White Space in TTRPG Games

In a video from Variety magazine Brandy Lee Mulligan and Matt Mercer wax lyrical for about the work of Akira Kurosawa and Hayao Miyasaki. They specifically discussed a scene in The Seven Samurai where the movie is about to hit its big climactic fight scene and the action stops.

Instead of action, instead of even preparation for action, there is an extended sequence of rain falling quietly on roofs of the village. This moment is an expression of what Japanese film makers, artists and designers refer to as Ma: moments of stillness, emptiness, and quiet.

Mercer and Mulligan called out its importance in TTRPGs and how western culture often dismisses it. They call out the instinct to always add more, to have everything be at 100% all the time. However, in doing so we cost ourselves something which is very meaningful and useful for DM to consider.

Defining Ma

Ma is often translated as white space, though the idea carries much more weight in Japanese culture. It is often associated with this quote:

30 spokes join at the wheel’s hub.
The hole in the middle makes it useful.
Mold clay into a bowl.
The empty space makes it useful.
Cut out doors and windows for the house.
The holes make it useful.
Therefore, the value comes from what is there,
But the use comes from what is not there.

Tao Te Jing

This is the essence of Ma; it’s not just a white space but emptiness that provides intrinsic utility. An easy place to see it is in a well laid-out room which contains not just furniture, but logical paths and open areas to move through. In film or books, it’s quiet moments of normal life. In visual arts, it’s negative space. Ma is something that is very easy from our perspective to see as wasted space wasted time, since it does not add materially to the main point. Just the opposite, Ma intentionally pulls away from it. But, in doing so, it highlights that point in a way that more sound, action, or text could not.

Ma in TTRPGs

In a TTRPG, Ma can take many forms: shopping or beach sessions, PCs talking around a campfire, passing downtime, doing small things while travelling or more.

One of my recent games, BUMP! is a coming-of-age horror game of scouts at a summer camp battling a supernatural monster in the woods. At the end of each scene, a scout is asked for a memory about their lives in scouting or experience with the other scouts. This moment of Ma lets them reflect on normal life, how things were before.

As in a film or text, these moments of Ma can break the tension. They can give your table space to simply play and have fun in the midst of high drama. They let everyone relax and revel a bit in the world you’ve created together without needing to think about narratives or danger. A role playing game is, after all, a game, and this can prove hugely valuable to everyone’s enjoyment.

Similarly, Ma highlights stakes and drama by creating contrast between rising action and quieter moments. Mulligan sums this up by saying “if you don’t let the audience watch the rain fall… how will they know what violence is?” Constant action loses meaning and becomes action for its own sake. Ma, and especially moments for backstories and roleplay demonstrate what it means to “win”, what the PCs are really fighting for.

Ma also provides important roleplay moments. There is a saying that “character is what you do when no one is looking”. Moments of Ma give us this kind of window on the nature of the PCs when they are not in danger or under pressure.

Less is More

So, if you want to highlight the importance of the action in your game, take some time away from it. Take a step back and give your table a moment of Ma. Use moments of quiet and low stakes role play to show how important the main events are. Let everyone breathe for a moment and think about what is really happening. These areas of narrative white space may be just what is missing if constant action doesn’t have the excitement you are hoping.