The Kobold Guide to Roleplaying is a little anthology of essays focused on the element of roleplaying and how it relates to our favorite roleplaying games and life in general. Its not intended to be a rulebook, but more of a thought out exploration of the realm of roleplaying in our games. With Twenty-one authors, many of who are recognized icons in the D&D social Media sphere. Many of the essays are great primers for the new roleplayer to understand some of the finer points of a roleplaying experience. However some of the essays feel forced or ‘mechanical.’ What I mean by that is they feel like they were assignments that the author had to write and they reached for the subject. Not every essay feels like something from the heart. It is a good collection to read through and find the essays that as a Dungeon Master, perhaps you share with the new player, or the player that needs help with a concept. Or it helps to inspire you as a DM to better your own game concepts. Some of the essays are intentionally agnostic to the roleplaying games that they are informing, while others lean into the rulebooks for single system, using quotes as the basis of an argument to varying level of success. One piece I was extremely interested in by title turned out to be less than 1,500 words and mostly dressing rather than a dive on the subject with only the last paragraph touching on the subject in the title that drew my interest to the essay. I really wanted to love this anthology, unfortunately it is about half great well thought out articles and half not so great with either lack of content or mistaking essay for rulebook. Don’t count it completely out, but read it, and take from it the ones that resonate, but understand, like any collections of writing, you likely will find some articles that you love and want to use as a compass for your roleplaying, and some that will not vibe with you and you will forget pretty quickly. It is worth a look and read, perhaps a great resources for a group of players to peruse between sessions so each person can find the piece that they align with.
