Far too many roleplayers are obsessed with the collection and reading of rulebooks. Having spend the better part of thirty of my forty years collecting and reading rulebooks, I can say that hearing folk talk about this or that latest set of rules – especially with the claim that it will radically alter my game experience – is starting to grind my gears.

Roleplaying games are quite obviously a category of game. As the Angry GM has pointed out, games have rules. But games also have other elements: games have goals; games have a context; games have challenges. I’m finding that, having settled on the range of rules sets that I enjoy, the decisions around the other elements of the RP game is more interesting.

Moving past collecting and reading rulebooks, I’ve begun to explore the question of how best to create an engaging and immersive context – what is sometimes called the setting and which I call the Otherworld. I’m also learning to embrace the exploration of goals and challenges.

Once you let go of the rules for five minutes, you can start to think about the broader design of the whole game experience. The game is not the rules. System is just one thing games need. As a roleplayer – that is someone who wants to play in-character as-character – the context is what will draw me in to want to play… or not. I’d argue that the World is vital.

Recent gameplay has also taught me that setting up clear goals and then creating challenges for the player characters to overcome is a hugely rewarding part of the RPG gameplay experience. As a GM, I am discovering that designing scenarios is a lot of fun. Offering the players a route toward their goals through overcoming various challenges is rich with rewarding play.

Here’s my recommendation: think about the gameplay experience you want to offer or experience. Imagine the world of the game first. Ask what overall goal(s) in the game you might offer to the players. What challenges will they need to overcome? Once you’ve sketched all that out, that’s when you can pick the appropriate set of rules to run that game.

Game on!