Post by Kyana on Nov 19, 2008 20:27:22 GMT -5
A role-playing game (RPG/ roleplaying game/rp) is a game in which the participants assume the roles of fictional characters. Participants determine the actions of their characters based on their characterization. Within the rules, players have the freedom to improvise; their choices shape the direction and outcome of the game.
Most role-playing games are conducted like radio drama (traditional): only the spoken component is acted. One player, the game master (GM), creates a setting in which the other players play the role of a single character. The GM describes the game world and its inhabitants; the other players describe the intended actions of their characters, and the GM describes the outcomes. Some outcomes are determined by the game system, and some are chosen by the GM.
Role-playing games are a form of interactive and collaborative storytelling. Like novels or films, role-playing games appeal because they engage the imagination. Interactivity is the crucial difference between role-playing games and traditional fiction. Whereas a viewer of a television show is a passive observer, a player at a role-playing game makes choices that affect the story. Such role-playing games extend an older tradition of storytelling games where a small party of friends collaborate to create a story.
While simple forms of role-playing exist in traditional children's games such as "cops and robbers", "cowboys and Indians" and "playing house", role-playing games add a level of sophistication and persistence to this basic idea. Participants in a role-playing game will generate specific characters and an ongoing plot. A consistent system of rules and a more or less realistic campaign setting in games aids suspension of disbelief. The level of realism in games ranges from just enough internal consistency to set up a believable story or credible challenge up to full-blown simulations of real-world processes.
Varieties:
Traditionally:
In traditional role-playing games, participants usually sit around a table and conduct the game as a small social gathering. One participant, the "gamemaster" (GM), describes the setting and the actions of the inhabitants, while the others describe their characters' actions and responses. Players usually keep track of the details of their character(s) on paper character-sheets. The game system typically requires players to roll dice or employ some sort of randomizer to determine the outcome of some of their actions, most typically in combat or other stressful situations. These are also known as tabletop or paper and pencil role-playing games, to distinguish them from LARPs or computer role-playing games. Games that emphasize plot and character interaction over game mechanics and combat sometimes prefer the name storytelling game. These types of games tend to minimize or altogether eliminate the use of dice or other randomizing elements.
Live Action:
A live action role-playing game (LARP), is played more like improvisational theatre. Instead of describing their characters' actions, participants act out their characters' actions, often in costume. Further, the players' environment is used to represent the imaginary environment of the game world. LARPs de-emphasize die rolls and rulebook references. Theatre-style live action role-playing games often use rock-paper-scissors or direct comparison of attributes to resolve conflicts symbolically, while some LARPs use physical combat with foam weapons. LARPs vary in size from a handful of players to several thousand, and in duration from a couple of hours to whole weeks.
Freeform:
Freeform role-playing games are played with minimal or no formal rules and a greater focus on character or plot development, with the organizers as referees. Most free-form games are also live-action games, though they exist in both traditional and computer-assisted forms. Free-form games are most often seen at gaming conventions, though they are also sometimes run by gaming clubs or a dedicated team of independent GM's.
Electronic media
The challenge of producing a video game with which players can interact through role-playing, rather than simply a framework within which they can interact with each other, is yet to be answered. Within the computer industry, the term "RPG" refers to role-playing video games. Nonetheless, computers and other electronic media are not unknown in role-playing.
Online text-based role-playing games use the internet as their medium. Some games are played in a turn-based fashion, whether play-by-mail games using e-mail, or play-by-post games on internet forums.
Other types of role-playing are played in a more real-time way. Similar to offline games, these are known as MMORGs (massively multi-player online role-playing games), which add a graphical components. Finally, some people use internet chat clients or dedicated virtual tabletop software to play what would otherwise be a traditional RPG.
Computer-assisted role-playing games blend elements of traditional role-playing with computer gaming. Computers are used for record-keeping and sometimes to resolve combat, while the participants generally make decisions concerning character interaction. This may include tools used to facilitate traditional pen & paper games to be played over the internet. Such tools may be nothing more than an IRC program, but there is also specialized software which includes built-in functions for dice, character sheets, mapping, and such (e.g., OpenRPG). The upcoming fourth edition of Dungeons & Dragons is slated to make use of an online Digital Tabletop and numerous online tools to expedite play of the game as part of their D&D Insiders program.
Most role-playing games are conducted like radio drama (traditional): only the spoken component is acted. One player, the game master (GM), creates a setting in which the other players play the role of a single character. The GM describes the game world and its inhabitants; the other players describe the intended actions of their characters, and the GM describes the outcomes. Some outcomes are determined by the game system, and some are chosen by the GM.
Role-playing games are a form of interactive and collaborative storytelling. Like novels or films, role-playing games appeal because they engage the imagination. Interactivity is the crucial difference between role-playing games and traditional fiction. Whereas a viewer of a television show is a passive observer, a player at a role-playing game makes choices that affect the story. Such role-playing games extend an older tradition of storytelling games where a small party of friends collaborate to create a story.
While simple forms of role-playing exist in traditional children's games such as "cops and robbers", "cowboys and Indians" and "playing house", role-playing games add a level of sophistication and persistence to this basic idea. Participants in a role-playing game will generate specific characters and an ongoing plot. A consistent system of rules and a more or less realistic campaign setting in games aids suspension of disbelief. The level of realism in games ranges from just enough internal consistency to set up a believable story or credible challenge up to full-blown simulations of real-world processes.
Varieties:
Traditionally:
In traditional role-playing games, participants usually sit around a table and conduct the game as a small social gathering. One participant, the "gamemaster" (GM), describes the setting and the actions of the inhabitants, while the others describe their characters' actions and responses. Players usually keep track of the details of their character(s) on paper character-sheets. The game system typically requires players to roll dice or employ some sort of randomizer to determine the outcome of some of their actions, most typically in combat or other stressful situations. These are also known as tabletop or paper and pencil role-playing games, to distinguish them from LARPs or computer role-playing games. Games that emphasize plot and character interaction over game mechanics and combat sometimes prefer the name storytelling game. These types of games tend to minimize or altogether eliminate the use of dice or other randomizing elements.
Live Action:
A live action role-playing game (LARP), is played more like improvisational theatre. Instead of describing their characters' actions, participants act out their characters' actions, often in costume. Further, the players' environment is used to represent the imaginary environment of the game world. LARPs de-emphasize die rolls and rulebook references. Theatre-style live action role-playing games often use rock-paper-scissors or direct comparison of attributes to resolve conflicts symbolically, while some LARPs use physical combat with foam weapons. LARPs vary in size from a handful of players to several thousand, and in duration from a couple of hours to whole weeks.
Freeform:
Freeform role-playing games are played with minimal or no formal rules and a greater focus on character or plot development, with the organizers as referees. Most free-form games are also live-action games, though they exist in both traditional and computer-assisted forms. Free-form games are most often seen at gaming conventions, though they are also sometimes run by gaming clubs or a dedicated team of independent GM's.
Electronic media
The challenge of producing a video game with which players can interact through role-playing, rather than simply a framework within which they can interact with each other, is yet to be answered. Within the computer industry, the term "RPG" refers to role-playing video games. Nonetheless, computers and other electronic media are not unknown in role-playing.
Online text-based role-playing games use the internet as their medium. Some games are played in a turn-based fashion, whether play-by-mail games using e-mail, or play-by-post games on internet forums.
Other types of role-playing are played in a more real-time way. Similar to offline games, these are known as MMORGs (massively multi-player online role-playing games), which add a graphical components. Finally, some people use internet chat clients or dedicated virtual tabletop software to play what would otherwise be a traditional RPG.
Computer-assisted role-playing games blend elements of traditional role-playing with computer gaming. Computers are used for record-keeping and sometimes to resolve combat, while the participants generally make decisions concerning character interaction. This may include tools used to facilitate traditional pen & paper games to be played over the internet. Such tools may be nothing more than an IRC program, but there is also specialized software which includes built-in functions for dice, character sheets, mapping, and such (e.g., OpenRPG). The upcoming fourth edition of Dungeons & Dragons is slated to make use of an online Digital Tabletop and numerous online tools to expedite play of the game as part of their D&D Insiders program.