What really makes an rpg sing? (version 1)

Well that must be some kind of record.  Post No. 2 and I’ve already painted myself into a corner...  

If I could already tell you what really makes an rpg sing, then I wouldn’t need this blog at all. It's one of those questions that is easy to answer once, but impossible to answer once and for all. 

Luckily, I’m a restless sort: ‘answer once’ _does_not_work_ for me. Especially not with role playing. It’s a lifetime passion. I don’t want to find some single fixed answer, no matter how perfect it seems to be. Because that would mean leaving the passion behind. Instead, I want to explore as many dimensions of as many possible answers as I can. That’s what this blog is for, I think.

What I’m trying to find out is: what needs to happen for us to be able to say ‘we are having a great game right now’ or ‘that was a great session’, or ‘this campaign has been fantastic’?  (Actually: what I really want is to be able to make those things happen for myself, my friends and fellow gamers - but a blog is for talking and thinking, not doing).

My very first try at grabbing the smoke-monster goes like this.

What you need is:

 - players who are in-synch about what they want
 - a way of playing that fits with what the various players want
 - a way of playing that fits with the human context
 - players with the skills and knowledge to play their parts
 - game-playing resources that support the way you play
 - to put all of those things together in the right time(s) and place(s)

You may also need some patience, or a bit of luck.

‘But this is all vanilla!’, you say?

  

Well of course it looks like boring old vanilla from way up here.  We’re so high up right now we’re almost in orbit!  But when we get a bit closer to the ground, I’m hopeful we’ll start to make out some of the chocolatey chunks (maybe even a few of the nuttier bits).

Part of what I’m saying: what you do matters more than what’s in the rules.

Next: Chocolate chip?