Aaron In (More) Words

  SURELY THERE'S A BETTER WAY An ever-growing list of awards shows and web festivals want your money and your attention -- but what do you get in return ? What role should festivals and awards play in our quest to expand the actual play universe beyond Critical Role and Dimension 20, broaden its reach within the tabletop community, and professionalize the relationship between publishers and creators ? Artificial intelligence might be sexier and the war to replace Twitter might be more relevant, but on this, the Great Day of Ennie-ing, let's pause to talk about something else that has evaded serious critique despite multiplying rapidly and claiming hold over the tabletop world: actual play awards . Ned Donovan, human perpetual-motion machine, actual-play advocate, and organizer of the Audio Fiction World Cup once told me the purpose of awards should be to recognize and celebrate quality work, and to promote that work to consumers and potential investors . It will come as no s...

  WHAT MAKES AN ACTUAL PLAY? The fundamental problem that must be resolved before one can begin their thoughtful critique of actual play as an art form is definitional. What is an actual play? One could say, “any media where some group of people play tabletop games for an audience,” but as we ponder actual play as a topic worthy of criticism, this answer’s accuracy far outshines its usefulness. How does one work with a category so broad it includes both multi-million-dollar franchises and amateurs streaming their Zoom calls on Twitch? There’s a certain strangeness to it, honestly. Actual play is inescapably defined by Critical Role and Dimension 20 . Their dominance is such that hobbyist game masters are forced to confront “the Mercer Problem” at their home tables, and aspiring content creators measure their own success in degrees of separation from Brennan Lee Mulligan. Even highly produced and superbly cast projects like the By Night series and Bookshops of Arkham stare jea...