The great appeal of the roleplaying game has always been the participation in the fantastic events we share. While I love a good novel, movie, or TV series as much as most people, the truth is there’s a world of difference between entertainment and participation.

Entertainment is something done to you. You receive the presented experience in a broadly passive sense. Sometimes you are partially involved – such as at a rock concert or while reading – but even so, the experience is essentially passive.

Participatory activities place those of us who are involved at the centre of the experience. Because humans are participating, each enactment of the experience is unique – the particular combination of these people at this place in this period of time is special.

The particular enjoyment that I appreciate is the way in which our communal creativity melds and produces something essentially original, even though it is likely based on common tropes. As is so often said, we play to find out and it’s the finding out that is fun.

In ancient times, entertainment was not truly a goal that artists perspired to create. Even Shakespeare’s plays, in their original performance, appear to have been participatory experiences to some degree. But perhaps better examples are the communal dance and camp fire telling of ancient stories.

It’s our stories that tell us who we are.

Without a sense of our communal place, as is so common in the modern world, we turn to other anchor points in our culture. Attending a Sci-Fi convention dressed as a Star Trek character and sharing in the communal re-enactment of our favourite episodes is participatory experience.

Roleplaying games allow us to form communities of participation around fantastic worlds, characters, and situations. Through the medium of roleplaying with rules we can explore anything our collective minds seek to share. As the stories emerge from play, we are immersed in not only enjoyable narratives but also the community of players we sit down to play alongside and with.

RPGs are richer than novels, greater than movies, and more immersive than TV because we can participate in them. For this reason, I will always choose an opportunity to roleplay with friends over going to the movies. Sitting in the dark is way more fun when we are braving the dark together, dice in hand.

All in all, participation is what I crave in a world awash with entertainment. It’s more visceral, meaningful, and enjoyable to share in something together. I’d rather shamble through a live-action zombie crawl with you than sit alone in front of Netflix.

Game on!