Some time ago, I began the RPG Elite quality series here at RPG Elite HQ. It has been some time and you can go back and read them. I’ve only done two.
It dawned on me I was putting the cart before the horse on that. It would be much better to lay all of the qualities out first in a semi-summary form before diving deep into each one, like I’ve done on the RPG Elite YouTube channel which now has over 70 videos speaking about the RPG Elite Philosophy.
Why am I doing this? Because it’s good for new people who probably don’t even know what this RPG Elite thing is. They just think it’s a name. As a matter of fact, there are some people who actually think it’s me. That my name is RPG Elite.
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What Is RPG Elite?
To be precise, that is accurate. I am an RPG Elite, but as a noun, not a name. My name is Servant of Shiloh. Some people call me Servant or S.O.S. Either is fine with me.
Also, there are others who are RPG Elite. Still others are RPG Elitish.
There’s an entire philosophy behind this that has undergone years of testing and development.
I know. This can be a little confusing. I’ll explain as I go.
It’s All In the Mind
The RPG Elite Philosophy is not just a name. It’s a mindset. It’s a high standard mindset, purposely not meant to be inclusive. It is a term of separation.
Some people may read that and are triggered already. All that means is that the mission is going as planned.
The RPG Elite Philosophy is a mindset of the ten qualities all RPG Elites possess. They do not possess some. All. They say, “Yeah” and “Amen”, praise the Lord and pass ammunition to all of the qualities and exhibit them in their approach to tabletop RPGs.
This perspective raises the bar of the experience. It does not start with gameplay. It starts with how you think.
It’s Offensive
When I first started the RPG Elite YouTube channel, I ran the names past my right-hand man Tom I’ve mentioned him several times before on my channel. To this day, he’s a sounding board for certain things that I do within the RPG Elite network.
At the time, I mentioned that would probably be offended by the name RPG Elite. He agreed. Then like clockwork, people made it known they were offended. Over on the Reddit /rpg, someone said, “I would never support someone who names themselves RPG Elite.”
I know. Someone on Reditt was offended. Shocker. 😏
My response to those people who get offended by the name is two words.
Be offended.
Some people are not happy unless they’re complaining and finger-pointing. Everything has to be a cause. Their raison d’être is to scream and yell about every slight and supposed injustice.
That’s on them. It is not offensive unless you choose to be offended by it. Most sane people get it.
What It Doesn’t Say
Before we go in on this, it’s important to point out what the RPG Elite philosophy does not say.
The philosophy doesn’t advocate for everyone to be an RPG Elite. It would be nice, and the tabletop RPG culture would look way different than what it does now (for the better by many orders of magnitude. But I digress), but it is simply an outlook and approach. Again — mindset.
It is also not talking about a person’s skill level with tabletop RPGs. That has nothing to do with it at all.
It is also not personal. It is not saying RPG Elites are better human beings that those who are not. That’s silly.
Now, I have to add that we do think our philosophy is better. The best actually for a fantastic tabletop RPG experience. That’s a bold claim, but I can back it up. I have implemented this philosophy close to a decade now, and it works every single time.
Having these qualities and adhering to the philosophy has saved me much grief, drama, and time. Can you use less of that in your life? I know I can and I’m happy for it.
So let’s get down to brass tacks. This will be a multi-part series, but once you are finished, you’ll realize that this just simply makes sense.
Quality #1: RPG Elites Don’t Play RPGs 7 Days a Week
I’ve already done a post on this one, so this will be the cliff notes version of this particular quality.
When you look at it, this would seem like a no-brainer. How in the world could anyone do that, right?
In my post on this, I recounted a story of how someone we interviewed for an open slot in our group admitted that they played in seventeen different tabletop games at the same time. We would have been the eighteenth.
Newsflash — there is such a thing as tabletop RPG addiction (see my video on the subject).
That is not RPG Elite. That guy is nowhere near being RPG Elite.
Frequency of play does not qualify. Quality of play does.
RPG Elites invest a lot of time into their games. Character development, game mechanics, PC dynamics, and involving themselves in each session deeply. That takes a commitment that goes beyond sitting at the table and rolling some dice with a character sheet in front of you. That’s extra stuff outside of the game.
Plus, we want to savor each session. It’s like sitting down at a restaurant and scarfing down everything put in front of you without tasting the food.
We want our tabletop RPG experience to be a mental vacation, not our reality. Playing that much that frequently will lead to burnout. You will lose the joy of entering into these adventures, something we do not want to do. Playing too much will just be mentally exhausting, not relaxing.
Most RPG Elites will temper their play to about three games max, and that’s only if they have the free to to commit to it (this obviously doesn’t include those who do tabletop RPGs as a business or part of their business).
We have a life outside of tabletop RPGs. We don’t make tabletop RPGs our lives.
Quality #2: RPG Elites Don’t Play Every RPG Out There.
I’ve also done a post on this quality. In that post, I talk about the blessings of discrimination. I encourage you to read it.
So again, this is a cliff notes version of that post.
I mentioned about the time investment it takes to play a tabletop RPG. You are investing hours of your time into each session. This can be anywhere from two to six hours a session. That’s a hefty amount of time.
That compounds if you are in an episodic campaign which many people in the space are. It is one of the major differences between tabletop RPGs and board games (you did know they are not board games, right?). Your characters grow over time as they go from adventure to adventure with one underpinning storyline like in a television or movie series.
That requires focus and dedication to get the most from each session. It makes us more skilled at the few games we play instead of trying to spread our creativity across several.
The more games we play, the more rules to learn, time to spend, and investment financially for those of us who like to go the extra mile with miniatures and props.
So, we will only make time for a few. Sure, we may read and even collect tabletop RPGs. But, we will not play more than three at one time. That means we are picky about the games we choose to play. We do not choose a game because it sounds cool. We perform our due diligence in research before we decide we will spend time playing a game.
If I wasn’t doing what I’m doing with tabletop RPGs and just playing (I’m normally the GM, but playing in general), I would play Classic Marvel Superheroes Advanced, Vaesen, and the Cypher System. That’s it. That would cover all of the genres I love and the particular games I enjoy.
But wait! There’s more!
Let’s just keep it a Benjamin, shall we? Some games are just not good. Goodness, I would say most are not. RPG Elites will not waste their time on a dud of a game, especially those that employ a system that gets in the way of the story (more on this in RPG Elite Quality #8).
Plus, it can be cost prohibitive. Games are not cheap and the price on them keep going up. On average, they are about $40.00 a pop (I’m talking physical games). Add to that adventures, expansions, and various other supplements, and you are talking about hundreds of dollars just for one game. For many people, that’s something that’s out of reach.
In this post I’ve laid the beginning groundwork of a major pillar (the major pillar, really) of RPG Elite. In part two, we’ll continue and see how far we can get as we build upon all ten of the qualities that are part of the RPG Elite Philosophy.
If you want a video version of this and get a head start on the third quality, check out this until next time. 👊🏿
