So, if you are reading this post right now (and you’d have to be, to see these words), this is Part Two of a look at Gary Gygax’ 17 Steps to Role-Playing Mastery. It would make sense to go read Part One, before reading this. Like, a LOT of sense. But if you’re here and you’re determined to plow ahead, below is the first part of the intro to last week’s post, so you understand the deal. Then you can move right on to Step Six.

Though you really should go back and read Part One afterwards. There’s more to come next week.

My Dungeons and Dragon s roots don’t go back to the very beginning, but I didn’t miss it by much. I remember going to our Friendly Local Gaming Store with my buddy. He would buy a shiny TSR module and I would get a cool Judges Guild supplement.

And I remember how D&D was the center of the RPG world in those pre-PC/video game playing days. And Gary Gygax was IT. It all centered around him. So, I read with interest a book that he put out in 1987, less than twelve months after he had severed all ties with TSR.

Role Playing Mastery is his very serious look at RPGing. He included the 17 steps he identified to becoming a Role Playing Master.

If you’re reading this post, you probably know that Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson co-created Dungeons and Dragons circa 1973-1974. Unfortunately, it was not a long-lasting partnership and lawsuits would ensue. While both were instrumental in creating D&D, it is Gygax who is remembered as the Father of Role Playing.

In 1987, Gary Gygax put out a book entitled Role-Playing Mastery, which gave guidelines on how to excel as a player in role-playing games. At that time, there were essentially two versions of Dungeons and Dragons. The Original, or ‘Basic’ game, had evolved under Tom Moldvay’s rules development.

Gygax, meanwhile, was focused on Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (or AD&D). They were marketed as separate rules systems and 2nd Edition AD&D would not be released until 1989.

Gygax had been pushed completely out of TSR (the company he co-founded to print the first set of D&D rules) by December 31, 1986, so he was no longer associated with D&D when this book came out. Anything BOLD, or ITALICS, is a direct quote. The rest is me, commenting on Gygax’ bold statements.

6. Know Your Team’s PCs and Those Who Play Them

The only way to get along in a group is to be familiar with the other members of the group. Take the time to learn about the other PCs and the players who control them, so that you can understand and appreciate their intentions and methods and, in so doing, become a more useful and integral part of the group yourself.

Gygax defines ‘Group in three ways’:

The Playing Group (the players and GM);
The Players Group (just the players); and
The PC Group (the actual characters).

I think the last is the one most of us consider when we talk about ‘the group.’

I think that this Step makes an interesting point in our “Look at Me” culture. Coupled with the rise of MMOs and PC RPGs, which are primarily about your character doing whatever it wants, focusing outward towards the group is a different idea. I played via Play by Post a while ago: I have barely RPGed around a table in the past three decades. And there is certainly a remove from the other players in PbP that far exceeds any such one at the table.

Group operation and cooperation are at the nucleus of any RPG activity.

That is a foundational statement: ‘The nucleus’ of RPGing. In today’s Twitter (screw you Elon, never calling it by that intital), Facebook, Pinterest, Reddit, reality-tv society, where we need to be the center of attention, RPG mastery tells you it’s not all about you; it’s about the group. You put the group first, not yourself (shades of Christianity, which says you are #2, not #1).

As a player, your analysis of your player group must direct your selection (and attendant play) of a PC.

So, a piece of this applies at the very outset of the game experience: character creation. I recently recruited for a game and one of the players specifically analyzed what classes people were submitting and commented on what might be needed. I’ve found that to be the exception in my PbP experiences. But that is partially due to the PbP selection dynamic being very different from the tabletop one.

Sitting around a table when the players are set and the party can easily be customized lends itself to the group considering “what is needed.” In a PbP when you are just hoping to get into the game with your best shot at a character, it’s up to the GM to come up with a good mix. It’s a bit moot for the player, since you don’t know who the GM is going to select (unless few players are applying), but it is still refreshing to see when it’s not uncommon for players to try and outdo each other with the most outrageous race/class combo (more shouting “look at me”).

But Gygax isn’t really talking about character creation so much (he addresses that topic in a separate section in the book). He’s talking about knowing the players and the characters so that the group can function at peak capability during gaming sessions.

You desire to facilitate your learning and the learning of the other participants as well.

One thing I’ve been impressed with in Pathfinder is the consistent willingness of folks to help new players along. In games and on the message boards, people offer advice and suggestions. And when somebody is harsh, they usually get reprimanded by other posters. Gygax takes it a step further and instructs players to continually learn (you, know, it’s about Mastery) and help the group learn as well. He mentions throughout the book that Mastery is a continual, ongoing process. The learning is obvious when we start out: but for Mastery, learning never ends.

At the root of this Step is the idea that the potential actions your character takes need to be evaluated in light of the entire group. In a game I’m currently running, a character has taken a potential werewolf under his protection. The group is first level, they’re in a forest full of werewolves and they’re bucking a group that hunts werewolves. I’m not saying his good-aligned character took the wrong action. But I feel safe in saying he did not at all consider the short and long term effects on the group of this action. I haven’t decided how it’s going to work out, but it may well go quite poorly.

(Another Gygax gem) Since all role-playing games require play group input and group creativity, the participants are vital to the game. This is because they actually create much of it, for each and every group must devise some of the material needed for ongoing play. Then as play sessions continue, the interaction of PCs and GM with the rules of the system builds further creation.

Neat point. In our MMO-dominated RPG world, where the content is provided and the players “go through” it, old school RPGing is a collaborative, creative process. Even in a purchased module, the GM can homebrew as much as they see fit. And then, the actions of the group create whole new paths. I didn’t foresee the party adopting the potential werewolf. Now I’m reacting to that.

In looking at these little snippets, I’m not doing the book itself justice. Gary Gygax delves deeply into his subjects, like a party exploring Undermountain. In the Group chapter, he gets into the dynamics of regular veteran groups, fragmented regular veteran groups, the enthusiast-driven playing group and club gatherings. While it’s not all particularly relevant in today’s RPG environment, he put a lot of thought into what he was saying. The sample below on group needs affecting PC selection is a good one to show how deeply he dives:

Even from a purely selfish standpoint, there is ample reason to allow group needs to strongly influence your decision-making process in the choice of a PC. Each player will, at least, be interested in amusement. Some will be actively seeking enjoyment on an ongoing basis. To a greater or lesser degree, personal factors (self-worth) will be part of each player’s goals and motivation. Approbation and success are desirable to everyone. If your PC brings more fun to the play session, assists in gaining approbation for all, and contributes to the success of the group, then you will be given rewards of both a personal and a game-related nature. Thus you will enjoy yourself more and your PC will be made more viable for ongoing play.

Gygax was a strong believer in fitting your character selection into the party’s needs:

What relationship will your PC bear to the balance of the group? Group needs and watns should be taken into account in your selection. If all the players in a group are selecting PC types at het same time, they should work together and compromise if necessary to ensure that the group has a mix of good skills and abilities among its PCs. If you are creating a PC that will become a new member of an already existing group, then group needs should be uppermost in your mind.

He devotes an entire chapter to ‘The Group,’ so there’s much more than what I’ve discussed here. In fact, I think I’ll do a post from this book, solely on player characters and the ‘group first’ mentality.  But regarding Step 6, think, “it’s not about me.” A sentence near the end of the chapter puts it into context quite well:

Mastery requires individual effort and group operation.

7) Know the campaign in which you play

This is different from knowing the genre, because the game campaign devised by the GM is a unique entity unto itself. Accept and assimilate all the information given to you by the GM about the campaign world, and always strive to learn more. Knowledge is power, and more important, knowledge leads to success.

I don’t know about this one so much. When most folks just played in Greyhawk, or a Tolkien world, or Judges Guild’s Wilderness setting, maybe this was more relevant. Or perhaps I should say, more enriching for everyone. But beyond the goal and the obstacles, do the players today have to know everything about the campaign?

I’m running a campaign set in Pathfinder’s Darkmoon Vale region, using a couple 3PP modules, a WotC third edition mod, and the Guide to Darkmoon Vale from Paizo. I’ve provided background on factions, characters, etc and other non-Golarion stuff in the Campaign Guide.

I don’t know how much of this stuff the players really need to know. Now, in the sense of Mastery (Gygax’s version, with the capital ‘M’), knowing every bit of the campaign guide will probably make you a better player. And knowing things from the guide (i.e., reading about the Silver Arrows could prove useful in the suspected werewolf encounter) could come into play; but a deep knowledge of Andoran is neat, but perhaps not too important.

The primary source for campaign detail is, of course, the game itself. The secondary sources are the author’s work and whatever else the game designer utilized in creating the role game. Beyond those, we have tertiary sources-works that the author was influenced by and used in his writing, and other material the game designer used. The pyramid gets broader as we go deeper; in some cases, a really energetic student of a game based on a single author’s work may benefit from examining the works that influenced the author’s and designer’s sources, and so on.

Gygax talks about studying the sources that the campaign designer used. I recall the old D&D box sets having a list of influences, which was sort of a “must read fantasy/history” list for the day. For a Tolkien game, he says that the aspiring Master should read about Tolkien so that he can then read what Tolkien read.

He does mention that the reading and learning is likely to be fun, which is a good point. You might read the Iliad as background for a campaign involving a siege. Turns out the Trojan Horse ploy might not come into play, but you probably enjoyed reading a great work of literature.

This is a nice summation:

Knowledge of the real world is used to design all [RPG] games, and thus it is valuable in any game milieu.

Gygax has a chapter on Game Design itself, which is a related but different topic.

As a player, I like to be buried in the fluff. I joined a play by email game because it was set in Ustalav. I love that setting and read the pieces on it from Rule of Fear, The Carrion Crown Players Guide, and the Inner Sea World Guide. It was fun and gave me a sense of atmosphere. But, except for my character background, it hasn’t been useful yet.

It does make sense to learn as much about the campaign setting and doings as you can. And I LOVE campaign guide and history books. But I don’t think it is a vital element.

 

I had some additional thoughts in the ensuing discussion on this Step. There was an interesting mini-discussion on reading material, and cheating, but it doesn’t really fit in right here. I’ll try to work it in to some post:

I’m in a PbE(mail) game of Carrion Hill. I have NOT read the module. However, I do own the Carion Crown AP and Player’s Guide and the campaign setting, Ustalav: Rule of Fear. I love that part of Golarion and reading those items have enriched my experience playing the module. They certainly contributed to my feeling of a ‘Ravenloftish’ environment. I also drew on that in creating my character, who is based in the city of Carrion Hill.

Now, do I need to know all that for Mastery? I’m more “in tune” with the setting, but that may or may not come out in my play. It definitely adds to my enjoyment, though. Some info is off limits: the secrets section of the Darkmoon Vale guide is is a good example. But generally, if it doesn’t interfere with the module/campaign, I think it’s okay. I don’t think the GM has to be the (mostly) sole source.

As for reading the books the GM read, etc: to each his own. Who’s got that kind of time? I would play the Conan RPG because I love Robert E. Howard’s works. But I don’t think I’d go read Clark Ashton Smith or whatever else he did, just to get a leg up.

Personally, I can’t see wanting to be a Master per Gygax’s definition. I know more about Sherlock Holmes and the Bible than the average person, but to put the level effort he describes into a role playing game…

Having said that, that Outline of Study: whoo boy!!

8) Understand the role of the game master and assist its fulfillment

More about this will be given in the text to come. For now, suffice it to say these two things: The GM is the sole arbiter of all that goes on in the campaign world, but all-powerful in this case does not mean all knowing; no game master can succeed without the willing assistance of all the players.

Gygax doesn’t really talk about this step as it’s written. He does talk extensively about GMing in chapter three (titled, The Master GM). But we can look at this step from our perspective as players. You’ve got two kinds of participants in an RPG: the player (we already made the distinction between player and character) and the GM. Since the GM is in charge of and “frames” the game for the player, it’s logical that the player should understand the GM’s role and play in a way that helps the GM make the game a better experience. I’ve heard stories of jerk GMs: there have been comments about some in this thread. I’ve had nothing but good GMs, so I’ve been lucky. Assuming a good GM, here are two comments from Gygax:

“The dedicated GM is not only an impartial judge of events, but at the same time he is an active force championing the cause of both the preservation of PCs not bent on self destruction and the continued satisfaction of players who do not seek to see the campaign ruined.”

Also:

“To reiterate, the Game Master is not an enemy; neither is he by nature adversarial. He desires successful play by the participants when their play is kept within the specified limits and as long as it promotes the ongoing nature of the campaign.”

So, I’m not out to make life hard for my GM. How do I meet the concept of Step 8? Mendedwall talked in depth in an earlier post about players, when they sit down at the table, knowing their characters and the relevant mechanics. He mentioned the idea of not letting a player use a spell that they didn’t know how to play properly. First and foremost, being able to play your character well and correctly should help the GM do his job properly. New players will learn, just as new GMs do: this isn’t about experience level. It’s not uncommon for me to catch myself making sure I don’t have a one hand and a two hand item in play during a game of Munchkin. That’s knowing the rule and playing correctly (I don’t do it all the time). As a player, I shouldn’t try to dual wield if my character can’t do that. And I probably should know how much damage my fireball spell does.

‘Rules lawyer’ is a pejorative term. Role Playing Mastery should involve assisting the GM in making the right decisions and rulings per the rulebook and the Spirit of the Game (see Step 3). It should NOT lead someone to challenge every point. There’s a reason nobody else likes the rules lawyer. A player should help the GM run the game according to the system being used, but should not take every opportunity to stop the flow of the game to nitpick the rules. Based on my experiences, it’s usually pretty clear who is trying to help and who is just being a pain.

Other little things: be on time (or post timely), say ‘thank you,’ be clear in your actions; anything that makes the GM’s experience an enjoyable one. GMing takes a lot of effort. If running the game feels like pulling hen’s teeth (who has actually done that to really understand the comparison?), the GM may not fulfill his role as well as he could. And as we’ve seen in PbPs, the GM may simply let the game die. A well-intentioned GM is going to do their best: you can help them enjoy their experience, which should result in them running a ‘better’ game.

9) Role-play your character fully and correctly.

Make sure that your actions, decisions, and behavior as a player are faithful to the role of the PC you are representing. When you have a trait or a tendency your PC does not possess, do your best to keep that aspect of your personal makeup from surfacing during play.

This topic has been discussed earlier in the (Paizo) thread. We’ve also talked about both the PC knowing something the player shouldn’t and the more common occurrence of the player knowing something the PC shouldn’t.

I think there’s large scale agreement that you are supposed to play your character, not yourself. And if you’re playing a wizard, you aren’t supposed to leap into melee at every opportunity (hello, Magus).

If I played a Sherlock Holmes RPG, and we were going through an adventure based on one of Doyle’s original stories, it’s 100% certain I would know more than my PC. But I should not be using that knowledge to make choices my character couldn’t reasonably expect to make himself.

Likewise, if your character was an orphan who is uncomfortable around people, they wouldn’t be speaking for the group at every opportunity. The character background, skills and feats (and alignment) provide a framework for how the character would act. There’s both playing the character as it’s been created and also playing it not as you.

Gygax says, Whatever path you select for your PC to follow, you must then begin thinking like that persona. Whether the game is patterned after a real or an imaginary activity, you need to make your mind-set such that you can role-play your character realistically within the game milieu. If you are to be an interstellar explorer, don’t think in terms of becoming rich through trade and commerce. Piety becomes a cleric, caution and alertness a spy or a thief. You should be bold and aggressive as a knight, while as a worker of magic, you will tend toward reclusiveness and mystery. The rules and spirit of the game tell you what you can and cannot do in general and somewhat concrete terms, but it is very much up to the individual to take on the role of the PC and play it well.

Those lines and distinctions have certainly become blurred over the years. The new classes in the Advanced Class Guide are specifically combinations of two classes. The ‘types’ of characters (really, classes) don’t quite fit Pathfinder in 2013.

Not what Gygax intended, but I think somewhat related is that the group makeup can alter your PC’s role. I like to play rangers and sometimes find myself up front with swords because we are ‘melee light.’ That’s usually not my goal nor how I build my rangers. But the group’s needs dictate that’s how he helps out. I could push to stay as a ranged specialist, but that’s not what the group needs. I would be remaining faithful to my vision of the character, but I would not really be playing that ranger very well in regards to the actual game we were in.

And of course, some players are simply jerks. They will play however they want, with no regard to their actual PC or the group. They are focused on themselves, not on the character. They usually make the game unenjoyable for the other players and aren’t interested in role playing as Gygax defines it in this Step.

 

Gygax takes Mastery REALLY seriously in this book. Before he outlines the Steps to Mastery, he spends a few pages talking about considerations necessary before committing to a type of PC to play. Some tidbits:

Do you really have the proper mind-set to play the particular game persona at this time. While it isn’t possible to perform at peak level at all times, an uninteresting or a distasteful PC is sure to lower your performance drastically over a long period of time…. it is quite destructive in an ongoing campaign…the whole level of the campaign could suffer.

I look forward to game nights, but I never fret over having my attitude and enthusiasm at Mastery levels; or worry about harming the campaign long-term.

Regarding roleplaying fully and correctly, I think a distinction can be made between the background given the character and the ‘mechanical’ choices.

Mechanical Race/Class/Archetype result in a certain range of characteristics. They are broader than they used to be: as mendedwall referenced, the Cleric can be a lot of different things (I’m still trying to adapt to them using swords). And a half-asimar is certainly different than a gnome. But there are rules aspects of races, classes and archetypes: guidelines that the game itself sets. Let’s think of these categories as the skeleton for the character.

Background But the ‘fluff’ background can be virtually anything. Emotions, experiences, lineage: things from outside the rulebook form a set of clothes for the character, fitting over the skeleton.

To RP the character as Gygax is talking about, the player should factor in both the mechanics and the background. Doing one but not the other would seem a variation from the character and not properly fulfilling this Step. Now, it’s a game, and if it’s more fun that way and doesn’t ubalance/’ruin’ things, maybe so what? But to play properly and fully, both the skeleton and the clothes need to be considered.

 

10. Always seek to contribute the most to the team’s success.

10) Always seek to contribute the most to the team’s success

From the players’ and the PCs’ standpoint, any role-playing game is a group endeavor. Individual success is secondary to the success of the group, for only through group achievements can the quality of a campaign be measured.

Gygax was incredibly group-centric. To an extent that the MMO generation probably couldn’t relate to. He talks about three subgroups in this chapter:

Playing Group – all the participants, including the Game Master;
Player Group – the group as just the players;
PC Group – the characters of those players.

Our discussion on this topic was in and out of the first 200+ comments before we got to this Step, really beginning with Step 3 – Discover the spirit of the game.

No single character has all the skills and resources needed to guarantee success in all endeavors; favorable results can usually only be achieved through group effort. No single player character wins, in the sense that he or she defeats all other player characters; the goal of the forces of good can only be attained through cooperation, so that victory is a group achievement rather than an individual one.

Step Six, which started off today’s post, delved into the group aspect, related to how you play your PCs.

 

Group operation and cooperation are at the nucleus of any RPG activity.

Whatever rewards you seek, all that might come are based on the play group.

The book is extremely group-centric: it’s clear that Gygax measured success and accomplishments via the group, rather than individual characters. Which makes this Step a natural one for his list. He even breaks down the basic types of player groups (regular veteran playing group, enthusiast-driven playing group, etc). I may do a post on his section on problem players. That was interesting. He follows that with some talk about the problem GM.

The final section in this chapter is Mastery is Group Success.

Mastery requires individual effort and group operation. It is recognized by the group initially and is broadened through the efforts of the group…

Whatever rewards you seek, all that might come are based on the play group…As you pursue individual excellence and strive towards mastery, you must always bear in mind that it is possible only through your interaction with your RPG group.

He goes on in this vein throughout the book. Individuals are seen as components of the group. He’s got five stages of group success; the last two of which go beyond sitting around the local game table together.

Next week, steps 11 to 15.

Here’s PART ONE

 

And, some other RPG-related posts I’ve done here at Black Gate!

RPGing is Story Telling
Swords & Wizardry vs. Pathfinder
RIP Lenard Lakofka – Lord of the Lendore Isles
The Lost Lands for Pathfinder
The Northlands Saga – Complete
The Warlords of the Accordlands
Judges Guild Premium Editions
Gary Gygax’s Role Playing Mastery
Runebound
Runebound – The Sands of Al-Kalim
Runebound – The Mists of Zangara
Necromancer Games (Part One of two)
Frog God Games (Part Two of two)
Dungeons and Dragons Adventure Game System
D&D Adventure Game System – Temple of Elemental Evil
Dungeon! Board Game
Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective
221B Baker Street: The Master Detective Game
Steve Russell of Rite Publishing – RIP

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Bob Byrne’s ‘A (Black) Gat in the Hand’ made its Black Gate debut in 2018 and has returned every summer since.

His ‘The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes’ column ran every Monday morning at Black Gate from March, 2014 through March, 2017. And he irregularly posts on Rex Stout’s gargantuan detective in ‘Nero Wolfe’s Brownstone.’ He is a member of the Praed Street Irregulars, founded www.SolarPons.com (the only website dedicated to the ‘Sherlock Holmes of Praed Street’).

He organized Black Gate’s award-nominated ‘Discovering Robert E. Howard’ series, as well as the award-winning ‘Hither Came Conan’ series. Which is now part of THE Definitive guide to Conan. He also organized 2023’s ‘Talking Tolkien.’

He has contributed stories to The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories – Parts III, IV, V, VI, XXI, and XXXIII.

He has written introductions for Steeger Books, and appeared in several magazines, including Black Mask, Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, The Strand Magazine, and Sherlock Magazine.