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It is apparent that actual play (AP), the format of performance where a group of performers play a tabletop roleplaying game (TTRPG) together, has aspects of theatre within it. People are on screen, or they are gathered behind microphones in a voice-only, radio-play style of show, as they inhabit characters in a fictional world. The players tell the story of these characters, the GM paints a world for these players, and together with that core of a game stories and art can be made. It shares a lot of blood with improvised theatre, which I have hinted at with improv ideas that can be applied to your games, because the characters do not know what will happen. Even in a game without an element of randomness, a game without resolution decided by a random element, all the players at the table and the audience don’t know what will happen next. We play to find out where the story will go.

While APs, with all their dick jokes and shenanigans, may not always appear to be artistic there is something entertaining and alluring about watching a group of performers or friends enjoying playing a game together. You see it among people who stream video games.

This blog post won’t discuss that, as the “why” and appeal of APs are part of the developing mythos of the “why” and appeal of streaming. No, this blog post will discuss the written form of games, often rulebooks and game supplements, and whether they are art.

What’s in a book?

TTRPG rulebooks are often written so that it is obvious what rules are needed to create a character and play the game. If it is a traditional sword and sorcery RPG, there will be mechanics and rules for creating a character. There may or may not be rules and mechanics to determine how things get done, or how effective a character is at a task. There may be a section on how a game master (GM) may help facilitate a game. There may be a section that describes a world, genre, and ways to emulate that world and experience.

And usually, with these types of books and texts, they are accompanied by graphics, layouts, and art that help emphasize the genre and flavor that the game is designed for. These are visual aids to help emphasize the intentional game mechanics and language of a TTRPG to help communicate the type of game and experience you should have, and work towards achieving. Horror games have scary art and language, and wholesome games have soft colors and equally as fluffy words.

Sometimes, the rulebook is enough to evoke the feelings you would have while playing the game…almost like sheet music.

Reading music and menus

When a person is trained in a musical notation, they gain the ability to read a piece of paper with notes that represent what a sound should be. When a musician is trained enough, they can develop an audiation response, which is the ability to hear and know what a melody should sound like, given the written notation. Audiation response as a term, and the role of sheet music in music school is discussed by Adam Neely in this video.

The same goes for food. When you read a menu, you can familiarize yourself with dishes, ingredients, and preparation styles to get an idea for how a dish would taste. There is a difference between the textures of a baked vs a deep fried chicken breast.

However, both reading music and menus do not create the experiences of the art form. Reading sheet music does not produce the audible harmony, and you cannot feel a deep bass sound of a low brass section rumble through your body. Reading a menu does not produce the smells, tastes, and textures of a creme brulee on your palate.

An art to experience

Music, food, and TTRPGs are arts to experience. You cannot obtain a full experience of these art forms just by reading them, but you can gain a better idea of what the experience would be like by becoming familiar with the art form. The more familiar you are with a musical experience and its corresponding written notation, the better you can train that audiation response. The more familiar you are with a culinary experience and its corresponding language and descriptions, the better you can train that taste response. And the more familiar you are with the TTRPG experiences and its corresponding mechanics, flavors, and genres, the better you can train that play response.

They may be enjoyable to read and digest, but they are not the art form itself. They are not art…

Not art, but…

Or at least, I thought so. One of the arguments for the written form of TTRPGs in supplements and rulebooks being art and what inspired this blog post in the first place was my first run in with a parody of a TTRPG, Never Give Up! written by Beth and Angel Make Games.

It talks about a lot of dice rolling mechanics, but…you can’t play it. In fact, the end of the game trails off with more details, clearly signaling to the reader that it is the end of the work. The mechanics that they describe can be played, but are so convoluted that you would spend most of your time debating about the rules than playing anything! Which of course, must be a parody or a jab at games that operate that way.

If Never Give Up! can parody the form of a TTRPG rule book and stand on its own as a piece of art, then surely…the thing that it parodies, and the form that it follows, must be a piece of art, right?

Honestly, I’m not sure.

Mainly, I wanted people to be aware that TTRPG parody was out there.