Title image © huleeb

Seven Reasons Video Games Are Bad Inspirations for TTRPGs

TTRPGs Differ from Video Games in these Substantial Ways...

This blog post is part 4 in a series on rethinking and reimagining TTRPGs. It is super subjective and slightly (ok... VERY) opinionated. Hit the links below and get caught up to speed:

Part 1: My Problem With the TTRPG Experience

Part 2: Defining a "Tabletop Role Playing Game"

Part 3: How TTRPGs and Sports are Similar

© David Nakayama

Intro: A Surprising Discovery

I started this series explaining my poor, pitiful, "first-world-problem-incarnate" state. I explained how, after years of DM-ing, I was burnt out.

But to my credit, I blamed myself. It was clear my "DnD philosophy" was totally out of whack. I knew that I had the wrong perspective. Or method. Or attitude. Or something. 

SOMETHING was off.

The sabbatical provided ample time to explore, study, and reflect. And this series (links above) is what I have discovered along the way. But of the several things I had a hunch about, one conclusion really surprised me:

Video games are WAY different than TTRPGs.

And I'm not talking about games like Madden, Call of Duty, or Street Fighter. Obviously, those share nothing with a game of dunces discarding dice during dragon dungeon delving.

I'm talking about games that are thematically similar: Zelda, Sly Cooper, Skyrim. Games that involve talking to NPCs, solving puzzles, exploring exciting environments, and fighting minions and monsters alike. 

On the outside, single-player video games seem extremely similar to TTRPGs. Because unlike books and movies, the player is actually IN the story. They have agency. They determine what happens and how. We participate in, rather than read or watch, the story. 

But despite their overlap, I think that... at their core... even these fantastic adventure games are more different than we assume. The very structure and nature of video games creates different gaming, narrative, and play experience. So much so that I believe even Balder's Gate III is radically different than DnD 5e.

HOT TAKE: They're so different that structuring TTRPGs like video games just doesn't work.

Which is pretty ironic? Tabletop RPGs predate narrative-based single-player video games by several decades. So much of single-player video games was borrowed from TTRPGs! And yet, trying to reverse engineer comes with issues...

Like I said above, this blog post is not a research paper. Like everything else in this series, it is more akin to an opinion piece of journal entries instead of exhaustive analysis.

But it's information by my (failed) experience. When creating campaigns, I often turned to my favorite video games when it came to adventure, plot, and encounter design. And because of that:

- My campaigns, adventures, plots, and encounters suffered...

- My players grew frustrated or bored...

- And I was annoyed and exhausted.

All that said... maybe I'm blowing this out of proportion.

Maybe you have good reason to disagree.

That's fine.

Just sharing my thoughts. I am not willing to die on this hill. 

But here are 7 ways video games are different than TTRPGs, concluding with why knowing these differences matters for campaign design. (NOTE: this is not a "better than" post. For more on that, read this post by "Writer's Disease"). 

© AlbaBG for Envar Studio

#1 - 3 Video Games Are just Different

Forgive my terrible subheader. But I wanted to first just cover the most obvious differences between the two media. The things everyone can see and agree on, and don't require much elaboration.

Video vs Tabletop: Digital video with controller. Physical table with pen and paper. Different... but necessary in a way that matters for encounter design. For why this matters, read Marshall McLuhan's masterpiece "Understanding Media"... Or just read the wiki page.

Single Player vs Group/Party: The video games in question are not MMORPGs, but something like Skyrim: an adventure where the player role-plays a character. The big difference here: playing alone or playing as a group. Single-player video games are structured for thousands of different players. They are designed around players seeking a particular fantasy or achieving a particular goal. But a DM has to create an adventure that works for everyone in the party. 

Restricted vs Unlimited: Player agency: no matter how much customization, personalization, and decision-making opportunities players have, it is still an insignificant fraction of the choices players can make in a TTRPG. The Dungeon Dudes elaborate on this in detail.

It doesn't even matter what the DM plans, players can technically attempt ANYTHING they can imagine. Players are active agents in a video game... but they share authorship in TTRPGs.

© David Nakayama

#4 Video Games Are "Static"

This point is less universal in the era of digital updates, but I think it still holds.

When developers make a video game, they finish it. Expansions may be released, but the game itself does not change. One could say that a video game is "dead"; everything the story can be from beginning to end has been determined. In a sense, it is a figure cut from marble.

TTRPGs are much, much more flexible. They're the opposite: living, breathing narratives. As the game is played, the story is shaped and reshaped like clay. Players not only move the adventure forward like in a video game, they also determine what the adventure is and shape their own experience of the adventure. 

Unlike a TTRPG, a video game plot cannot be reshaped to meet the desires and needs of the players.

This mistake I actually managed to avoid... though I am sure that is less praise and more a critique of my ability to plan ahead (I have retconned SO MANY TIMES). And I think it is one many GMs also avoid, because it is one of the more obvious differences.

Everyone, not just the DM, contributes to the direction of the plot. Any DM that holds too tightly to their plan will inevitably alienate players. To keep players engaged and the story consistent, you HAVE to make concessions for preferences and imaginative improv. 

© Ástor Alexander

#5 Video Games Make YOU the Main Character

When you play a video game, the subject and focus is on the player character. They receive 100% of the attention of the game time screen. Whether they are heroic or not, the main character is "the hero" around whom the game and story revolves. Even if the character becomes the hero throughout the course of the game, players still know that they are the hero. 

Being "the hero" is not a given in TTRPGS... 

Your level 1 DnD character may dream of being a hero one day... buuuut they might be killed by giant rats in the sewers beneath town. Or maybe they tragically die in a great battle. Or maybe they gain renown only to... unceremoniously... fall into a pit of lava. Maybe they retire or abandon the quest before reaching their final goal. Regardless, monsters and traps and curses abound. There is no guarantee they will celebrate their triumph. 

Furthermore, TTRPGs are almost always multiplayer games. Each player must share the spotlight with the others. And depending on the plot or rolls, certain characters may naturally fall into that "protagonist" slot or "supporting character" role.

The campaign not only determines IF certain PCs are heroes, but also WHAT KIND.

This is perhaps the hottest take in this post. I believe a unique thrill of TTRPGs is that not only do you A) have to earn being a hero (like in some video games), but also B) there is a real risk that you will not.

This is radically different from reading a book, watching a movie, or playing a video game. You cannot flip to the end of the book or fast-forward the movie. There is no spoiling an ending that has not been written. DMs have a plan. Players have a plan. But dice and improv... "the fates"... have a say as well.

You get to live as the adventurer as they overcome... but you ALSO experience the worry and anxiety that comes with uncertainty. You get to EXPERIENCE a hero's journey that is in progress.

© Umeshu Lovers

#6 Video Games Have Mechanical Rewards

Came across this video by Zach the Bold in my research and I had to include it here. Here are some excerpts from the YT transcript:

"The concept of the grind isn't new or jarring for people who just picked up tabletop games. And that's because it's so commonplace in video games. I mean, it has cemented itself in modern game design philosophy. It motivates players to pick up their controller and watch as their weekends melt away. And at the end of that 48 hours, they set down their controller and they say, 'Wow, I can't wait to do that next weekend.'

It's safe to say that new DMs coming to D and D will assume that grinding translates from the screen to the tabletop as well. And so they'll encourage their players to go out and fight more monsters and do more silly side quests, and after three sessions, they'll level up. 

But the players don't seem satisfied. Why is that? on the surface, it seems like the DM is doing everything these video games do. And his players have sunken thousands of hours into those.

And I think the answer is in the question itself: why does a grind in Dungeons and Dragons feel different than it does in video games?

And that's because the grind serves a different purpose in Dungeons and Dragons than it does in video games. This is because video games keep players hooked through mechanical rewards, and DnD keeps players engaged through narrative consequences.

A simple mental reframing, I think, will help a lot of DMs understand why their grind-heavy sessions feel so dull and boring to their players. A mindless grind isn't giving players mastery, investment, or payoff, which D&D does provide without having to put 10 boars to kill in the spawning area.

So what happens when we apply these same principles to a game of Dungeons and Dragons? It feels incredibly repetitive and boring... grinding out combat after combat doesn't give your players the control they would find in a video game and it doesn't give them the narrative progression they would want in a D and D game.

DND's greatest strength is player agency... allowing players to invest in their own goals gives every accomplishment real meaning. In video games, obstacles are often mechanical. Backtracking, a game over screen, repeated encounters. In D and D, obstacles come from dynamic narrative itself, character interactions, enemy interactions, plot.

The takeaways: grinding in TTRPGs usually SUCKS. TTRPG session structure is very different from video game design. You cannot just do things for the sake of doing things... there needs to be character motivations behind all the actions.

#7 Video Games Offer Second Chances

Finally... and the most important difference between the two media... video games are replayable. Nearly all video games are designed with rounds or check points or saves in mind. Older video games were harsher, forcing players to restart from the beginning once they died. But players could still repeat the game and experience it again and again.

TTRPGs are defined by their FINALITY.

When your character dies in a TTRPG... that's it. They are dead. Yes, you can continue playing as a different character. But unless your character is resurrected, they are gone. The campaign will never be the same. And on top of that, the party will also never have the same dynamics. What was can never be again.

I cannot stress how MASSIVE a difference this is.

When I play Jak II or Mass Effect, yes it is a liiiittle different because I can shoot different enemies or walk in different areas... but in every way that matters, I am playing the same game. And it's expected that devoted fans replay those games multiple times.

Whether it is extremely linear like Super Mario Bros or an open world like Grand Theft Auto... players progress through the game that was made for them. They all start the same. If they finish the game, it will all end the same as well. 

Not only do the vast majority of TTRPG fans never replay the same campaign... but even if they did replay Curse of Strahd... they would play with new characters. And role-playing these new characters would create such a different order of events that it would feel like a totally different adventure. 

Which reinforces the point:

• Video games are meant to be saved, restarted, and replayed.

• TTRPGs involve PC deaths that alter the campaign forever.

 

© Raphael Lacoste

Conclusion: Emulating a Video Game is a Recipe for Disaster...

So... what's the big deal? Who cares?

Let's review real quick: 

1. VG are digital... TTRPGs are physical
2. VG are single player... TTRPGs involve a group
3. VG are restricted... TTRPGs insist on player agency
4. VG are static... TTRPGs are ever-evolving
5. VG are about main character... TTRPGs "discover" protagonists
6. VG have mechanical rewards... TTRPGs have narrative and character rewards
7. VG are replayable... TTRPGs involve death and are permanent. 

It's not just about controller vs pen/paper. Clearly differences between the two media are far more fundamental. Video games are hand-crafted, replayable, complete, single-player experiences. TTRPGs are shared, unknown, ever-changing experiences that can never be replicated.

So why do these differences matter for TTRPG campaigns?

Because it means a GM cannot focus on storytelling.

TIMEOUT... before you accuse me of stupidity... the reason I know this is because I TRIED IT.

I tried to center the entire campaign around my player characters. I build the whole plot around them rather than inserting them into a world and adventure. I was super excited to have a player-centered campaign that always tied into the player characters and showcased the hero's journey.

The problem?

If the characters died, the campaign would be SCRAPPED.

You couldn't tell the story apart from the original characters, so the original characters had to survive. Which is a perfect recipe for turning tense, exciting combat encounters into boring chores (grinding!). And while I did base the adventure on the ideas and imagination of my players... I also locked in their characters to a trajectory that the players couldn't really change.

The more you try to center the campaign on the players (like in a video game), the more you remove their agency: 

• Because if you aren't telling it yourself, the group is sharing the storytelling responsibilities...
• Because if you try to force a story, you remove player agency...
• Because if you stick to a predetermined goal, you won't let the adventure fluctuate by player decisions...
• Because if you insist on the players as preordained heroes, then they can't die or develop...
• Because if you just add encounters cuz it seems necessary, then there won't be intrinsic player motivations...
• And if they can't die, then you aren't playing a traditional TTRPG.

This was a huge reason for my burnout as a DM.

On the one hand, I wanted shared storytelling and player agency. On the other hand, because I was taking all my inspiration from video games, I was managing the campaign in a way that conflicted with the players.

In other words, I was in opposition to them. We frustrated each other as we sought the game goal: a fun, memorable campaign. And once I abandoned this, I found it to be a huge relief. I no longer asked myself to reconcile opposing forces. Each session wasn't an impossible task., I had my role. The players and dice had theirs. And everything mixed much better.

In summary, as a GM, you need to focus on designing an interesting world, plot, and encounters... not orchestrating the perfect story.

Oh... look at that... my conclusion aligned with my definitions in blog post #2:... that DnD is first and foremost a GAME and not a story.

It also aligns with blog post #3: that in TTRPGs, the story is the RESULT, not the GOAL, of playing the game. 

But this begs the question: if players are also the primary storytellers... who do they "cooperative storytell"? 

And that is the subject of my next post!

Riley Rath

Riley is a freelance tabletop games copywriter, content writer, and marketer based out of Spokane, WA. When not playing or writing about board games or DnD, he is busy with family, hiking, cooking, and gardening... very hobbit-like for a 6'4'' dude. If you need help selling your TTRPG accessories, he can help!