What is Best in RPGs? 2025 Edition
The end and start of the year is usually a time for reflection and planning. In this post I wanted to try to put what I currently feel about RPGS into words. I go over where I am coming from, what I personally like, what I am lukewarm on and what I feel is bad for games.
Where I am Coming From
I was first exposed to RPGs in the form of 5e. Long ago when I was in highschool one of my friends ran me and some other friends through a combat using 5e. That night we created characters using an app on our phones and I think we only had one combat before having to leave since making characters took us a good long while. I was immediately interested but, I was never able to get into a group. The friend that helped us make characters did not want to GM and was a player in a full group. I did not know of any other folks that where into that so the idea of playing these games was put on the back burner for a long while.
Years later, I was able to play in a brief online 5e game. I had a good time and while the campaign was never really finished, I did like it. I was also particularly interested in the making of the campaign. I got to see the gm do some brainstorming and writing for it and I liked the idea of maybe doing that myself. I decided to try and be a GM from then on. Even if I did not really fully understand what that meant just yet.
Fast forward to today. I have been a player in a few other games. Some short and others long. I have also run a good number of games as well. Some short and others long. I have a pretty good idea of what I like in games and what I think makes for a good game. I have also read and listened to a lot of opinions and ideas from other experienced Game Masters. Taking some of their ideas and implementing them in my own games.
Influences
When I am playing or running a game, I like to pull on things I have seen before. Here are some of my biggest influences…
World of Warcraft
When people talk about a fantasy world, my mind always first goes to Azeroth. It is as foundational to me as Lord of the Rings is to others. To this day, it remains the base of any fantasy world I come up with and I carry many of the assumptions of the world of Azeroth with me when I act or create fantasy worlds.
Video Games
WoW, Diablo, Path of Exile, League of Legends, Dota. Of these, Wow, League and Diablo make up the vast vast VAST majority of my time on a computer game. Two of these games have one thing in common, and that is a high degree of randomization. Especially Diablo where loot and dungeons are randomized and different each time you play. These games also usually have items that have special effects that have a chance to ‘proc’ when you do things. So even the effectiveness of your abilities are a little random. I actually find random drops and abilities to be very fun and I carry that with me into RPGs.
YouTube and the OSR
Youtube university is the primary form of learning for most people now a days and I am no exception. While there are a lot of videos for players on youtube, videos for GMs tend to be a little rarer. If you do find them, then you will inevitably heard about something called the OSR. There isnt really to much of a solid definition of what the OSR is, however for the purpose of this article just think of it as a combination of procedures and philosophy for how to run a game. A few of my favorites include but are not limited to:
What I Like (Right Now)
Opinions can change! Tastes can change too, but here are some of the key things that I like in every game I play and indeed in every session that I play. I dont always get to put all these things in, but I am always trying to put them in as much as possible.
Randomness
Random tables, abilities that have a wide range of effectiveness based on a roll, even story events and encounters. I like having the dice decide as much of the game as possible! What can I say, random numbers are exciting! Not knowing what will happen is an easy way to keep the game exciting for all involved, including the GM. With a little improv, a GM can prep a session very quickly just by writing some notes about things the players could discover this session and rolling on some tables when the players do something that they GM does not have fully detailed yet.
The next topic relates to this…
Generators
Prep can be hard, especially if you are making something yourself. Thankfully it can be fun to prep, especially if you are getting some help from a generator. Generators are usually a set of tables and procedures for helping the GM to come up with an adventure for his group. They can help in creating everything from NPCs to dungeons to factions and even realms. Some of the lighter ones can even be used mid session to help a GM improvise and create encounters on the fly.
Using generators is kinda like playing a mini game. I have made many more dungeons than I have actually run for groups since I have a good time just making them. I especially recommend them for new GMs that don’t want to run a pre written adventure but also find that the popular ‘5 room dungeon’ formula is not enough to help them start writing.
Player Driven
Making the locations, factions and NPCs are one thing. Making the story is another. I am not really a ‘storyteller’ GM so to say. I put NPCs and factions and locations and stuff in front of the players. It is then up to them to decide how to react to these things. Do they help the NPC or not. Do they go left or right. Now, this is not to say that I don’t have an idea of how things will go. Especially in pre written adventures where you have some pre determined locations and encounters that you want to try and put in front of your players. The thing I always try to do is to allow for players to get to them in their own way or even skip them if they want to.
A lot of GM advice out there puts an emphasis on player agency. The reason for this is that its the one thing that TTRPGs are truly best at. For raw enjoyment and dopamine, video games are better. However, for creative thinking and the real ability to do anything that makes sense in the fiction, TTRPGs are best. Its impossible for a video game to program all the possible things a character might want to do in a situation.
Procedures
All TTRPGs are conversations between the players and the GM. However! I think they work best when they are not free form conversations. A free form conversation is… basically just a regular conversation you might have with a friend or anyone else. You bring something up then they do and then you react and maybe someone else buts in. Its great! I think every human likes spending time with other humans. The thing about TTRPGs is that they are Games. Not just a group of people hanging out.
I myself have not played to many board games, but I have played a good number of card games. In a card game, you are expected to take turns and use the rules of the game to move the game forward. Sure, you can also talk with other players but the social situation is not purely free form like when your just hanging out with friends. I think the best games that I have played in and run where games that are run a little like that. A situation is presented to the players and the players react to it, one at a time. The GM resolves their actions and the cycle begins a new.
This helps to engage every player at the table. Since everyone is given a chance for input. It also makes the game easier to run. Some games have a lot of things ya need to track. Buffs, time, rounds. Structuring the game like this makes tracking all these things very easy. I also find that it is especially good for online games since a voice call only really supports one person talking at a time.
Combat
A game without combat is rarely a good game in my opinion. The player characters should be in physical danger at least once in every session. Especially if you are using a system like Pathfinder or DnD that give players a lot of combat options. Even if you are playing a system where combat is very deadly, like Call of Cthulhu, you should have the players fight or run away from something.
The main reason I have this though is that combat is just very compelling. A player that cares for their character at all is going to pay attention when their character is in immediate physical danger. It also is fun to describe and imagine. Lots of games have characters with epic abilities and attacks. Describing your character doing something awesome is fun! Even in a game where characters are fragile and normal it can be fun to come up with creative ways of getting to safety or fighting dirty to even the odds.
The only problem I have with combat is that it sometimes can take to long. An hour tops for an epic boss battle. Half an hour tops for a regular encounter. Having a combat drag slows the game down and takes away from the urgency. Players and GMs should work to play through a fight quickly. A GM should also not feel bad about having creatures surrender from an unimportant fight that has been dragging on for round after round to keep the game moving.
Exploration
I have started to warm up to this. I was not really into having a super detailed description of a room or location before. I still don’t have long descriptions since its important to try and keep them brief but painting the scene can really help in making the location real in the mind’s eye.
It’s not just about descriptions tho, but having travel be part of the game. It can be going over wilderness or going room to room in a dark crypt and describing what the players find in each place. Its something that I used to not give much thought to, but have found myself caring about more. I think the kingmaker campaign I have been running is the catalyst for this change.
However, like combat, it is important to keep pacing in mind. Having the party go room to room or hex to hex and hearing description after description of what they find can get old quick if it does not move the story forward.
Lukewarm
I would not say I don’t like this in games but I myself am just kinda bad at it. I also don’t have a real way of making this something that can involve all the players…
Social Encounters
I am not against role play in a role playing game. In fact, I love doing little skits and talking in character with my players. I especially like playing very goofy or very evil characters. Its like I get to pretend to be one of my favorite characters from fiction for a little.
That said, these encounters can be really hard to run. Ya have to improvise quite a bit. Something that I need to get better at. It also tends to devolve into me talking to one of my players in character and the other players having to sit and listen. I don’t like leaving people out and I simply don’t have the IRL social chops to be able to juggle talking with multiple people. It also is hard to make interesting. At least to me.
The way I tend to resolve these is to have a short exchange in character before switching to third person and descriptions to speed along the encounter. This allows for some fun acting without dragging on and on. If done well, the NPC gets to be fleshed out a little and the players get the required information from them quickly.
What I Don’t Like
Things that Take Away Player Agency
This can include monsters that stun or stop players from taking their turn to adventures that specify a specific action that the players must take in order to advance. Player agency is the one thing that TTRPGs have over video games. Things that take that away are antithetical to the game. At least in my opinion. If a new game master was to ask for advice and I could only tell them one thing, it would be to allow players to take any possible action and not say no unless it is something completely impossible.
Waffling
I would define this as doing anything that does not move the main or some other story forward. This can also include indecisiveness on the player’s part. I don’t mind players making plans, but I don’t like waiting around for hours to get a decision. The GM can also be guilty of doing this if they ramble on and on with their descriptions and setups. As a GM its important to remember that while you are describing and setting up things, the game is stopped! Its the players actions that actually affect the world and move the game forward.
I like playing in and running games where stuff happens, not in slice of life games where something might happen this session, maybe. I always strive to move the story forward and believe that its very important for a GM to keep the pacing of the session in mind at all times. Keep players making decisions about what to do. If they get stuck on one, then change the situation so they need to make another decision. Bring the action! Don’t let up!
Conclusion
The main thing I hope other game masters take from my ramblings is this:
- try to keep all the players engaged.
- try to work with players to make their hair brained plans possible.
- try to keep the story moving forward. Don’t let a scene drag.
Follow these tips and you are doing good. At least, in my opinion.