Pathfinder the Table Top RPG as a Book Club?

I am part of a group that plays a game called Pathfinder it is like Dungeons and Dragons. Our group is like a book club. The story is told by a game master. We all get the same information told in story format. Like all stories we interpret the information differently, our group has a dialogue on how to proceed. We dissect every angle of what the authors have written. We discuss points for hours sometimes before making a move. It is kind of like a book club where you choose your own adventure. We get to create the characters that inhabit this world and actually interact with it. We are doing what most readers wish they could do. We are immersing ourselves in this other world that was created by someone else and bring a bit of ourselves with us into it. It is considered a game but it is more like collaborative storytelling.

The story is laid out like all stories there are plot points and hooks, twists and turns, the only difference is we are the characters and they are not prewritten. A typical session starts with a recap of what we have accomplished so far. Then the game master gets into telling the story and based on the information provided and what has already been established we as players have to come to a decision of what should happen next in the story with the given options. Some decisions are made by dice rolls but there is a majority of it that is made through discussion and dissection of the story so far.

We meet weekly or bi-weekly and play. The only person who actually reads the whole story and most of the options is the game master. The rest of the players just get to see what happens from their decisions.

We are not a traditional book club. We listen to the story at the same time, now occasionally one of the players will miss a session we spend part of the next session recapping for them, so they are caught up. Sometimes things are missed, and they have to make decisions on the fly. There is a lot of talking at once and taking turns sharing perspectives. Everyone gets a chance to speak and be heard. The game master acts as a moderator for the group reigning things in when the discussion gets out of hand or goes on for too long and it is time to move on.

Another way we differ from a traditional book club is our meetings last hours, usually a minimum of 2-3, at a time. Our stories go on for months following the same arc. The average life of a game in Pathfinder is 6 months. Meaning it takes us 6 months to get through one complete story. So our titles do not change frequently.

There are many differences between us and a traditional book club. But we do have some similarities like snacks. We either all bring our own or pitch in and order pizza to share.  We are like a book club in that we share a story and talk about it, the biggest difference is we are part of it. We get to impact where the story goes next.

Special Topic: Graphic Novels

What is a graphic novel? This is a question that still begs answering to this day as there is no clear answer. How does it differ from a comic book? That is a bit easier to explain a comic book is a periodical that tells part or a short story about a character and intended for children. A graphic novel is “usually taken to mean a long comic narrative for a mature audience, published in hardback or paperback and sold in bookstores, with serious literary themes and sophisticated artwork.” (Encyclopedia Britannica)

Are graphic novels their own genre? I don’t believe they are I believe they are a delivery method not unlike audiobooks. They are not limited to a specific genre like horror or action but rather can be found across all genres. It is a medium by which a story is told. The features of a graphic novel are not indicative of the story being told but the manner in which it is told much like an audiobook or print book. These mediums are how people choose to enjoy a story. Many popular classics such as Frankenstein and The Three Musketeers have been turned into graphic novels cementing the fact that they are not a genre but a medium.

This can help shed light on the question of if graphic novels can be considered literature. I believe they can be if the story they are telling is one that is literature worthy. Many great literary tales have been converted into graphic novels does this in some way take away from the story’s literary credibilityMerriam-Webster defines literature as “writings in prose or verse especially writings having excellence of form or expression and expressing ideas of permanent or universal interest”. So, the argument could easily be made that graphic novels are told through prose as well as imagery and could therefore technically be considered literature. “Awareness doesn’t mean critical sophistication or conscious analysis; reading the images in graphic novels is similar to learning to “read” one’s environment — point of view, consequences of action, and feelings provide narrative cues.” (Goldsmith)