Jedi Muppet wisdom is easily applied to all areas of life, and roleplaying games are no exception. Today we are going to see what the wisest of the wise can teach us about the games we love to play.

Worry, do not. Translate everything he says, we will. Able to read it in normal sentence structures, you will be. Real, the wisdom is. Embrace it, you must. That nothing is lost in translation, we hope.

Don’t worry. We will translate everything he says. You will be able to read it in normal sentence structures. The wisdom is real. You must embrace it. We hope that nothing is lost in translation.

Things You Will See. Other Places.

First, let’s talk about the world you make. When you sit down to play a roleplaying game, you are opening yourself up to the imaginations of everyone at the table. Players and GMs all see the world differently from each other, and that is a good thing. It makes the world you play in seem more alive and real, exciting and unpredictable.

Whatever part of the world you contribute, do so peacefully. And be passive when resolving conflict with everyone else at the table. A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never to attack. Learn from others and work together to build on the foundations of previous sessions.

Difficult to see, the future is. Do not be surprised if the world takes twists and turns that no one expected when you planned it all out in that first session!

Patience, You Must Have

With differences comes growth, but also the potential for the dark side. Things will not always go your way. Dice will fail. The party will vote against you. The GM will make a ruling you do not like. It is easy to upset when we don’t get our way, but talking out our troubles is much more productive. Most conflicts in an RPG exist just because of a lack of communication, so communicate!

Anger, fear, aggression; the dark side of the Force are they. Easily they flow, quick to join you in a fight. If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny. Consume you, it will. You may find yourself becoming that un-fun person that no one ever wants to game with.

Train Yourself to Let Go of Everything You Fear to Lose

Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. If you do not speak up for yourself and your character, you will get upset that things never go your way, and you will come to resent players and GMs for this. At that point, the game will no longer be fun.

So instead, try to remember that the character you play is not really you. Sometimes you may disagree with your character’s choice of actions, or you may think you know the right thing to do and want to do it in spite of character knowledge or alignment.

But it is ok to lose a challenge in an RPG if you do it for the right reasons. Let the character be themselves. Enjoy the story, and embrace the experience. You will have so much more fun if you let the character be who you designed them to be. And if they die, they die being themselves.

Always Pass On What You Have Learned

Share information with other characters often. It builds trust and gives you a better chance to overcome obstacles together. Share the world with other players as well. Do your best to ensure that you are all on the same page, even if you each see the world a little differently.

Be patient with players that do not have much experience with the rules you are using for your game. Teach them in a way that makes them glad they have learned. Be VERY patient with those players that have never played an RPG before. And be very VERY patient with a GM that has never tried to be a master of a game before. These people are the future of our hobby.

Let your character be themselves, and accept the ending of their story that you started. Death is a natural part of life. Rejoice for those around you who transform into the Force. Mourn them, do not. Miss them, do not. Attachment leads to jealousy. There are much better ways to honor a dead character’s memory.

And make sure you raise your children to appreciate the hobby as well. They have great imaginations and worlds of ideas to offer. Truly wonderful, the mind of a child is.

Closing Thoughts

Luke Skywalker once sensed an RPG forming in the Force, and he asked Yoda “What’s in there?” Yoda replied, “Only what you take with you.” The games we play are made from what we bring to the table, so be sure to only bring the fun stuff!

Again, we hope that nothing got lost in the translation. The wisdom here may be a little vague, but it is also very helpful if you can understand it. If Yoda has shared any wisdom with you, please pass it on to us as well.

 

~Joshua