How TTRPGs Help Me Write
TTRPGs (Tabletop Role-Playing Games) have been a staple in my life for almost half of it, and they have a huge impact on my life as a writer.
Anybody who’s met me for more than five minutes has probably correctly pegged me as a TTRPG nerd. I’d say D&D nerd, but I have played so many more systems than that and, honestly, prefer some other ones to D&D. More than that, I am what’s called in the community as the Perma-DM. That is to say, I’m usually in the driver’s seat running stories and creating worlds. This likely surprises exactly none of you since you’re here because of what I do for a living.
As an author, writing stories is at the core of my identity. I am a storyteller and always have been. Telling stories is baked into who I am so deeply I can’t imagine not being one in some form. Whether it’s free-form text-based role-play (that’s a lot of hyphens, and I’m sorry) or novel writing or running tabletop games for my friends, I am always writing stories and dreaming about them.
So why do TTRPGs help me as an author? What role do they play? Honestly, they’re a fertile testing ground for learning how to write. No joke. Just like fanfiction has its place, so does role-play. It’s a fertile ground for learning what connects with your audience, learning how to run arcs, learning what essential pieces of world building and lore you need to include and what makes your players’ eyes glaze over.
While, of course, there is a difference between what works at the table and what works in print, there is still enough similarity that it’s valuable to explore (and can be a lot of fun). Also, you get to see the immediate and real-time experiences and expressions of the people you are telling your stories to. I say this on the heels of having run a session where many of my players ended up in tears at the death of a beloved character and the revelations of a whole lot of major story threads being interconnected that they didn’t realize were. There were tissues handed around, a lot of laughter, and some really heartfelt conversations between characters that moved everyone at the table.
It was one of those golden experiences where everyone was dialed in, fully invested in the story, and everyone was there in that moment. They were in the fight, they were in the aftermath. And everyone was satisfied with the ending. I also know, as a storyteller, that after that huge, climactic adventure, they’re going to need some down time and lighter stories to give them a chance to process the things they learned and discuss them, in-character. What does that come from? An understanding of pacing and tension. Those are lessons you can take from TTRPGs as well. If you keep the tension too high for too long, players will become numb to it and grow tired of that. If you don’t have enough tension, and the stakes aren’t high enough, they won’t invest in the story and will likely grow bored.
I’ve been doing text-based roleplay since before my household had the internet. In fact, I used to write letters with my friends and pass them around between classes, where we’d write out role plays in a notebook we shared. Then we found forum role-play when we discovered the internet. And by discovered, I mean my friend Brynne’s parents got AOL Online back when the internet came in the mail.
I think it’s safe to say I’ve been doing text-based role-play for 30 years now, with 22 of them including TTRPGs (since I started in gaming club in 2001). These experiences have had a heavy hand in how I shape my world, and it gave me immediate, real-time reactions to hone my understanding of phrasing, impact, characterization, and so on. It also gave me grounds to test story ideas that have become my novels.
It’s also how I met my husband. And, with him, created the Boston Blight universe.
TTRPGs aren’t for everyone. Nor is free-form role-play. That’s entirely fair, and not every writer will have the same experience I did with it. Particularly those who aren’t writing science fiction or fantasy, since the vast majority of role-play encompasses those elements. But, if you are looking for a way to hone your creative edge, learn some new techniques, and experience the thrill of real-time reactions from people who are deep in your story, it can’t be beaten. At least in my opinion.