Is metagaming always a bad thing? This week, Doc & Liv invite Eloy Lasanta onto the show to discuss the 4th wall, “above the table” talk, and the secrets of engaging with the meta. While sometimes controversial, we give some great tricks and tips for metagaming rather than treating all out-of-character knowledge and interactions as harmful. Sit with us as we explore the many ways you and your players can use information about the game, genre, mechanics, narrative, and one another to collaborate at the table.
Episode Topics
- Defining metagaming beyond just player knowledge of the narrative
- Difference between table collaboration and exploiting the meta
- Understand how genre standards and system knowledge can help your table
- Using dramatic irony through metagaming
- Setting table expectations for metagaming for everyone’s enjoyment
Game Spotlight
This week, we discussed Paranoia with our guest and our interests in breaking the fourth wall as GMs!
Peer Review
This week, we explore metagaming and its lesser discussed counterparts – metacognition and meta-action.
- Analyzing the meta dimensions in TRPGs: Meta-action, metacognition, and metagaming by C. Leon and J. Lipuma (2021) examines the differences in player interactions with the mechanics and narrative of a game through a systematic literature review. This is a great article for defining what parts of the game can be “above the table” with situational examples to assist!
Find Us and Our Guests
Eloy Lasanta is a Award-winning TTRPG designer, singer/songwriter/music producer, and public speaker. You can find his work on DriveThruRPG or with Third Eye Games.
Follow the Forever GMs on social media on BlueSky (@theforevergms.bsky.social), Instagram (@theforevergms), and TikTok (@theforevergms) for updates on the show and let us know what topics we should cover in the future
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