Roleplaying Games
One of my all-time favorite pastimes is playing Roleplaying Games (RPG's). I
started playing Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (AD&D)
somewhere around 1986 and have never stopped playing. Later on I discovered
the Kult RPG, but since it was hard to find people
willing to play it, I stuck with AD&D.
In a Roleplaying Game, you, as a player, take on the role of an imaginary
character. This player character (or PC) will participate in stories that are
being 'told' by one of the players, the Gamesmaster (GM) or Dungeonmaster (DM).
A lot of RPG's are set in some kind of medieval setting, but there are also
games set in the world of Westerns or in Cyberpunk settings. Playing RPG's is
kind of like acting, but without the need of dressing up and walking around.
What is Roleplaying?
Roleplaying is a kind of game where the participants play imaginary characters. In
these games the characters are often from fantasy, horror or science-fiction
settings, like magicians, vampires and mutants. The players try to create a story
and solve problems by pretending to be their character. This isn't to say that it
is like a play on stage. It is common for the players to just sit at a table, but
they try to explain their character's actions in a storytelling way.
So how does it work?
Every Roleplaying game has its own sort of 'referee'. This 'referee' (sometimes
known as Dungeonmaster (DM) or Gamesmaster (GM)) has prepared some sort of
storyline. These stories can be made up by the GM himself, but there are also a
lot of stories available in specialized shops and magazines. The storyline is
just that, a guideline according to which the players might act.
In most cases, the story takes on the form of a problem which the players have to
solve. A story like that can be completed in an hour, but it is more common for
stories to go on for several evenings. Of course people don't play for days at a
time, but they can just stop during one story and pick up where they left at
another time.
When a story is completed, the Gamesmaster judges the way in which each player
has played his character. There are several aspects of play one can judge, but
the most important one should be whether the player has acted 'in character'.
For instance, it is not likely for a magician (often the stereotypical scrawny
little guy with a pointed hat) to kill someone by using a sword. Instead, the
magician would use some fancy magic like the 'Eye of Inescapable Death'. The
'judgement' is oftentimes expressed by handing out a certain amount of points.
These points can be used to improve the character, so that it will become
stronger, and thus will be better able to survive future (probably bigger)
problems.
How do I win the game?
One of the major differences between RPG's and 'normal' games is that in an RPG
the objective is not to win from your fellow players. Instead, the participants
work together. Because of this, there is never really a winner or loser. The
objective of the game is to give your character a chance to evolve, to let it
come to 'life'. The more you get your character to be 'fleshed out', the more fun
it is to play. I find the biggest challenge in trying to behave in character the
best I can.
Sure, there is sort of a 'goal' in the game. The goal is different for each story
you get involved in. A lot of times the goal is not so important as the way you
manage to reach the goal. Rewards are not so much for the player himself, but for
his character. The character gets more power whenever it reaches the goal of a
story.
Which games are available?
Like I said before, Roleplaying games can be of any genre. Most of the games that
are available are set in a world of fantasy, be it medieval or post-apocalyptic.
One way of grouping the games would be by using three categories:
- Fantasy:
-
The world of magicians, thieves and fighters, mostly set in a medieval world.
To get an idea of the setting, think of the world of J.R.R. Tolkien or Stephen
Donaldson. Major games in this setting are:
"Advanced Dungeons and Dragons" and "Middle-Earth".
- Horror:
-
Most discerning aspect of these games is the atmospheric setting. Each of these
games tries to call forth an atmosphere of tension and horror, with characters
being threatenend by dangerous monsters. Or sometimes with characters being
dangerous monsters. Major games for this genre are: "Call of Cthulhu",
"In Nomine", "Kult", "Mage: the Ascention" and
"Vampire: the Masquerade".
- Science-Fiction or Cyberpunk:
-
These games take place in a world that is strongly influenced by machinery. It might be
a world known from Science-Fiction stories like Star Wars or Star Trek, where the
machinery has changed the lives of people. Or it can more of a Cyberpunk world,
like that from the books of William Gibson (or the movie 'Johnny Mnemonic'). To me,
this category also includes the 'post apocalyptic' worlds which rely on technique
instead of magic, like the world portrayed in the Mad Max movies. Major systems
in this genre include "Alternity" and "Shadowrun".
Magazines
Should you want to learn more about Roleplaying in general, there are several
magazines dedicated to the games. For AD&D, the most important one is
Dragon Magazine. A friend of mine runs a small Dutch fanzine called
Tavern Tales, which even has its own
website. Another good site
with general information is the roleplaying page of
Mark Hughes.
A Dutch site containing lots of addresses and information is the one of
Ducosim.
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