In the latest in an occasional series of TTRPG tips from films, TV, and books, I’m looking at PG Wodehouse’s humorous novels charting the misadventures of Bertie Wooster and his unflappable valet, Jeeves. This was inspired by a trip to a second hand bookshop and a purchase of Aunts Aren’t Gentlemen, the last book Wodehouse completed, and barely a novel, really – 45,000 words that you can polish off in an afternoon. It’s light prose, tripping wordplay, and has some TTRPG advice hidden within – whether we’re playing something lighthearted, or not.

If you’re unfamiliar, PG Wodehouse’s series, written throughout the 20th century and set in sort of the same era, follow the misadventures of Bertie Wooster, a happy-go-lucky aristocrat, and his unflappable valet Jeeves. Their adventures often involve becoming engaged to marry by accident, stealing cats by accident, getting involved in hair-brained schemes, and wriggling out of said schemes. Through it all Wooster, the narrator, is hapless but lovable. Jeeves is inscrutable but brilliant, and often effects a solution to the problems faced. I’m not sure if it ever went outside of the UK, but if you’d rather watch it than read it, there’s an excellent TV adaptation with Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry that you can no doubt find loads of clips of on TikTok and while away an afternoon getting the gist.

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