So, here we are.
I’ve finally done what I said I would do, and create content that revolves around dramaturgy in TTRPGs. After months of talking about it, leading a workshop on it, I’ve finally come around to putting all of this information in one cohesive place where the public can access it.
To be honest, I did not expect the concept of dramaturgy in the TTRPG space to take off at all. It’s incredibly niche, most people don’t even know what dramaturgy is (unless you’ve seen that one episode of Law and Order: Criminal Intent). It’s a hard sell, but I was hoping the theatre-kid-to-TTRPG pipeline would help me a bit.
And oh boy. People are interested.
Originally, I was going to make a sort-of zine and publish it on ko-fi. It would be pay what you can, and just a way to introduce folks to these ideas, and how to apply them to games. I think in the future, there will be some sort of publication, but until then, this is going to be where I’m going to be talking about these ideas and concepts.
What can you expect from the Casting Dramaturgy newsletter?
Dramaturgy can be a bit amorphous sometimes. It’s research, criticism, development, devising, and has so many branches to it. This newsletter will be a little bit all over the place, but here is what you can expect:
Discussion of different theatrical theories and how we can apply them to TTRPGs
Reviewing different actual play shows
Exploring new gaming systems, and how we can use them to tell the stories we want
Play and musical recommendations (you will never stop me from being my fullest, theatre kid self)
The newsletter itself will be 100% free, but I will be linking a Ko-Fi for anyone who wishes to tip. In the future, I would really love to have bonus content for folks who pay, whether that’s interviews, learning new systems, and just silly shenanigans (ranking TV shows and movies on how accurately they represent D&D, explaining the plots of each Critical Role season as if I know a lot about it (a la Jenny Nicholson), doing an AMA session regarding the topic).
I really hope this can blossom into something cool. I really believe in the power of dramaturgy, it’s a fantastic tool that you can mold to fit your needs as a storyteller. I have a hope that major AP shows will start utilizing dramaturgs, helping GMs with battlemaps and story beats, workshopping character ideas with players, and creating outreach material with producers. They’re a fantastic aid for storytelling, helping you tell the story you want.
With that, welcome to Casting Dramaturgy. Take a short rest, put on your favorite D&D character playlist, and get comfy. I’m happy to see you here.