Guild of Navigators Interview - Why People Play TTRPGs

Meet Bo from the Guild of Navigators!
Guild of Navigators (Bo): https://www.patreon.com/GofN/posts

In this podcast, we'll hear Bo's thoughts on:

• How Tabletop Role Playing Games (TTRPGs) help with trouble
• Why people play TTRPGs
• Thoughts on growing characters

(Gaming/Intro Category)

Transcript

Melody [0:00]:
The Game Master Certification Organization had the opportunity to interview Bo from the Guild of Navigators! This podcast will feature an excerpt from that interview where we will chat with Bo about his perspective on why people play Tabletop Role Playing Games and how it can help with trouble. 

Hi, I’m Melody Rainelle, and I’ll be your host. Without further ado - I’ll turn it over to Bo - we’d like to hear your perspective on these topics.

Bo [0:31]:
I would say in trouble, I knew a few guys who were, well, having hard times with their jobs. And I know that having the Sunday game was something, you know, that they were looking for. And it was kind of a kicking back and like, I would say, removing all the stress that builds up during the week, having a crazy boss, having a crazy job, having crazy times at work. So basically that Sunday session for those four or five hours we did play they kind of went. They can, you know, either go and play the barbarian swinging the sword and cutting up every orc comes their way. Or be just a sneaky thief and enjoying backstabbing. So something, you know, what you can't do in your real life and you come up with some way of, as I said, venting your troubles one way and, and it - it works, you know, a lot of people do it. And I said with - with gardening, some people do video games, some people go and play baseball and it calms them down. Well, people around me tend to play a role playing games to calm them down.

Melody [1:45]:
Yeah, sure! It can be a great way to vent some frustration or even to escape from the daily routine for a while. Can you think of any other reasons why people might play tabletop role playing games?

Bo [1:59]:
I met players, dungeon masters actually, who were using Dungeons and Dragons to teach English abroad. I met people playing role playing games to actually, you know, run away from reality and to have a calm evening, you know, far away from real life troubles. And there is a lot of things you can actually do while you are gaming or preparing assets for a game, doing maps, or just even painting a picture of your favorite wizard or whatever. You know, for me, it's fun. People do it for a lot of different reasons. And I would even say, you know, some people just want to do something with their free time, something different. You know, someone likes to go to their garden, and someone has a hobby room with a huge table where he can play Dungeons and Dragons with eight people. So that's how I see it. 

Melody [2:55]:
Thank you for the insight you shared with us, and I'd like to say - we look forward to hearing more from you on world-building in an upcoming podcast episode! 

Bo [3:04]:
You are welcome, like, anytime I'm happy to share my ideas and thoughts. And I think, or I hope, that it helps someone you know, to see the things, see the game a bit different because as I said, I'm 30 years in it, and I'm not stopping. So you know, even if I'm not playing with people, I'm playing video games, which are basically... I'm still playing Baldur's Gate and now the third one is out, so I'm looking forward to it. And you know, it's still the same thing somewhere, still the same idea of being able to build your character and grow it and it's like gardening, you know, someone grows a bonsai tree at home and they are cutting it and making sure that it grows the right way. It's the same when either leveling up in Dungeons and Dragons, and then you think: "ah - should I multi-class now should I just be pure?" And the same with GURPS, you know, how you put your character together, how you use the points, because in GURPS, you don't have levels at all. So there are no levels you don't level up. You just kill up basically.

Melody [4:11]:
That certainly makes sense. Excellent. We appreciate having you here and sharing your experience with us, Bo! Thank you so much!

To our listeners - please check the podcast description for details on how to find more information about Bo from the Guild of Navigators! 

Have you ever wondered how mistakes in tabletop role playing games should be handled? And how does a game master know if they did a good job? These topics will be touched on in our next podcast. We'll also have the opportunity to learn how Bo has found to improve in his gaming experience, so stay tuned! Follow us to receive notifications when new podcasts are released. For more podcasts and information, check out our website: https://www.gamemastercertification.org/. Like what you’ve heard here? Hit that share button to help us spread the word! Thank you for listening!