TTRPGs explained for board gamers

Tabletop role-playing games look strange from the outside. There’s no board, one person seems to be in charge, and nobody can tell you who won. These guides explain how they work, in plain English, for people who already know their way around a board game.

In this guide

• TTRPG vs board game: what’s actually different, and where they overlap.
• What is a TTRPG? The basics, with no jargon. (Page to come.)
• What is an NPC? The characters the game master plays, and why every shopkeeper you’ve ever met was one.
• How to start playing a TTRPG if you’re a board gamer. (Page to come.)

The one thing every shopkeeper has in common

In a TTRPG, the shopkeeper is always a non-player character, or NPC. The game master plays them, and they exist to sell the party a rope. Dungeon Shopkeeper flips that: you’re the NPC, and the adventurers are the ones who have to haggle.