What is TTRPG?
TTRPG is an acronym that stands for TableTop RolePlaying Game – interactive, social games in which you create something with your friends in a shared gaming space.
Everyone involved takes part in creating, controlling and playing fictional characters and creatures in a world with different factions. In the course of a couple of hours (a ‘session’) up to a couple of years (with weekly, biweekly or monthly sessions) everyone at the table works together to create an ever evolving story in that world, based on everyone’s ideas, cooperation and the game’s rules.
Usually one person takes on the role of the ‘Game Master’, and becomes the host, referee and mastermind of the game. The GM (Game Master) is responsible for creating and conveying the situations the players encounter, but every TTRPG has its own rules about what the GM oversees, and what the players can influence.
TTRPGs are a unique mix of strategy, cooperative play, luck, acting, storytelling and discovery. Players and GM decide the genre and type of game together, and no two games are the same, even within the same system and the same story module.
Games you can try at the con
A role for everyone
Players usually take control over one (or two) characters they have created, based on the rules of the game system. Depending on the system and the chosen genre of the story, the characters can vary from spacefaring elves to humans with dangerous superpowers.
Players often roll dice to see how well their character performs on the task at hand, such as balancing on a rope. The outcome of those throws is random, but can be influenced by players and the GM. In some TTRPGs, the GM can award advantage or disadvantage, which means you roll two dice, and take the highest or lowest number of the two. Player characters can also have different skills that give them a bonus to their dice roll.
This way, the story can change within seconds, and players could rejoice or weep based on the luck of the dice.
GMs also give a certain style to the world, scenes and challenges that are being played. They narrate the consequences of player actions and interpret the outcome of the dice throws in relation to the world.
Many GMs are very dedicated to creating an amazing game for their players, and often make maps, monsters, adventures and more for their group, but that is not a requirement for becoming a GM. With a pen, some paper and ‘theatre of the mind’ you can have an epic game just as well. In fact, some groups prefer it that way.
Matt Colville: Running the Game - Turning you from player into GM!
Matt Colville thinks you'd like running D&D. Turning you from player into an epic GM! It's fun and it's easy! So let's get started!
From the 70s to today
The first TTRPG is Dungeons&Dragons – known from TV-shows like Stranger Things or Community, or from live play shows like Critical Role or Dimension20. It is a fairly traditional TTRPG with influences from war games, often focused on fighting and strategy.
However, there are a lot of TTRPGs available on the market, from large publications like Call of Cthulhu, to smaller indie games. These can be in any genre you can think of – horror, regency era, age of exploration, anything – and their rule systems can utilise dice, playing cards, Jenga towers, or even Twister mats.
What is a Tabletop RPG?
Tabletop RPGs are SO much fun and with so many different RPGs to choose from (Dungeons and Dragons, Pathfinder, Starfinder, Savage Worlds, Call of Cthulu and thousands more) - there's bound to be one out there for someone of almost any taste.
Whether you're into fantasy, sci-fi, horror or realistic medieval fiction - there's an RPG that'll suit you.
It can seem daunting to get a foot in the door but over the next few months I hope to guide some of you into the deep of with tabletop roleplaying!
DnDutch - Wat is Dungeons & Dragons (DUTCH)
Je hebt het Player's Handbook en eventueel de Dungeon Master Guide met het Monster Manual. En nu?
Om jullie allen vooruit te helpen om een start te kunnen maken met Dungeons & Dragons, heeft DnDutch de Nederlandstalige uitleg voor Fifth Edition.
Dungeons & Dragons Explained
In an age of virtual reality, video games, and smartphones, more and more people are getting into this magical, nerdy tabletop fantasy role-playing game. Here’s why you should play Dungeons & Dragons, too.
Wat is Dungeons & Dragons(DUTCH)
Wil jij beginnen aan je eerste Dungeons & Dragons avontuur?
Heb je de Player’s Handbook in huis, of misschien zelfs wel de Dungeons Master’s Guide en de Monster Manual, maar vraag je je af: hoe start ik nu??
In deze Nederlandstalige uitleg nemen we je mee in de wereld van Dungeons & Dragons 5E (Fifth Edition).
Dus! Hou je potlood, character sheet en Dungeon Master’s Screen bij de hand en ga mee naar de Forgotten Realms.
Introduction - How to Play Call of Cthulhu 7E
This is the first episode of the How to Play Call of Cthulhu series.
Wat is Dungeons & Dragons (D&D Tutorial) DUTCH
In deze eerste aflevering van Wat is DnD legt DungeonMaster van Aan Tafel Stijn je de basis uit van Dungeons and Dragons. Hoe werkt dat nou met die dobbelstenen? Wie bepaalt wat je mag doen? En hoe verantwoord is het om door iemands raam te kijken? Het antwoord op deze vragen vind je in onze eerste aflevering! Enjoy!
