The Culture: Things Real RPGs Don't Deal With (The 44 Rules Post)

Conventional Play is notorious for its dysfunctional group anecdotes, such that there are multiple comics about it. The "44 Rules" post on Reddit is just the latest.

No, Professor, this is not confined to teenaged players. I've had this issue with adults--married, with children--well into their 30s and older.

Yes, most people (if they are at all normal) get over this. They also realize Conventional Play is for losers and Do Something Else. Like play videogames that do Conventional Play better across the board, or boardgames where the worst errors of Tabletop Cargo Cultism are not present and the least severely mitigated.

The Professor actually gets the core of the matter correct: a lack of interest on the players' part.

Guess what solves all of these problems?

Our techniques are just that good.

You too can have a campaign for the ages, one so popular with players that they won't let it die.

One so awesome a single table can't contain it.

And you can take full advantage of all our hard work of discovery. pic.twitter.com/LqpwwT5JZo

— Mr. Wargaming (@NotJonMollison) June 17, 2024

This Forever DM would not have half the problems he does if he would just let the players drive the bus.

They aren't being serious? They will when they stop being the Get Along Gang and start with the PVP.

Let them take control of the various groups and gangs and empires and so on. Let them plot and scheme. Let them take turns in the Big Chair as things play out. You'll never need to buy another product or prepare anything beforehand ever again.

The Bros have solved the problem. Now it's time to apply the solution, which happens to come at the cost of culling Conventional Play from the hobby but I'm okay with that and so is everyone else that sees this in action.

Oh, and since people now rotate sitting in the Big Chair and PVP is on the table, that Rule Zero faggotry ain't gonna fly now does it? Nope. Now it's a game, and the rules are the game.

If you want your Oh So Serious Campaign that bad, then you're likely to be either a frustrated novelist or a frustrated worldbuilder or both. Your hobby is WRITING, not gaming. Go where you're treated best- because it ain't here.