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Message: <blockquote data-quote="mythusmage" data-source="post: 471334" data-attributes="member: 571">Understanding Roleplaying Games Essay One What is a roleplaying game?In this  essay  I will present a definition of what a roleplaying game (an RPG) is. This is so we'll have a solid foundation upon which the rest of the essays can stand. Now, there are other definitions out there, but they usually address points that are really not relevant to the subject, or they either say too much or not enough.What is a roleplaying game? Let's give it a shot.[definition]A roleplaying game is a pastime where the players assume roles in an imaginary setting, with a set of rules that regulate what is, and is not, possible in that imaginary setting.[/definition]You'll note that this says nothing about what is or is not possible. It says nothing about the sort of roles that can be assumed, or the type of setting an RPG is set in. All that is the province of the individual RPG. We are dealing here with RPGs as a whole. Thus, while the definition needs to be comprehensive, we cannot get into too much detail. It should also be noted that one can be comprehensive, and still be concise. Now does the setting have to be imaginary? Couldn't it be based on the real world?The real world has a certain immediacy to it no description could ever have. Besides, what's being presented in an RPG is a world as seen through the players' eyes, as such even one based on the real world must take on many of the aspects of a created world. In a sense, it becomes a created world. From  the very beginning a setting based in the real world  would be an imaginary one.This goes back to human capabilities. We cannot know everything about the real world, we don't have that ability. We can know a little and extrapolate from there. All the rest is guess work. Which means a product of our imaginations. This means that while a setting can be based on the real world, it must perforce be an imaginary world.In addition, there are the players' actions, which will, indeed must, change even the most faithful models of the real world in ways most unrealistic. In other words, no matter how faithful the recreation is, when the first adventure is held it becomes unfaithful to the original. Of course, all this is getting into a future essay, so I'll leave it at that. The role a person assays is another matter. Most anything could become a role. A body part, or a nation-state. So long as the rules allow for it. For this reason I do not limit the definition of "role" in any way. In an RPG the players take on the part of another, who might be human, or may not. A  player could play take on an idealized version of himself, orhimself as he might be in the setting. But, this role would stop being anything like a faithful representation as soon as the first session, since this alternate would be going through experiences he is not.All in all,  the role, the part a player takes on in an RPG depends on what the specific RPG allows, and the player's desires.Yes, in case you were wondering, this definition does allow one to include some things a few may not want to include under the umbrella of roleplaying games. Live action roleplay (LARP) for instance, or the various _Host A Murder_ games. In so far as the activity in question can be shown to fall under the definition, it qualifies as an RPG.(I was going to include improvisational theater here, but after giving it some thought I came to the realization that improv really doesn't qualify. It does have its own set of rules, but improv is more an exercise where a basic situation is established and then the actors improvise what happens. At no time are they called upon to perform actions that require a set of rules to determine if they succeed or not. For that reason improv is not, strictly speaking , an RPG.)In other words, RPGs need not be limited to face to face games. If the definition fits (A roleplaying game is a pastime where the players assume roles in an imaginary setting, with a set of rules that regulate what is, and is not, possible in that imaginary setting.), then the activity is a roleplaying game. Even when it is traditionally thought of in different terms.With all that out of the way, we can now proceed to why people play RPGs.</blockquote>

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