Definition of roleplaying... Help!
- Thread starter Inconsequenti-AL
- Start date
jmucchiello
Hero
The generic definition
Start with an overview
"A role-playing game is the childhood game of "Let's pretend" grown up."
I think it is important to include those last two words in any sentence you include the phrase "Let's pretend." Now explore "Let's pretend."
"As a kid, you and your friends would run around while playing, say, cops and robbers yelling bang at one another and then having a 30 minute argument over who shot who first. In a RPG, there are rules for determining the outcome of events using dice or other randomizers."
Now introduce characters and GMing. This is the generic method, if she has a specific genre she's really into, you could tailor this toward it.
"You control an avatar in a make-believe world described by one of the other players who is in charge of describing all that is around your avatar. Usually, there are multiple players whose avatars interact to achieve mutually beneficial goals. Your avatar is like a character in novel or movie except that you are in charge of his actions and dialog."
After that there will be questions. Answer them. Go into specifics. Ultimately, she will have to see a game to really grok it.
Start with an overview
"A role-playing game is the childhood game of "Let's pretend" grown up."
I think it is important to include those last two words in any sentence you include the phrase "Let's pretend." Now explore "Let's pretend."
"As a kid, you and your friends would run around while playing, say, cops and robbers yelling bang at one another and then having a 30 minute argument over who shot who first. In a RPG, there are rules for determining the outcome of events using dice or other randomizers."
Now introduce characters and GMing. This is the generic method, if she has a specific genre she's really into, you could tailor this toward it.
"You control an avatar in a make-believe world described by one of the other players who is in charge of describing all that is around your avatar. Usually, there are multiple players whose avatars interact to achieve mutually beneficial goals. Your avatar is like a character in novel or movie except that you are in charge of his actions and dialog."
After that there will be questions. Answer them. Go into specifics. Ultimately, she will have to see a game to really grok it.
jmucchiello
Hero
What I don't like about this method is it could turn someone who is shy and not into acting completely off from the concept. Only use this description if you know the person wouldn't mind putting on a show. Most everyone played Let's pretend. Not as many enjoyed standing on a stage in 3rd grade dressed at a tree and having to recite lines they weren't good at remembering. For some people memories of grade school plays can be a barrier to anything involving "acting".swrushing said:
(And in case you're wondering, no, I was never a tree...)
Inconsequenti-AL
Breaks Games
Not sure about bringing her along to the game(s) yet, she's not met most of my gaming buddies and think I'd rather do that somewhere more 'neutral'?
I do like the idea of springing a small 'rpg' - just base on what's on TV or whatever. Good plan!
For a more 'authentic DnD' scenario, I could always run through Orc and Pie?
jmucchiello, school acting - when I was 11 I played the narrator in Wind in the Willows. Had to introduce the play via a few minute monologue. Dressed as a girl. Was rather embarrasing at the time. One of the (many) perils of being at an all boys school, I guess.
I do like the idea of springing a small 'rpg' - just base on what's on TV or whatever. Good plan!
For a more 'authentic DnD' scenario, I could always run through Orc and Pie?
jmucchiello, school acting - when I was 11 I played the narrator in Wind in the Willows. Had to introduce the play via a few minute monologue. Dressed as a girl. Was rather embarrasing at the time. One of the (many) perils of being at an all boys school, I guess.
The_Universe
First Post
My explanation has always been....
RPGs are just like playing pretend when you were a kid. For some of you, it was playing "house," for others it might have been "cowboys and indians," or "GI Joe," or "Transformers," or whatever. You pretended you were someone else (or yourself, in a fantastic situation) and just let the other players in the game help create a story, or adventure, or just recreate what you think life should be like.
Unlike in some of those games, RPGs have a way to settle disputes on the nature of the imagined reality. In the case of Cowboys and Indians, I can say, "Bang! You're dead!" and you can respond "No, I'm not! You missed me!" and there's really no way for us to come to agreement - no bullet was fired, and neither of us is *really* dead.
In the case of the RPGs I play, the method of resolving such disputes is dice - like you'd find in a board game, though some sets of rules use special polyhedral dice (with sides more or less than six). If you say, "bang! You're dead!" in this kind of game, we roll dice to see if that's actually the case.
The only other real difference from playing pretend is that one of us is in charge of creating and maintaining the imaginary world and situations - rather than just having one of us say "there's a bunch of bad guys up ahead!" and then having the rest of us agree (or not), and then go from there, one of us can definitively say, "you see bad guys" or "you don't see anything."
I also have some fairly standard answers for some of the more common questions:
IS IT LIKE IMPROV OR ACTING?
Sort of, but you're not really doing anything to entertain an audience. You can do whatever you think is fun - you're just entertaining yourself, and maybe the other players. Also, the presence of the person constantly "setting the stage" means that you don't have to make up the situation (only your own actions) as you go along.
ISN'T THAT A LITTLE IMMATURE?
Maybe, but it's a decent way to pass the time. It's a lot more exciting than a lot of stuff, that's for sure.
RPGs are just like playing pretend when you were a kid. For some of you, it was playing "house," for others it might have been "cowboys and indians," or "GI Joe," or "Transformers," or whatever. You pretended you were someone else (or yourself, in a fantastic situation) and just let the other players in the game help create a story, or adventure, or just recreate what you think life should be like.
Unlike in some of those games, RPGs have a way to settle disputes on the nature of the imagined reality. In the case of Cowboys and Indians, I can say, "Bang! You're dead!" and you can respond "No, I'm not! You missed me!" and there's really no way for us to come to agreement - no bullet was fired, and neither of us is *really* dead.
In the case of the RPGs I play, the method of resolving such disputes is dice - like you'd find in a board game, though some sets of rules use special polyhedral dice (with sides more or less than six). If you say, "bang! You're dead!" in this kind of game, we roll dice to see if that's actually the case.
The only other real difference from playing pretend is that one of us is in charge of creating and maintaining the imaginary world and situations - rather than just having one of us say "there's a bunch of bad guys up ahead!" and then having the rest of us agree (or not), and then go from there, one of us can definitively say, "you see bad guys" or "you don't see anything."
I also have some fairly standard answers for some of the more common questions:
IS IT LIKE IMPROV OR ACTING?
Sort of, but you're not really doing anything to entertain an audience. You can do whatever you think is fun - you're just entertaining yourself, and maybe the other players. Also, the presence of the person constantly "setting the stage" means that you don't have to make up the situation (only your own actions) as you go along.
ISN'T THAT A LITTLE IMMATURE?
Maybe, but it's a decent way to pass the time. It's a lot more exciting than a lot of stuff, that's for sure.
jmucchiello
Hero
What if you combined them both?sniffles said:If the new girlfriend asks this question, you can just ask her what she thinks is more immature: spending a few hours with your friends pretending to be someone else, or painting your stomach blue and going to a football game in mid-winter without a coat.
roleplaying is like acting...it is putting yourself in the place of a fictional character and acting as that character would act. You interact with other characters as your character would, not necessarily as you would.
a roleplaying game like a play, where different actors play different parts in the play. The difference is, they get to create the character they are playing, the personality, the physical skills and abilities, and the knowledge.
the storyteller/game master/dungeon master is like the director of the play, but he doesn't tell the cast what they do. He sets up the story, sets the scenes, and plays all the supporting cast...merchants, adversaries, etc.
the dice are used to see if what youa re doing works. Say you have a skill in Climbing. You don't automatically climb everything you find. Some things are more difficult to climb, so you roll dice to find out if you succeed.
a roleplaying game like a play, where different actors play different parts in the play. The difference is, they get to create the character they are playing, the personality, the physical skills and abilities, and the knowledge.
the storyteller/game master/dungeon master is like the director of the play, but he doesn't tell the cast what they do. He sets up the story, sets the scenes, and plays all the supporting cast...merchants, adversaries, etc.
the dice are used to see if what youa re doing works. Say you have a skill in Climbing. You don't automatically climb everything you find. Some things are more difficult to climb, so you roll dice to find out if you succeed.
The_Universe
First Post
We'll, I'd do both...sniffles said:If the new girlfriend asks this question, you can just ask her what she thinks is more immature: spending a few hours with your friends pretending to be someone else, or painting your stomach blue and going to a football game in mid-winter without a coat.
Though purple and yellow are my football colors! Go Vikes! WHOOOOOO!Similar Threads
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