The Appeal of Roleplaying Games

We’re back, and we’re looking at the dice clutched in our hands, asking “why?” Seriously, sitting around a table with people you like while everyone pretends to be someone else sounds pretty weird. And yet, for many, roleplaying games are a passion that borders on obsession. The three of us have spent, appropriately for this episode, a total of 83 years playing RPGs. This a realisation that has led to much reflection and a few existential crises since we added it all up. So, why do we do it, what do we get out of it and how can we explain RPGs to people who think that roleplaying involves Batman costumes, naughty nurses and flirty French maids? Our discussion takes us through a quick overview of the different forms roleplaying takes, how we got into RPGs, why we’ve continued roleplaying long into what we laughably call adult life, and how we might explain RPGs to normal people. We are not academics, so our analysis of the topic is purely subjective and woefully unscientific. We did toy with the idea of dissecting a gamer to gain deeper understanding, but we failed to find a suitable and consenting test subject. Maybe we should have pitched it as the ultimate unboxing video. The other irregular segment in this episode is our brief overview of the Call of Cthulhu 7th edition launch party. We’ve posted about the event already, but now you can hear us ramble on about it too. It’s just like being on a long car journey with us nattering away, only with less sleep deprivation and swerving into oncoming traffic. One quick amendment to these notes. Paul mentioned his Dockside Dogs scenario for Call of Cthulhu, which he has been selling through DriveThru RPG to raise money for cancer research. I completely forgot to post a link to it first time round.