The soul of a game. Some of us here at Basement51have been talking about this issue for a bit now, so I think it’s time to share some of those thoughts. Some of you might be asking yourselves, “What does he mean by the soul of a game?” YourDictionary.com defines the soul as follows:

Soul

:

The central or integral part; the vital core

or

A strong, deeply felt emotion conveyed by a speaker, a performer, or an artist.

So essentially, the soul of the game would/could be defined as that integral part of a game that gives a strong, deeply felt emotion. Hopefully everyone reading this has had that sort of experience in one game kampaign or another. That feeling of connection you might have with your character, worrying about the repercussions of his/her actions within the game. Or perhaps it occurred during a scene where you just had to perform, much like a real life athlete with the game on the line, you feel your heart beating fast and hard…because if you blow the roll your doomed or your party is doomed.

It’s this connection you feel at that moment within the game, that you have an emotional connection to your character…you become your character in a sense, and it’s at that moment you have felt the soul of a game. That is what a good pen and paper role-playing game can provide, and I would argue that lacks within any video game, mmorpg, or first person shooter (Perhaps I’ll go into detail behind this last statement in a future article about the soulessness of video games.)

Modules

One of the issues I have with games that are run straight from the “module” are that they lack a soul of a true kustom kampaign. This is one of the primary issue I have with the RPGA system…while many of the modules are really, REALLY well written and thought out, they smell a bit like, well to be blunt…a video game. String a bunch of these together and ta DA you now have a table top version of an MMO. Take this quest, go complete it, get access to cool magic items some times, get next quest, rinse and repeat.

“But I don’t have time to write my own game sessions,” some might say, “I have to run modules if I want to game!”

Okay, I will concede that time is not what everyone has, but there are solutions. One thing we have been doing here at the Basement with the two kampaigns that I am involved in (Shackled City and the Dragon Below), are taking pre-written material and modifying them to fit and challenge the party. Add in a bunch of great role-playing opportunities and whamo, the kampaign begins to develop a soul of it’s own. Characters begin to have agendas, goals, and dreams beyond hitting that next level to get that next great new feat or ability…and most important, your players will have that connection to their characters and give your game soul.

So please, please, PLEASE get some soul into your game today and help win the war vs the soul sucking Video Game!*

Mr. Johnson

*Ok, I admit it…I’m also a soul sucked Video Gamer playing not only PC games (yes…sad to admit but I’ve played probably half of the non-Asian based MMO’s out there over the last 10 years) but I also play a LOT of xbox 360 stuff. But given the choice, table top games will always be my first choice of gaming!

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