Mouse Guard is a lot of things, and isn’t a lot of things…one thing for sure is that it has taught me how to appreciate RPGs in ways I didn’t notice. I always was worried about in-character presentations and the ‘mood’ of the game, yet Mouse Guard points out one thing. Part of the experience is the table chatter, and there’s whole lot of fun in that too.
Table Chatter vs. Just Chattering
I used to have the idea “Well, if you just want to talk, hang out at the local Starbucks!” but after some years of playing board games, I realize that the chatter one have at a game is different from one have at coffee. When we are at a game we just don’t talk about ourselves. We talk about the situation at home. It reminds us of a scene from a movie, or some other games. Now and then someone drops a joke and we all laugh. And Mouse Guard reminds me that those are periods to enjoy too.
Thinking back, there was one incident that stands out, and I still got the chuckles when I think about it. In a homebew science-fic game (which might remind one as a classless D20 modern), I break out a grid map and some water-soluble marker to draw the walls, obstacles and terrain. One of the gamers is an artist and he insisted on adding ‘decals’ to the map – blood splutters, bullet holes and such. The one that makes me break into a smile even now is the scene began with the group smashing their car through the walls of a building to break up a group of camping enemies, and the artist drew the crashed car on the map (and pools of blood), despite my protests. But it was fun. Everyone laughed. The immersion was broken for a while but this is the sort of tales you would want to tell other game-masters (like now!).
Table Chattering being Part of the Game Experience
A friend once asked me, “Why do you still play board games when you are so into computer games?”. I play Lord of the Rings Online as my multi-player fix, and offline there is Dragon Age, Torchlight, Knights of the Old Republic Series, Majesty 2 and many other games to keep me entertained. However, board games give me interaction with other people, it’s smaller in scale and the time spent is more personal. Likewise, there are jokes, taunts, moment of suspense and in some ways, it is more fun. Truth to be told though, if it is some form of competitive board game where you are not supposed tot alk, I think I would give it a wide berth.
Likewise, the gist of group RPGs, meeting face to face, is the interaction too. There are value to online play, but one thing that makes role-playing fun is being able to be with people, make jokes, seeing them entertained (as the GM), being entertained (by the plans of the players) and trading jests. Indeed, sometime game-mastering can be a thankless job, but when the group makes up with it for friendly table-chatter, it is in a sense its own type of reward.
I think back to my last Nobilis game, and it was then I realize that fun and engaging table chatter (about the game, not about any donkey topics) is a common ground for a fufiling session. I was playing a rules-lite, wing it on the fly game. Next to me was a group of people playing Pathfinder. All I had was a hand-drawn sketch of the area, with torn cardboard cards to represent position. The other group was going out with the tactical battle-mat, miniatures and GM-screen. I used my judgement to decide damage. They rolled dice. Yet we both share one thing – the players and GM both engage in table chatter. Players speculate the worst; the GMs grinned. The GMs pulled an unexpected twist, the players groaned in unison. It doesn’t matter what rule-sets, winging it, RPGA or what-not. If you are not having fun at the table, you are not having a good game.
So what about Role-Playing?
A lingering question is ‘So, what about being in-character and atmosphere?’. Is that a lofty ideal? Is it fun? I think there is no point in making the players miserable if making them to RP is hard, or they are just not in the mood. Likewise, like a well-placed exclamation mark or an underline, in-character role-playing may be best saved for the parts where it is important. At any rate, I guess if the in-character speech is suitable, I will let table chatter pass.
If the players are not allowed to engage in OOC table chatter about the game, what are they going to do their downtime, anyway?
Roleplaying
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