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Don't Get Lost in the Zeitgeist

by Mike on 17 February 2025

If you're really into this hobby, like I am, it's extremely easy to get caught up in all the big news, scandals, conversations, and controversies that surround this (and any) big hobby. Gods know, I do.

It's important to remember that, when we think about reading and running RPGs, we're talking about a handful of books, dice, paper or digital tools, and the friends we have around our table to enjoy a fun game.

When the D&D 2024 books came out, I spent a lot of brain power on it. I watched and read everything I could. I talked with friends, RPG colleagues, patrons of Sly Flourish, and other fellow fans. I analyzed and hypothesized. I tested theories. I talked about it a lot on my talk show.

In the end, I can hold all three D&D core books in my hands. That's the entirety of the game – three hardcover books I can stuff into a backpack. That's it. Right there. That's the whole game.

We know the game is bigger than just the books themselves. RPGs mean a whole lot to many of us. I think RPGs save lives. When I'm sitting at the table playing games with my friends, it hits all of the most important parts of my life – relaxing and spending time with friends and loved ones together creating tales of high adventure.

That's why we get so focused on all the RPG news, debates, ideas, and attention applied to this amazing game. RPGs really matter to us.

But RPGs are also just a game.

RPGs are built from the books we use at our table, or load up online, once a week or so and spend a few hours away from the rest of our lives to enjoy some time in a world we all share in our minds together.

The zeitgeist surrounding the RPG hobby really doesn't matter that much. New products show up – some good and some bad. Some products we bring to the table. Others we skip. We and our friends decide what we want to play and how we want to play it. None of the rest of it actually impacts us directly.

It's easy to forget that, for each of us, the game at our own table is the only one that really matters. I forget this all the time. I spend hours on Discord or EN World debating the hobby, the products, the business, and all the rest, almost forgetting that I have a group coming over tomorrow night and maybe it's worth spending more of that time thinking about how to draw their characters into the game.

It can be fun to dive into news and discussions surrounding the larger RPG hobby but remember that the larger hobby doesn't dictate what happens at your table – you do.

Focus on the next game you're going to run for your friends around the table.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

I was away at Winter Fantasy last week so there was no Lazy RPG Talk Show (also available as a podcast). Maybe take a look at previous episodes you missed!

Last week I posted a YouTube video on The Best Large Language Model for your RPG – Your Own Brain.

RPG Tips

Each week I think about what I learned in my last RPG session and write them up as RPG tips. Here are this week's tips:

Puzzles and riddles are like tapping out songs with your finger. They’re totally obvious to you and no one else has any idea what you’re talking about.
Have at least two ways to get past a puzzle.
How did the creator of a puzzle door use it themselves? Why did they lock their door with a Sudoku?
Let players roll all their dice even if you know it’s a fatal blow. Don’t take away their fun with the math rocks.
If you love your players and their character does 52 damage, tell them the monster had only 51 hit points left. If you don’t love them, tell them their foe only had four.
Let players use character shenanigans during skill challenges. Don’t force them to just make ability checks the whole time.
Add beneficial and detrimental environmental effects to get characters moving around the battlefield.

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