#RPGaDay2025 - 21 Unexpected

 

Half the reason I play tabletop RPGs is for the unexpected. That unexpected might come in the form of my opportunities to add something unexpected as a player, or as the person running the game, However I’m just as much here for the unexpected elements that other players might bring to the communal storytelling experience. I could write a novel… I could tell a story entirely in my head, but the narrative would probably end up fairly predictable and follow the same types of storylines that I’ve used a hundred times before.

Diversity and the unexpected might not bring me to the exact ending I had in mind, but I’ve often found that the contributions of more people lead to a richer and more robust story.

It also adds to the challenge of the roleplaying experience. It links to the Czege principle that I’ve mentioned a couple of times in the past. The principle basically states that a player will have trouble resolving a conflict that they themselves have introduced into the story. So basically, it becomes more satisfying for players to resolve the conflicts introduced by other players, or by the game master… it becomes more interesting for the game master to tie any conflicts introduced by the players into the establish narrative. A group doesn’t have to link all of these unexpected elements into the wider story, after all life is filled with unexpected events that don’t make a whole lot of sense if you don’t bother investigating them, but too many unlinked unexpected events don’t make for satisfying stories. However, psychological needs mean that stories need closure, not more loose ends.