How To Play NonViolent Tabletop RPG Campaigns

How To Play Non-Violent Tabletop RPG Campaigns

Contents

Storytelling principles and gameplay advice for GMs and players who want to run tabletop RPG campaigns focusing on non-violent adventures.

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How To Play NonViolent Tabletop RPG Campaigns

The vast majority of tabletop RPGs, whether classics like Dungeons & Dragons or newer franchises like Blades In The Dark, are centered around combat or less-than-lethal conflicts such as social maneuvering or larceny. Game Masters and players who want to run tabletop RPGs that don’t fixate on violence or competition frequently need to think outside the box, using unconventional tabletop rules and storytelling techniques to create worlds where player actions aren’t limited to the consequences of victory or defeat.

The first edition of Dungeons & Dragons took the rules of tabletop war games and adapted them to scenarios where individual players controlled individual fantasy heroes who explored, fought, pillaged, and negotiated their way through deadly dungeons and tombs of magic and peril. For this reason, most fantasy RPGs like Dungeons & Dragons have a lot of war-gaming principles baked into their core mechanics, particularly the notion that every dice roll must generate a scenario of victory or defeat. Even more narrative RPG systems with rules for socialization still usually assume conflict as a given, creating storylines through the presence of antagonists with goals fundamentally incompatible with those of player characters.

In an article about the design principles behind his Apocalypse World RPG, game designer Vincent Baker cites a quote from author Ursula K. LeGuin: “Conflict is one kind of behavior. There are others, equally important in any human life, such as relating, finding, losing, bearing, discovering, parting, changing.“ Just as fantasy and science fiction novels can have interesting plots without a binary good vs. evil conflict, so too can tabletop RPGs have storylines and gameplay capable of being exciting and thrilling, yet not necessarily violent. Tabletop groups interested in RPG campaigns like these should keep these principles in mind:

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Non-Violent TTRPG: Use Mechanics Not Centered On Victory

How To Play NonViolent Tabletop RPG Campaigns

In part 6 of their “Powered By The Apocalypse” article series on lumpley games, Vincent Baker contrasts his Apocalypse World 2nd Edition ruleset with newer PBTA RPGs he’s designed, such as the science fiction game Firebrands or the fairy tale RPG Under Hollow Hills. These RPGs, unlike his earlier ones, have special rules for confrontations, but also rules for conversations over food, dancing with partners, secret liaisons with a lover, or the forging of magical bargains; implicit in many of these rules is the notion that interactions with friends and enemies can have interesting outcomes other than winning or losing.

If a tabletop gaming group wants to run a non-violent campaign or introduce peaceful possibilities into their existing RPG campaign, it’s important that they examine the rules of the system they’re using, searching for helpful gameplay mechanics to facilitate the stories they want to tell. If the rules of their game system are exclusively focused on conflict or dominance, they may want to borrow game rules from other RPGs based around creating accords or introducing complications into the relationships between people.

Non-Violent TTRPG: Campaign Scenarios That Aren’t Good Vs. Evil

How To Play NonViolent Tabletop RPG Campaigns

In the archetypal tale of heroic fantasy or science fiction, there’s frequently a Dark Lord or Galactic Tyrant the chosen heroes of the tale must defeat. If the Game Master of an RPG campaign creates a fantasy kingdom or interstellar federation threatened by bad guys, then they are implicitly telling players to use violent, competitive behaviors to achieve their goals (casting fireballs, manipulating nobles, building weapons of war, swinging swords, stealing treasures, etc).

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If the GM presents worlds where there’s plenty of problems to solve, but no specific villain to defeat – a world where the evil empire was overthrown and replaced with a parliamentary republic, for instance – players are more likely to employ non-violent methods or problem solving or pursue non-violent goals such as exploring, negotiating, learning, running a fantasy tavern, or even pursuing love.

Non-Violent TTRPG: Players Need To Agree To Be Non-Violent Too

Some players are interested in RPGs that focuses on telling profound stories of reconciliation, self-discovery, and the building of better lives. Other players will be more interested in classic Dungeons & Dragons dungeon crawls. If a GM is interested in running a tabletop RPG campaign where peaceful problem-solving and character journeys take primacy over stories of battle and strife, they should talk it over with their players and make sure they’re all interested in this game’s premise beforehand. Sometimes, even murder-hobo inclined players will be okay with an RPG with a non-conflict premise, as long as they have their fair share of chances to use their character’s combat abilities, think up clever tactics, and put the awesomeness of their PC on display.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/tabletop-rpg-campaigns-non-violent-apocalypse-world-pacifist/

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