This is the most challenging review I’ve written to date, and not because of the reasons you may think. It’s time to dive into the Kobold Guide to Roleplaying.
Disclosure: Kobold Press provided me a review copy of this book.
Background
Guides to roleplaying and game-mastering have been a staple of the tabletop RPG for decades. There’s no shortage of content, tackling the subject from multiple angles and points of view. But to my knowledge, the Kobold Guide to Roleplaying is unique because it’s not from a single perspective and is completely agnostic to system or setting despite the fantasy cover.
Contents
This book is a collection of short essays by different authors addressing concepts in and about roleplaying from their perspectives and experiences. This includes people like Gail Simone, Shareef Jackson, Luke Gygax, and B. David Walters. The essays range from three to six pages in length and are eminently readable. This is a book that was made for everyone.
Ginny Di takes on the challenges around “charisma” and ways to use it and interpret it that’s aren’t the reductive standards that are too easy to slip into. Bryan Camp hits a favourite topic of mine brilliantly, the idea that failure is a viable option and perfectly okay in game, and that it can drive story development. Multiple essays go into ways to develop your individual skills as roleplayers. There’s even a roleplaying to world build piece by Christopher M. Cevasco that’s a great intro to the idea that roleplayed interactions and descriptions refine and develop the perception of the game world. The value in the contents of the book can’t be overstated, given that it even gets into how to deal with things when they don’t go as planned in game.
Uses
This is the hard part. Why? Because this book is an amazing resource that’s hard to parse in the ways I’ve done reviews before. This isn’t a “how to” book, or a series of checklists, or a beat-for-beat self improvement guide. It’s people being honest, open, and helpful with their experiences and ideas in an effort to help the reader, GM or Player, be better at roleplaying. It’s beautiful, qualitative data, and so it’s incredibly useful and also hard to quantify.
To put this in perspective; as a GM, a Player, and a world builder clocking over 30 years of experience now, I was learning from this book. It’s very easy in this hobby to get stuck in your ways, especially if you play with the same people over a long period. This is the kind of shake up book that’s worth having to keep yourself flexible and capable of growth.
Final Thoughts
This is the single most useful guide to roleplaying I’ve read in any format. It’s easy to read, draws on real life experiences and perspectives, and gives the kind of solid advice that would have set me further down the path I’m on if it had existed when I was getting into the hobby. Like I said, it’s system and setting agnostic, so it doesn’t matter what system you’re rocking, it’s useful. My favourite essays were “Embrace the Embarrassment: or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love it When I Bomb” by Shareef Jackson, and “Take Your Character on a Transformative Journey: How to Roleplay and Facilitate Character Arcs” by Sage Stafford. But here’s the thing, every essay is worth reading, even if you don’t fully agree with some of the premises or conceptualizations.
Overall, this is a strong Rank S supplement, and I strongly recommend it. It’s currently available online through the Kobold Press online shop, so check it out!
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