There’s a lotta chatter out there, not only in our hobby space but in the social media space in general, about how too many of us might be doing a bit too much jabbering and not enough doing. And while that may be true, and I think it’s been true and always will be true, personally, I just don’t think there’s really anything wrong with that.

Greetings good humans, and welcome back to Tabletop Alchemy! Where we mix things up in the hopes of finding something explosive.

Let’s talk about a book for a minute. The excellent and amazing novel Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. This 864 page tome features an inspired take on Britain’s Royal Society. The Royal Society, if you’re not sure what that is, is a quote “learned society” unquote. Basically a bunch of scientists who formed a club. That’s a pretty silly summary, but the Royal Society had members like Isaac Newton, Charles Babbage, Benjamin Franklin, Einstein, Hawking, Darwin, et cetera, et cetera.

So in the novel, written by fantastic author Susanna Clarke – and we’re gonna talk about her writing and her take on magic and soft vs hard magic systems in another video – in this book, which is set in an early-1800s historical London, or Europe, really, magic is slowly returning after a 300 year absence and there is a declining group of aristocrats who are interested in magic and who call themselves the “Learned Society of York Magicians”. And these guys are self-described as “theoretical” magicians, as directly opposed to being “practical” magicians. At the start of the book, of course, there are no practical magicians because magic has long since vanished. But these guys in the Learned Society of York Magicians really love the ideas and study of magic, and even though they can’t seem to perform it because magic has left the building so to speak, AND they’re also a little afraid of it too, genuine magic that is, they love to get together, eat pork pies and drink ale and discuss it. 

Anyway, I don’t want to take this metaphor too far, as the book is it’s own super impressive and fun and just really excellent story, but I really loved this notion of “theoretical” vs “practical” magicians. 

Or, in our case today, tabletop gamers. 

That’s right, I think there are quite a few of us tabletop gamers slash hobbyists who enjoy a lot of things aside from actual gameplay. I think a lot of us are stuck for time for actually playing games, or finding other “practical” gamers to play games with and even a few of us who don’t really care about the actual gameplay at all. Some folks just like to paint miniatures and the game systems are just peripheral to that specific facet of the hobby. 

And I think that’s not only ok but actually great. The cool thing about our hobby is that there are multiple vectors through which one can experience and enjoy it. And you can explore, experience, and saturate yourself with any or all of them at any time. 

I obviously like painting miniatures and crafting terrain and world-building, but I also like reading rulebooks, both for rpgs and skirmish games. I like checking out adventure modules for DnD and scenarios for skirmish games, things I’ll probably never get around to playing. I love the illustrations and character designs and maps, I even like paying attention to the layout and graphic design of these books. I like watching YouTube tabletop game meisters like Runehammer, Dungeon Craft and Sly Flourish for insights into rules hacks and gaming philosophy and game design. And I get to do all this without rolling a single die or setting up a single game table. 

Now you might be quite different, but some of you might be similar. You might like the creative act of crafting a wonderful piece of miniature terrain. You might like building and painting tiny houses. Or you might like the lore from a particular game that drives the aesthetic for a particular piece you’re building. Or even just enjoy the stories published within that lore. And you might not ever want to actually play that particular game. And guess what? That’s super cool. Do your thing. Enjoy what you enjoy.

Now that probably sounds anathema to a lotta people out there who do the doing, but don’t get me wrong – ultimately to learn and grow in any topic, one needs to do the thing. Watching painting tutorials and discussing painting techniques is a far cry from slinging paint itself. The same goes for writing, just as another example. Reading a hundred “how to write” books ain’t gonna put a book on your shelf that’s written by … you. Everything’s about being honest with yourself.

For me – and I think maybe a lot of other folks out there – the simple fact is that actually playing a game is kinda tough to execute. Scheduling is always an issue and just setting up and playing a game, even a supposedly “quick” game of WarCry or Frostgrave, tends to always eat up a significant chunk of time. And this might be weird but for me, actually playing games – Dungeon Mastering a D&D session is at the pinnacle of this effect – actually playing games is both mentally and physically taxing. Which is of course beneficial. You’re working out basically, in a certain context – and that’s not a bad thing! Not at all. I mean, playing tennis, even just for fun, is physically taxing. And that’s also probably the main benefit, it’s exercise and working out your mind and imagination and creativity is a benefit of playing games too. Expending energy is how you get results in our universe, but finding clever ways to conserve energy is kinda one of the things all creatures in this universe have an evolutionary predilection toward. Meaning, we’re programmed to want to be lazy. Obviously that’s a bit facetious but you know what I mean – we have to consciously work against our natural proclivity to NOT do a thing because we have this fundamental survival instinct to conserve energy.

But all those things I mentioned earlier can be so cool to indulge in. Especially the reading portions of that, for me. Check this out, I love reading Joe McCullough’s rule books – all of ‘em. Frostgrave, Ghost Archipelago, Stargrave, and this latest one I picked up just because I saw it on the shelf in my friendly local game store (shout out to Lost Planet!) and I was instantly captivated by the cover design. Then I saw who wrote it and it was an instant purchase for me. I had an excellent time reading it and I’ve been ruminating about it – I mean, it’s about Napoleonic-era commandos with muskets and sabres out hunting werewolves and vampires, c’mon! And it’s spurred my imagination into churning up ideas and notions regarding paint schemes, and thematic miniatures and terrain builds, and atmospheric storytelling, and even rule book design and game mechanics. This particular game uses a base 2d10 rolling system vs the typical d20 system. And I’ve told quite a few friends about The Silver Bayonet – most of ‘em not even tabletop gamers. I just like to share stuff I think is cool. 

So the question is, is it fine for me to read and enjoy that book The Silver Bayonet without ever playing it? Go on, drop a comment, we’ll – Oh are you tired of this silly YouTuber gag? Most of us are. Anyway, the answer for me is: of course, yes. 

There is an exception to my sorta general enjoy-the-things-you-want-the-way-you-want notion. And that’s when folks purport to be experts on something or argue practical realities from a purely theoretical experience. If I’ve read the D&D players handbook a few times just for fun and then I try to put forth advice or argue with someone about the practicality of certain rules, I need to understand that I have almost zero soap box on which to stand. Because if I were to run a few games, I would be able to experience the rules in action, which is the actual way they are meant to be experienced, and there are a lot of variables that affect how a game plays and works while being played vs the vacuum environment of purely theoretical headspace. 

So while I do encourage people to play new games, do new things, et cetera, I also don’t really think it’s the end of the world if someone just likes to chill out and think about playing games or enjoy all the cool stuff peripheral to a certain game. 

The only problem that really comes up, beyond that theoretical magician trying to call out the practical magician thing, the only other real issue for an individual is if someone hasn’t done the thing but really really wants to. In that case, that person’s gotta be honest with themselves and they gotta give themselves a chance, despite any fears or apprehensions about having a new experience. It’s either do the thing or be okay not doing the thing. Cause it sucks to be resentful. And in this life, we’re typically resentful of ourselves 99% of the time.

So, in the end, if you’re one of those folks whose got fourteen Barnes and Noble sized bookshelves stacked with boardgames and rpg books and skirmish rule sets and you like to kick back in that high-backed Victorian lounge chair beside the roaring fire and crack open one of those books just to immerse yourself in someone else’s creative endeavor, or paint a mini just cause you thought it was cool and have no idea what game it comes from, here’s to you. That’s a glass of cabernet. Expensive. Notes of cherry … and barrels. Here’s to you. Enjoy your thing. 

I don’t know what i’m doing either, yeah, I don’t know.

Anyway, it’s just an opinion – one among millions. So go enjoy something! See ya!