System Matters Doesn’t Matter
Credit to Harrow over on the Quinns Quest discord for the title which I will be using to kick the hornet’s nest.
This is not a post about whether system matters. Obviously it matters. It also doesn’t. Or somewhere in between. Where and when it does and doesn’t matter is going to vary from person to person, table to table, culture to culture. Let’s move on, because whether or not system matters doesn't really matter.
What occurs at The Table is always, always, always going to come down to so much more than a single component of play. It's can be fun to talk theory. It can also be exhausting. I am tired.
is not the terrain is not the map is not the terrain is not
There is, I think, magic at work in play that we are not likely to catch with robust argumentation or precise definitions or all the theoretical discussion in the world.
What is richest, I think, in tabletop role-playing games lies in the specific, the personal, the emotional, and the immediate. Where these games shine is when they stretch outside their boundaries, when resistance presses in, when the outcomes are unexpected, when the world comes to life, when it all sings.
One of the problems I've observed in discussions about theory, is that discussion is often dependent on defining an abstract, and quickly what was a conversation about what is happening when we play becomes a conversation only about what is.
(For instance, whether or not system does or doesn't matter probably depends on what a system is or isn't.)
the map is not the terrain is not the map is not the
I'm not saying we min/max our conversations, or pursue a Perfect Discourse which only results in Productive Outcomes. Discourse is part of the hobby because it's an activity in itself. If everyone's having a good time, that's fantastic.
But I would rather learn about specific cause and effect. I want to know more about matters of craft. I want to hear how people feel when they play, and what they think made them feel that way. I think there is so much undiscovered country in the medium of tabletop role-playing because it is so many different mediums bundled together (writing, performance, games, maps, graphic design, art, illustration, improvisation, and so much more), and is still so new in many ways.
This is a lunch break post, so I'm wrapping up here with the gentle encouragement to go out and share more about craft, about the work you do, the process that makes you happy, the unexpected discoveries, the practical tools you find useful, and so on.
terrain is not the map is not the terrain is not the map
What did you see out there?