Gary Gygax’ 17 Steps to Role-Playing Mastery (Steps 11 to 17)
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 and Part Two.
My Dungeons and Dragons 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.
11) Put forth your personal best during play.
The advice given in step 10 does not mean that you should ever compromise in your efforts to succeed as a player. Your PC may have to subjugate his or her individual desires from time to time to ensure the general welfare of the group, but that is as it should be, and this does not mean that you should ever allow your enthusiasm and drive as a player to lessen.
I think this is our last kicking of the dead horse and we’ll move off of the group focus with the next step. I found the last part of note. I read this as saying sometimes it’s not all about what you want and you shouldn’t get depressed or down on the game because the group’s welfare comes before your own.
In our ‘It’s all about me, and if it’s not, I’ll take my ball and go home’ culture, what Gygax is saying is counter to that. However, RPGing is a past-time and something to be enjoyed. He’s talking about a mindset; a different way of thinking about your play. He’s not saying you should keep playing if you’re not having fun. He’s saying that you should still be able to have fun even if it’s not all about you. And you should be able to play well.
He’s saying this in the context of doing your best at each session. Don’t get down on the game and go through the motions, or overtly or covertly adopt a “Fine, whatever,” type of attitude where you pull less than your full weight.
I mentioned I was a competitive Ultimate (Frisbee) player for a long time. I didn’t always agree with the captains and had little snit fits during games. But every time my cleats (with me in them) went out on the field, I gave 100% to the extent I was capable. I gave my personal best. Of course, that wasn’t always good enough, but hey, I tried.
Gygax is sort of tying a bow on the package of ‘Group First’ with this step.
12) Play as frequently as possible
Just as in step 5, this could almost go without saying. The hobby of role-playing games is no different from any other endeavor in that exposure to the activity must be frequent and ongoing in order for the participant to achieve a high level of skill. If your life-style or life circumstances do not permit you to play often, or if you simply don’t have the desire to spend a great share of your leisure time involved in RPGs, then you cannot hope to achieve mastery unless the prohibitive factor(s) can be removed. You can, of course, still enjoy playing.
A pretty common sense, straight-forward point. When I began playing Ultimate, I couldn’t even throw a backhand. Within a decade, I was scoring goals in a national championship game. Early on, someone told me, “You play in tournaments like you practice.” I carried that advice with me to every team I played on. But enough about me…
The more you play, the more familiar with things you become. Compare your first time playing a card or board game with your fifth or tenth or twentieth.
Again, Gygax takes this pretty seriously. Few, if any of us would consider the impossibility of acheiving RPG mastery because we have too much other stuff going on in our lives. But that’s his frame of reference for the book.
Steps Fourteen (Play outside your group’s campaign frequently) and Fifteen (Play in tournaments) are related to this step, dealing more with the external impacts of frequent pay (i.e., different styles and environments). Here in Step Twelve, it’s more about increasing your skill level and proficiency through repetition.
We had a fair bit of discussion about the five steps of group success and increasing individual mastery through frequent play is related to those as well.
I’m only partly joking, but if you followed his Outline of Study for Mastery (posted earlier in the thread), I can’t imagine you’d have much time left to actually play the game.
13) Play various characters as often as possible in as many different circumstances as possible.
It is not enough to play as frequently as possible if each of your play sessions is essentially the same as all the others. To gain mastery as a player, you must experience firsthand what it’s like to take the roles of as many different character types as your game provides for. You do not play these characters simultaneously but consecutively. If you start a new character after one is killed or retired, make a point of selecting a PC type you have not yet played or one with which you have relatively little experience. If action in the campaign occasionally shifts from one place to another in the GM’s world, you may have an opportunity to change the character you play from one game session to another. However you do it, expose yourself to as much variety in the choice and operation of PCs as you possibly can.
I remember a thread I saw a few months ago, in which a GM complained that one of his players would only be a Paladin. Every time, that’s all he wanted to play. The general response was, “Yeah: so what? If he likes playing a Paladin (and it fits in the game), let him play it.” I recall that’s pretty much what I thought as well.
But again, Gygax is talking about more than just enjoying the game: he’s talking about Mastering it. Along with classes, races would probably be included today. Looking at Pathfinder offerings (no, I’m not going into options bloat again), mastering all classes (and races) would seem to require an awful lot of games. Or to get killed a lot (which would be the opposite of Mastery).
But I do get his point. Other than a cleric, I’m not sure I ever played a spellcaster as I worked my way through all those D&D silver and gold box games. And I was almost certainly missing out on aspects of the games in doing so. Somebody who plays a fighter or magic user but never plays a thief/rogue is missing out on part of the makeup of an RPG. And will not be a Master of that aspect.
Remember, we’re talking Mastery. I have no interest in playing a witch or an oracle and I wouldn’t play one (not having fun) just to try and play them all. But the would be Master is a different case. There’s certainly something to be gained in overall expertise by playing different types of classes and races.
I had a little more discussion on this one:
When I made the last Step post, I started doing some figuring on the combinations of races and classes (and archetypes) in the core rulebooks. Then I thought about those in the supplements and gave up before I even pondered third party stuff. The numbers are huge.
To become an expert at a game/system, I understand the idea of playing different combinations. We Christians say that if you want to walk on the water, you have to get out of the boat. It’s about leaving your comfort zone. I would think it’s natural for a gamer to, over time, instinctively lean towards a few favorite classes and races. I don’t think I ever played a Monk (what was that thing: the Quivering Palm?) in D&D. And I didn’t know a component of the game because of that.
I’ve been frequenting the thread less lately because I’ve been building up my www.SolarPons.com website and pushing a Solar Pons page on Facebook. And working on some short stories. Pons is my ticket in the mystery world and I’ve only got so much time and words.
But I’m still here and you’re doing great moving the discussion along on your own.
Starting this coming Monday the 10th, I’m a regular blogger over at Black Gate, the leading fantasy blog on the web. My posts should be up every Monday morning. They’ll mostly be Sherlock Holmes related, but with a horror/fantasy/scifi/supernatural twist. So pop over on Mondays.
Now, time to go roll up yet another elven ranger….
14) Play Outside Your Group’s Campaign Frequently
In your quest for variety, don’t overlook the opportunity for education and enjoyment that is offered by playing in more than one campaign. If you know more than one GIM and are able to divide your playing time so as to be an active member of each campaign, there is no substitute for the breadth of knowledge and experience that this will give you.
Step Twelve talked about playing frequently. Playing with different groups will give you different experiences (good and bad), which should help with Mastery, so no surprise here with Step Fourteen.
We also talked about the five stages of group success. The fourth stage involved success outside of the group while the fifth was some form of national recognition: which presumably would involve outside play.
Gygax doesn’t delve specifically into this step much. But in the course of our almost three hundred posts (yay group!), the themes of playing a lot and getting as much varied experience as you can inevitably lead to this latest step.
Practically speaking, it makes sense. The variety offered of gaming with different players and GMS is going to broaden your perspective. Of course, it could lead you into bad habits, but if that’s the case, you probably weren’t cut out to be a Master anyways (that’s a bit flip).
It’s much easier today to play in multiple groups, simultaneously or not. I only had one gaming group (which was often just me and one other guy) growing up. With the online gaming options (including right here at Paizo) you can find lots of different players and games. And you should certainly learn from them.
Now, someone who is playing in four games, with limited attention, time or both, quite likely isn’t going to improve their gaming skills. Nor are they going to make the campaign more enjoyable for other players. But Gygax’s idea that you should get experience with more than just your regular gaming group seems pretty sensible.
15) Play In Tournaments
Gaming clubs exist and game conventions are held in most areas of the United States and in many locations in other countries, especially Canada and Great Britain. To achieve mastery as a player, you must eventually (if not immediately) become involved in RPG tournaments that are staged by clubs and convention organizers. These are special play sessions in which various groups of players take part in the same game adventure at different times (similar to the way a duplicate bridge tournament is run).
By comparing your performance to that of other players whose PCs were faced with the same problems and challenges, you can get a sense of your strengths and weaknesses in a way that is not available to you as long as your experience remains restricted to one or a few local campaigns.
Seems like a natural progression from Step 14 (Play Outside Your Group’s Campaign Frequently).
Tournaments often spawned new modules (Ghost Tower of Inverness comes to mind and I know there were at least a couple Judges Guild tournament modules).
Of course, in Gygax’ time there was no D&D Encounters, Pathfinder Society or even online play. So, you were a lot less likely to find gaming opportunities outside of your immediate group and tournaments played a larger role in steps toward Mastery as he viewed it.
Many (if not all) of the points made in Step 14 would seem to apply here. I don’t know: do you think playing at Gen Con, or Origins or Paizocon will make you a better player as Gygax saw it? Do you need to compare your play to other tournament RPGers to identify your strengths and weaknesses?
Surely it doesn’t hurt, but does this step really remain relevant today?
Some extra comments from the Paizo thread:
I never played in a tournament. From reading Designers and Dragons (seriously: if you are a fan of RPG history or companies that have come and gone; or even stuck around like Steve Jackson Games, this is a treasure chest) tournaments were a BIG deal in the early days.
Which makes sense I guess: packing up and heading out for a weekend of RPGing was an uncommon experience way back when.
And with Gygax’ elevation of RP Mastery to almost PhD levels of respect and seriousness, tournaments were kind of the dissertation gravitas of role playing.
Thousands of people are at GenCon as I type this, playing the modern day version of tournaments. But I doubt any are viewing it in the vein that Gygax is writing about.
16) Make Yourself Aware of the Gaming Community and Contribute To It
To keep abreast of what other garners are thinking and doing, you should be a regular reader of at least one such periodical. To show evidence of your own expertise, you could prepare and submit article manuscripts to these magazines. If you are skilled enough and fortunate enough to have your writings accepted and published, then you will have accomplished something that only a few others among the millions of RPG enthusiasts can claim.
Obviously, it was a very different environment back then. The proliferation of the Internet, as well as self and small publishing options, makes contributing a lot easier. Of course, some folks start out volunteering, then freelancing, then becoming full time employees of the industry. Those have achieved a different kind of mastery. Creighton Broadhurst of Raging Swan Press is one example.
There are varying levels of activity, of course. I think my name is in the credits for Kobold’s ‘Dark Deeds in Freeport,’ which I backed as a patron. But I stopped contributing to the development early on.
On the other hand, I’ve written several RPG/game-related posts over at BlackGate.com (my name is Bob Byrne) that have been read by more than just my friends. Some notable names in the fantasy field have commented or emailed me about them.
This two part series on Necromancer and Frog God Games did pretty well.
I was a subscriber to Pegasus magazine from Judges Guild, right until they folded. And I used to love looking at those old Dragon Magazines. And occasionally a friend would buy White Dwarf, though that seemed like an odd magazine to me. Probably because it had a UK sensibility.
But it never occurred to me to send in an article to one of those back then. Of course, at the time I had no aspirations of being a writer, either.
Pathways is a good read for the Pathfinder fan. And of course, there are a slew of good blogs out there. You have several options to read about your system of choice. And to contribute to the writings of them.
It’s easy to contribute to the field today. And there is no shortage of RPG blogs, whatever style of gaming you prefer.
I mentioned that I participated in Kobold’s Patron campaign for Dark Deeds in Freeport. And Rite Publishing was doing a similar thing at the time. But it seems like those ‘community participation’ methods have petered out – perhaps replaced by Kickstarters. Might be worth asking Wolfgang Bauer about the shift Kobold made from patron projects to Kickstarters.
Anywhoo…During Dark Deeds, the project leader simply dropped out and Christina Stiles stepped up to take it over. And she has gone on to an active RPG design career. So, she put herself into the process and took advantage of opportunities.
17) Continue to learn and grow even after you achieve mastery.
Mastery is like any other acquired skill. If you do not continually use and exercise it, the skill will atrophy. But if you remain actively involved in the hobby at the highest level you can attain, you will be pleasantly surprised to find that your level of expertise keeps rising
all the time. The sky is not the limit to mastery, for – as any science fiction enthusiast can tell you – there are infinite worlds left to explore once the sky is left behind.
That last bit seems a little cheesy, but it’s actually a neat way for Gygax to end his 17 Steps. He was barely a quarter of the way through the book, but still, it’s a nice RPG type of closure.
I agree completely with Gygax here. I used to play Ultimate (Frisbee), competing at the Nationals and Worlds levels. Practice and skill repetition was crucial to excelling. And when I stopped playing competitively and practicing, my game wasn’t as sharp out there on the summer league fields.
I’m currently shaking the rust off of my GMing skills after several years of not running (or playing) any campaigns.
The more you play (and run) RPG games, the better you can expect to be at them. Step 12 was Play as Frequently as Possible, which certainly feeds into this Step.
THAT’S IT FOR THE STEPS
These last four steps weren’t really of that much interest to the group (or me). We didn’t discuss them much, though other topics continued to engage us, including options bloat and character creation. With online play, options to play outside your local table group abound. I wonder how many current online RPGers have never even sat around a table and played pencil and paper. I ran the Pathfinder Beginner Box for two coworkers who were a WoW MMOer, and a videogamer. It was their first pencil and paper experience.
There are a few other ‘lists’ in the book that I could do a couple more posts on, such as Tips to Tactical Mastery. But I didn’t get much traction here or on FB, so we’ll see. But these three posts did give us Gygax’s 17 Steps to Role Playing Mastery! Thanks to those of you who did comment.
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
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.
I guess playing “All Paladin, all the time” is a form of mastery, at least for the one class. (Anti-Paladin included?). But it does seem as if Mr. Gygax wants to encourage all-around mastery, making for strong generalists instead of super-focused specialists. Is there any indication that he is trying to encourage players to become referees? Most of his suggestions, like Rule #13 (“Play many different characters in many different situations”), seem to be pointing at developing the overall familiarity that running a game tends to require.
Also, I hope you had a chance to participate in the recent Founder’s Day celebration of Ultimate’s creation at Columbia High School in Maplewood, NJ. See chsultimate.org for the details, if not.
He does have one chapter of this book devoted to Game Mastery. And he wrote an entire book on Gamer Mastery, which came out two years after this one.
Ah, cool Founder’s Day Celebration mention. Thanks. I was Executive Director of the Ultimate Players Association for four years, and I am a Lifetime member. 🙂
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