14th of March 2025
Recently, a post by Morgan Davie sparked discussion in an RPG discord that I am a part of. The discussion was around the use of rules in TTRPG’s, and specifically the idea that rules are “just vibes to create a play vibe”. While jokingly said, I think this is somewhat true and I wanted to discuss it today.
TTRPG’s can cover a wide range of different themes and intentions for the player experience. While you might assume that rules exist to tell you what you can and can’t do, rules are frequently present to create a feeling in play.
Let’s take some rules from Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition as an example. D&D 5e is (generally) trying to create a heroic fantasy for players. Players can, for example, play as a “Wizard”. The Wizard has rules for how they cast spells, how they add new spells into a spellbook, and all their spells have rules for how they interact with the world. Because players are (generally) seeking to play into their heroic fantasy of being a wizard, they should be seeking out spell scrolls and/or spell ingredients, because they need these things (as per the rules of the game) to learn and cast more spells. These restrictions placed upon players affect the way that they role play and interact with other players and NPC’s, helping to create the feeling and the fantasy of the game. However, D&D 5e is intended to be an everyman, a flexible system that is widely applicable for various modes of play, but it doesn’t necessarily excel at any single mode. It is simultaneously built for players who want to role play, players who want to explore, and players who just want to fight and loot, but not built specifically for any individual within these groups, and the feeling of heroic fantasy they may be seeking.
A game which is more specific to the vibe it is trying to create can use more niche rules that are better at creating that specific vibe. A game like Ten Candles is the perfect example of this. Ten Candles is trying to be an apocalyptic horror game where the world slowly runs out of light. The rules play exceptionally well into this, with one of the titular Ten Candles being burnt after each role play scene, thereby literally darkening the play space. In addition, players burn parts of their character sheet as they go to desperately try and save themselves or their companions. This creates the exact “vibe” that Ten Candles is looking for, not just in the game, but in the room itself.
Is it possible to create a “vibe” without the rules? It depends on how you define rules. Experienced improvisors will frequently create scenes and performances that are designed to create a specific “vibe” on stage (often a genre) with little to no “rules” in the way we conceive of them in the TTRPG space. However, less specific genre elements or clear format “rules” tends to result in performances that don’t have a specific “vibe” or that could be any “vibe”. Rules help to narrow down what the feeling of the RPG or Improv performance should be and increase the likelihood that play will create this feeling.
Is it possible to lose a “vibe” with too many rules? Absolutely
TTRPG rules therefore need to be targeted. Too many will kill the vibe, too few will leave the vibe feeling vague or easily changeable. That being said, Rules are not created equal.
A good rule tells you how to play the game, a great rule tells you how to feel about the game.
