Many people enter the hobby of Table Top Role Playing Games (TTRPGs) through Dungeons and Dragons (D&D). For many players this will be the only TTRPG they will ever play. Many of these players are brought in by shows that feature D&D such as Stranger Things, or by "Actual Play" series like Critical Role.
I have nothing against anyone playing or being excited about the style of play featured on these shows. But I personally am not interested in that style of play.
D&D is the most popular TTRPG by a wide margin. Though a truly accurate measure probably can't be gathered, I've seen estimates that place it at 10 times more popular than the next largest TTRPG- Call of Cthulhu.
There are hundreds of notable TTRPG's outside of D&D. I've run over a dozen systems in the 17 years I've been playing these games. Every year dozens of new titles are released. This trend does not seem to be slowing down.
But why are there so many of these games, and do they offer anything that D&D doesn't?
I think to answer the question of why we have so many systems, we need to answer why people play these games, and what are the things a player could want out of a game?
6 Cultures of Play is a popular article that outlines 6 subcultures that exist with the hobby space. I have a lot of issues with this article, but I respect its attempt to try to categorize different games and subcultures. Aside from its flaws, I think the main takeaway should be - Because there are different subcultures in our hobby, different people must want different things out these games. I would add that - some players want different things at different times and want to have a wide variety of experiences.
This list will be far from exhaustive. Most people will want at least a few things, and some people will want different things depending on the day. Whether ttrpgs can fulfill these expectations is up to your personal views. I personally have no interest in the simulation aspect, but there are many who love games that emphasize that aspect.
This is a hard question to answer. Games are more than their rule sets. They're also the people that play them and the way those people interpret them.
What do I mean by this?
These games really exist and are interpreted by our minds. The way we play these games are for the most part decided by the rules written for them. Obviously different rule sets are written to emphasize different aspects of play. But these games are also interpreted by humans who want certain things out the game. The communities that play these games also have their own opinions about how to best run them. One table running Call of Cthulhu will look similar to another table playing the Call of Cthulhu. However, the players at one table may be emphasizing different parts of the game than the other.
I haven't even mentioned things like genre. A horror game will run much differently than a fantasy adventure. Although I allude to it, I also don't discuss how rule sets create different experiences. I feel like discussing all this here is outside the scope of this article.
Matt Mercer was the Dungeon Master of Critical Role for many years. The Matt Mercer effect refers to players and dungeon masters having unrealistic expectations about the game. These unrealistic expectations are usually framed as "The cast of Critical Role are professional voice actors and this show is their full time job, you cannot expect your group to live up to that level of quality.". I would argue there's a less discussed aspect. The idea that an ideal game should resemble a game of Critical Role is also damaging. There are so many more ways to enjoy these games than the improv theater style. Coming into the hobby believing this is the ideal way to play is great if everyone else in your group has the same view, but many tables do not subscribe to the idea that this is the ideal play style.
I don't blame newcomers to the hobby for these views, and I'm glad Critical Role brings people into the hobby. If this is your introduction to role playing, how would you know anything else is out there?
The only thing I'm trying to say with this article is this -
TTRPG's can provide many different experiences and if you're joining a new table, you should be ready for the game to be played differently than what you might be used to.