The Five Laws of Roleplaying Games

A manifesto of sorts. How we can apply the Five Laws of Library Science to roleplaying games

Hi all,

A small detour from the design diary of the last few installments, but don’t fret, it will return next time!

Sometimes you just get a thought and have to write it. I've encountered the Five Laws of Library Science a few times now, and everything they make such an impression on me again. You know the feeling of reading something that just makes so much sense, but you never thought about it yourself in that way? Well, that.

It got me thinking on if they could be applied to roleplaying games. And, yes, they could.

The Five Laws of Roleplaying Games

The original Five Laws of Library Science were formulated by the Indian librarian S. R. Ranganathan and published in 1931. The are as follows:

1. Books are for use.

2. Every person his or her book.

3. Every book its reader.

4. Save the time of the reader.

5. A library is a growing organism.

I've seen them applied to other topics, and while thinking about it, I realized they perfectly fit roleplaying games as well.

The Five Laws of Roleplaying Games

1. Roleplaying games are for play

2. Every player their game

3. Every game its player.

4. Save the time of the player.

5. Roleplaying games are a growing organism.

First Law: Roleplaying games are for play

Is my roleplaying collection too big? It might be. Did I read every zine and book I have? Most, but not all. Will I ever play them all? No, I probably will play just part of them.

But, and this is a big one. For most of them I can imagine myself playing them. While reading them, they spark ideas, possible scenarios, potential scenes, characters I could make. Reading is play.

You might even plan to run a game and start taking notes, creating the world, filling it with hooks & non-player characters. You might create a character or multiple characters, going through character creation, weighing different classes/backgrounds and other options. Even if you never reach the table, you have played the game. Prep is play.

I always have lists of games I still want to play or run, either with a group or solo. These lists might change, as tastes and trends change.

Get rid of games you don't enjoy, games you never see yourself playing, but don't feel guilty for having a ton of games and not enough time to play them all at a table. Nothing beats a good session with friends, firing on all cylinders creating something none of you could have created on their own, but all play is valid play.

Second Law: Every player their game

In the original laws this law mostly focuses on librarians making sure they serve a wide ranch of patrons. Librarians should respect that everyone is different and that everyone has different tastes regarding the books they choose, without judgement or prejudice.

As a player or DM I see this as an encouragement to try out different games (either solo or with a group), to find the ones that fit your gaming style and tastes. Sometimes this means playing a game that's not really your taste, to be able to play with your friends (hopefully they do the same for you!).

Also, try not be a snob about other peoples favorite games. Hype up games you love, rather than disparage games you don't like. (Which, I must admit, can be hard. I have shit-talked 5e more often than not). You have to accept that you might not be the target audience for a certain game.

You don't have to like every roleplaying game. You can just shrug, accept it's not for you and move on. You don't have to back every Kickstarter, you don't have to keep all games you bought. And maybe most importantly, when people are enjoying it, you don't have to rain on their parade.

Third Law: Every game its player

This is very much related to the second law, but in this case the focus is on the game. Making sure a game find its audience. This is an encouragement for all indie game designers. Make your weird shit, there will be somebody who will fucking love it. There will be an audience for your games, how small it might be. It might just be someone's new favorite game.

Of course, to find an audience for your game, you need to make sure people find. Marketing sucks, I know, but there is nothing as great as hearing from people who played your game and liking or even loving it. That will only happen if people can find it, and especially if the right people hear about.

Your game deserves to be made, and your game deserves to be played. This will also require effort by the creator. If there's art, make sure it fits the vibes. If you post about it, make sure you have a good pitch.

This is something I also still struggle with. Being part of a community helps! I'm part of several game designer discords, with lots of people helping out when you're crafting both your games and the promo needed to get it out. There's tons of great resources. A great starting place is the ZiMo discord. It's a bit dormant during most of the year, but buzzing in Zine Month (februari). It contains links to resources from game design, art, layout to publishing and promoting your games. I'll post an invite in the comments down below.

Fourth Law: Save the time of the player

In the original laws this is of course relates to the whole library: it must be organized in a way readers can quickly find the books they want to read.

The nice thing about these laws is how they can applied on different levels: in this case we look at one specific game. Is your game organized in such a way the player can quickly learn the game? How easy is it to find the rules they need during play?

Not every game needs an index or even a table of contents (but please add one if it's more than a few pages).

(Of course it also would be great if it was easier to find the game you want to find. Looking it at you, itch.io and DriveThruRPG.)

Fifth Law: Roleplaying games are a growing organism

For this one I can be short: just look at the broad range of indie games being published. From very trad to OSR, from guided, co-op to solo games, journaling games, lyric games. The boundaries are continuously being pushed, but for the more traditionally minded people enough of the innovations seep back into mainstream gaming.

Roleplaying games are living and thriving. I love roleplaying games, and I'd love to see what the next 50 years will bring.

What's your favorite of these laws? How would you interpret them?

Resources

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_laws_of_library_science

• https://www.librarianshipstudies.com/2017/09/five-laws-of-library-science.html

• https://the-lost-bay.itch.io/make-accessible-ttrpgs

  A guide to making accessible tabletop roleplaying games