“The stage exists invisibly in the players’ minds, in a collective field of imagination.”
Theatre of the mind
Tabletop role-playing is theatre, seated – the stage lives in your minds. No costumes, no sets, no game board needed.
A stage without scenery
One person runs the game. They describe places, speak for every character in the world and guard its laws of nature. The rest of you step into your heroines and heroes: you speak for them, act for them, and the story takes the path you choose.
Unlike a book, a film or the theatre, you don’t just accept what happens – you shape it. Dice only come into play when chance matters.
The three pillars
The world
game master
Places, characters and events come alive through their description – ask about whatever you want to know.
The rules
everyone
They apply to all and serve the story; on rules questions the game master decides, so nobody falls out of the scene.
Your character
only you
What they say, do and want is yours alone to decide.
An evening at the table
Every session follows a ritual – so you can leave everyday life behind and take what you lived through home with you.
“When candelabras are set up, comfortable seats are waiting and a fire crackles in the background while frost flowers bloom on the window pane, the cliché of a cosy storytelling evening is complete.”
The setting
- Group
- 5 to 7 players
- Rhythm
- Either game weekends – Friday evening to warm up, Saturday the big session – or one fixed evening per week
- Age
- 18 and over
- What you bring
- alertness, punctuality, commitment
The ritual
Arrive
Let go, breathe, briefly say how you are and what you wish for. There is room for criticism and clarification here, too.
Retell
Together we remember what happened last time. This builds a group memory that carries the story over months.
Dive in
The music starts, the adventure is on.
Experience
Every character earns experience points for what they lived through; the whole group honours special moments.
One final sentence
Everyone says one sentence about the evening – without discussion.
Playing together
We play in character as much as possible. Friction between you is carried out through your characters – which turns it into plot instead of quarrel. Remarks from outside (the pizza, the film score, who has higher stats) tear apart any atmosphere. And nobody fights alone.
“In tabletop role-playing, heroes have one decisive advantage: the other heroes stand by their side.”
Music & leitmotifs
Music and sound pull you into the scene in seconds – like a radio play created in real time.
At the table we use ARES, a music and sound system for role-playing by Jörg Rüdenauer. At the press of a key you hear rain, harbour noise or the silence before the storm. Music opens the session, links scenes and sets accents.
Places, characters and powers get their own leitmotifs. When an ally’s motif suddenly sounds in the colour of an enemy, you sense something before anyone says it. Your character can have a leitmotif too – pick one.
Famous blockbuster music stays outside. It drags images from the real world to the table (“Oh, that’s the Batman music”) and pulls everyone out of the scene. The most important instrument is the voice – it is the costume of seated theatre.
“With a music system linked to a computer […] the game master has the possibilities of a real-time radio play on their side.”
What you take home
What your character lives through doesn’t stay at the table.
Your character grows – and you grow with them. In the game you try out what you might not yet dare in everyday life: taking the lead, negotiating, giving in, saying no. The group is a safe space for that. First there, then in life.
In DRAMATRIX a character grows not only in skills but in reflection, which rises after profound experiences that widen their view of the world. And those who survive dragons, intrigues and defeats together trust each other beyond the table as well.
DRAMATRIX is play with depth – not a form of therapy.
“real trust grows out of fictional experiences […] The border between reality and fantasy is permeable.”
“The player will first test newly acquired social skills in the ‘biotope’ of the familiar role-playing group before exposing them to the dangers of everyday life.”