The 5 most important things I learned from TTRPGs in the last 5 years, and what game I learned them from; a thread.

I've played TTRPGs since the mid 80s, but the last 5 years have really felt like a golden age to me. Things I consider fundamental now that I didn't in 2014: (1/7)

Thing 1: Player-facing systems are fast, empowering, and transparent: #CypherSystem from @MonteCookGames (2/7)

Thing 2: On-the-fly gear picking strikes a nice balance between laborious bookkeeping (on one hand) and never getting that satisfaction of having packed the perfect tool for the job (on the other): #BladesInTheDark by @john_harper (3/7)

Thing 3: One-roll resolution is good, rich one-roll resolution in which you learn not only if you succeeded but how is even better, and games in which that one roll is consistently implemented throughout the game are the best: #RedMarkets by @HebanonGCal (4/7)

Thing 4: Clues and plot points are things you *want* to give the players, not things you should gate off behind a random die roll. If you must roll for critical clue acquisition, roll to see how much it costs: #Gumshoe by @RobinDLaws (5/7)

Thing 5: When a bad roll stops the player dead and makes them pick another approach, that builds story slower than when it nudges them forward in an unsought direction. Succeeding with consequences is narratively nitro! #ApocalypseWorld by @lumpleygames and @NightSkyGames (6/7)

What this all means to me is: TTRPG is a hobby that is always growing, changing, creating great new stuff. Digging in your heels and refusing to look at the new stuff (or play with the new people) is tantamount to deciding not to play the best game you can play. (7/7)