I expected this installment to be all about the DM (or GM)... the Dungeon (or Game) Master... the person creating the world in which the game is played and deciding the results of the players' actions. I figured this book would be the other side's response, if you will. Instead, James D'Amato throws the idea of "player vs. DM" out the window, calling it harmful, claiming it can, "create social tensions and make it difficult to have fun." I see what he's saying and I feel like discussions of DMs as being out to get the players has usually been tongue-in-cheek, but I know DMs often swap nostalgic stories with each other about game sessions in which they achieved the illusive "TPK" (Total Party Kill). Those don't happen often (if they did, players would probably give up), but on rare occasions, they can be fun not only for the DMs, but for the players... they valiantly attempted a quest that was too difficult and fell short. Everyone might fondly retell stories of that one for years...
I know there are lots of role-playing systems out there and, true, my experience is almost, yet not quite, completely limited to flavors of Dungeons and Dragons, but the gameplay James D'Amato describes in The Ultimate RPG Gameplay Guide sounds very different from what I've experienced before. His suggestions work to involve all of the players much deeper into the collaborative aspects of playing the game than I've heard of or experienced before, with several ideas and exercises taken from improvisational comedy. There are also a lot of ideas taken from literary critiques and concepts used for various other media forms, from movies to videogames. James hopes that through a knowledge of these creative tools, one can be mindful of them when playing to help shape the gameplay to be more interesting and meaningful to the audience.
As for who, exactly, the audience is, James addresses that, as well. The players of the game are all audience members, of course, each with a different perspective (you know, since they probably are each more interested in their characters than the other players' characters), but he also considers the possibility of third-party observers, since, with the popularity of online video streaming of games in what's been termed "Actual Play," now there can be non-player audience members to consider. While this book can be useful for any gaming group, using the methods to give everything "greater meaning" following themes and such would obviously help to make the gameplay more interesting to outside observers.
This book is written more to be read cover-to-cover, while the Character Backstory Guide was less linear, allowing you to sort of flip to a page and try out one of the exercises. However, once you've read it through once, you will find that you want to go back to specific sections and try using some of the included tools, such as one a GM can use to keep track of how much focus individual characters have received in gaming sessions, to help ensure that each player gets their fair share of the spotlight. There are also tools for managing the pacing of your games and for managing tension levels.
If you currently play a role-playing game and stream the gameplay or play while non-players are watching, this is a no-brainer. Buy this book and use it to make your gameplay more entertaining for all audience members. If you run a game and the players are the only audience, this can still provide useful suggestions, exercises and tools to improve your game and make your gameplay more interesting, inclusive and, perhaps, take some of the work off of the GM. Finally, believe-it-or-not, if you don't yet play at all and you're looking to start or if you're considering trying a different role-playing system than you've been playing, check out chapter 4, Session Zero, which, among other pre-game discussion and considerations, gives some tips on how to choose a gaming system that will fit your group and their desired gaming experiences.
This wasn't what I expected, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. There is a lot of information in here to unpack and if gaming is an important part of your life, The Ultimate RPG Gameplay Guide will present new ideas to help improve your role-playing sessions, regardless of their format.
