Rogers, writer and showrunner for Leverage, The Librarians, and Jackie Chan Adventures

Adams Media

An Imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

57 Littlefield Street

Avon, Massachusetts 02322

www.SimonandSchuster.com

Copyright 2019 by James DAmato.

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Adams Media Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

First Adams Media trade paperback edition October 2019

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Interior design by Colleen Cunningham

Dice image 123RF/sudowoodo

Cover design by Julia Jacintho

Cover Images 123RF/Hong Li, Sudowoodo, Khoon Lay

Gan, Greyjj, Martinus Sumbaji, Ppbig, Anton Melnikov, Tovovan, Sergey Leonov, Steinar14_, Elena Kazanskaya; Getty Images/Mertsalov_Andrii

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: DAmato, James, author.

Title: The ultimate RPG gameplay guide / James DAmato.

Description: Avon, Massachusetts: Adams Media, 2019.

Series: The ultimate RPG guide series.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019023190 | ISBN 9781507210932 (pb) | ISBN 9781507210949 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Fantasy games. | Role playing. | Internet games.

Classification: LCC GV1469.6 .D36 2019 | DDC 793.93--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019023190

ISBN 978-1-5072-1093-2

ISBN 978-1-5072-1094-9 (ebook)

Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book and Simon & Schuster, Inc., was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed with initial capital letters.

To my parents Cathy and Cliff, who made sure I learned all the skills I needed to write a book, and to my spouse, Mel, who supported me while I attempted the impossible a second time.

M aybe youre just hearing about role-playing games. Or maybe you used to play a long time ago, but you havent picked up your bag of polyhedral dice in years. Or maybe youre playing in a game right now, but you feel as if you want to get more out of it.

Whatever the case, theres no doubt that RPGs have been getting a lot of attention lately. Millions of people around the world play them every week. Theyve been featured in TV shows and on blogs and podcasts. On the surface, they seem pretty simple: a bunch of people sitting around a , telling a story, and rolling dice and checking charts to see what the player characters should do next. But theres a lot more that goes into your gameplay than just statistics and rolling dice. Thats because each of the players has created a character, and that character is taking part in the story. The story might be about anythingyour character could be exploring dungeons in search of treasure or piloting a starship to the farthest reaches of the galaxy. The only limit is the imaginations of you and your fellow gamers.

If youre running a player character, you want to get the most out of their actionsfrom finding your characters voice and motivation to understanding the overall pace of action in the game. If youre a game master, you set the theme for the game, and you want to make sure the players are having fun while also finding the world theyre in compelling and exciting. This book is full of advice and exercises to help you get the most from your gaming experience.

Role-playing games are about shared storytelling, so in the first part youll explore that specificallyhow to tell and interact with a story that draws you into itself. In the second part of the book, youll look at how to make your game world richer and deeper through voice, imagery, and themes. Finally, in the third part youll find some fun exercises to make your gameplay more imaginative and, well, fun. Because the world of role-playing games is all about having fun.

So get started! There are a lot of worlds out there to explore!

B efore we tackle the issue of how to make your role-playing game experience richer, deeper, and more enjoyable, we need to get our basic terminology right. If youve played RPGs before, this will seem pretty elementary, but if youre new to this world, this section will make clear a lot that may be confusing to you. For claritys sake, important words and terms will appear in bold type throughout this book.

A role-playing game (RPG) is a type of game where players generate stories through shared imagination. The core concept behind RPGs is similar to imagination games you might have played when you were young. Remember playing house, using dolls or action figures, and other simple games of pretend? These all call on players to inhabit a role and interact in a shared imaginary space.

Tabletop RPGs published in game manuals introduce structure to this process. Published RPGs, or (usually dice) help adults make sense of what comes naturally to most children.

The first and most famous example of a published RPG is Dungeons & Dragons, first published in 1974. It defined what most people picture when they think of RPGs. This sword and sorcery fantasy with polyhedral dice is still immensely popular. However, RPGs have grown well beyond these roots to encompass every genre imaginable.

Folks benefit from RPGs in a number of ways beyond simple entertainment. RPGs foster communication skills, empathy, and creative problem-solving ability, and they provide a fantastic outlet for creative expression. For some players, creative expression is the most appealing aspect of play. Stories built with RPGs have become their own form of entertainment called for an audience.