Why Play Non-violent Games?
Dungeons and Dragons is, at its core, a violent game. A player’s character is mostly measured by the scale of violence that they are capable of. The longer a game goes, the “stronger” a character becomes, and the more violence they can inflict. This is the core game loop, and to ignore combat while playing Dungeons and Dragons is to ignore the vast majority of the rules in the games books and the information on a player’s character sheet. Furthermore, every official adventure written for the game takes violence as its premise, assuming that the players will be interested in wandering between fantasy locations and killing the creatures they find within.
This is certainly a successful formula, as it has sustained the game for decades and led it to be the biggest role-playing game in the world. But this formula may not be right for your program, and a different game might suit the outcomes and themes that you are looking for. These three games provide different examples of role-playing games with premises that do not include violence.
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Image: cbr.com
This multiple award winning title “is a pastoral fantasy role-playing game about traveling animal-folk, the world they inhabit, and the way the seasons change” (Possum Creek Games). Its rules support a game about characters on a path of self discovery, meeting friends and rivals and employing quick-witted or social problem-solving skills. There is only one core rule of Wanderhome, and it is that violence cannot be a solution, and that players and characters must find answers to problems that would often be easily solved by fighting. However, its rules can sometimes be abstract in a manner that makes them difficult to parse, which can lead to confusion for new players.
Image: belloflostsouls.com
Another award winning game, The Quiet Year is a map-making game in which players “define the struggles of a community living after the collapse of civilization, and attempt to build something good within their quiet year” before the next disaster (Buried Without Ceremony). Players will work together to draw a settlement on a map and take turns narrating the triumphs, failures, and drama within the community. The game assigns random events to a deck of cards, which players draw from at intervals to add to the story, often forcing them to adapt to changing circumstances. This game tests its players ability to craft a narrative through shared storytelling, which makes it a useful way to develop teamwork skills.
Image: briebeau.com
From TV to video games, monster hunting is a popular formula. Learning about a monster, crafting tools and strategies to defeat it, tracking it down and finally slaying it is a satisfying and repeatable narrative arc. Monster Care Squad takes the best aspects of the formula and flips the concept around, positioning the player characters as an elite squad of fantasy veterinarians on a mission to treat a mysterious illness plaguing the minds and bodies of legendary monsters. However, many of the mechanics of the game require careful reading and experience to really make the game sing, although its concept is well worth the price of entry. The games contained narrative makes it a good choice for programs that aren’t looking to run games that are connected week by week, and need a narrative that players can easily drop into.
For an overview of the game that’s backed by experience running it, I’ve linked an episode of The Gauntlet Podcast, a gaming podcast that discusses various role-playing games, and a review by Lhuzie and Bradley Haller of Split/Party, a gaming blog.