Stormonu
NeoGrognard
My answer would be very similar to, if not the same as PirateCat's. This was TSR's (long-winded) explanation from the 2E Player's Handbook.
Games come in a wide assortment of
types: board games, card games, word
games, picture games, miniatures games.
Even within these categories are subcategories.
Board games, for example, can be
divided into path games, real estate games,
military simulation games, abstract strategy
games, mystery games, and a host of others.
Still, in all this mass of games, roleplaying
games are unique. They form a category
all their own that doesn't overlap any
other category.
For that reason, role-playing games are
hard to describe. Comparisons don't work
because there isn't anything similar to compare
them to. At least, not without stretching
your imagination well beyond its
normal, everyday extension.
But then, stretching your imagination is
what role-playing is all about. So let's try an
analogy.
Imagine that you are playing a simple
board game, called Snakes and Ladders.
Your goal is to get from the bottom to the
top of the board before all the other players.
Along the way are traps that can send you
sliding back toward your starting position.
There are also ladders that can let you jump
ahead, closer to the finish space. So far, it's
pretty simple and pretty standard.
Now let's change a few things. Instead of
a flat, featureless board with a path winding
from side to side, let's have a maze. You are
standing at the entrance, and you know that
there's an exit somewhere, but you don't
know where. You have to find it.
Instead of snakes and ladders, we'll put in
hidden doors and secret passages. Don't roll
a die to see how far you move; you can
move as far as you want. Move down the
corridor to the intersection. You can turn
right, or left, or go straight ahead, or go
back the way you came. Or, as long as
you're here, you can look for a hidden door.
If you find one, it will open into another
stretch of corridor. That corridor might take
you straight to the exit or lead you into a
blind alley. The only way to find out is to
step in and start walking.
Of course, given enough time, eventually
you'll find the exit. To keep the game interesting,
let's put some other things in the
maze with you. Nasty things. Things like
vampire bats and hobgoblins and zombies
and ogres. Of course, we'll give you a sword
and a shield, so if you meet one of these
things you can defend yourself. You do
know how to use a sword, don't you?
And there are other players in the maze as
well. They have swords and shields, too.
How do you suppose another player would
react if you chance to meet? He might
After all, even an ogre might think twice
about attacking two people carrying sharp
swords and stout shields.
Finally, let's put the board somewhere
you can't see it. Let's give it to one of the
players and make that player the referee.
Instead of looking at the board, you listen to
the referee as he describes what you can see
from your position on the board. You tell
the referee what you want to do and he
moves your piece accordingly. As the referee
describes your surroundings, try to picture
them mentally. Close your eyes and
construct the walls of the maze around
yourself. Imagine the hobgoblin as the referee
describes it whooping and gamboling
down the corridor toward you. Now imagine
how you would react in that situation
and tell the referee what you are going to do
about it.
We have just constructed a simple roleplaying
game. It is not a sophisticated game,
but it has the essential element that makes a
role-playing game: The player is placed in
the midst of an unknown or dangerous situation
created by a referee and must work his
way through it.
This is the heart of role-playing. The
player adopts the role of a character and
then guides that character through an
adventure. The player makes decisions,
interacts with other characters and players,
and, essentially, "pretends" to be his character
during the course of the game. That
doesn't mean that the player must jump up
and down, dash around, and act like his
character. It means that whenever the character
is called on to do something or make a
decision, the player pretends that he is in
that situation and chooses an appropriate
course of action.
Games come in a wide assortment of
types: board games, card games, word
games, picture games, miniatures games.
Even within these categories are subcategories.
Board games, for example, can be
divided into path games, real estate games,
military simulation games, abstract strategy
games, mystery games, and a host of others.
Still, in all this mass of games, roleplaying
games are unique. They form a category
all their own that doesn't overlap any
other category.
For that reason, role-playing games are
hard to describe. Comparisons don't work
because there isn't anything similar to compare
them to. At least, not without stretching
your imagination well beyond its
normal, everyday extension.
But then, stretching your imagination is
what role-playing is all about. So let's try an
analogy.
Imagine that you are playing a simple
board game, called Snakes and Ladders.
Your goal is to get from the bottom to the
top of the board before all the other players.
Along the way are traps that can send you
sliding back toward your starting position.
There are also ladders that can let you jump
ahead, closer to the finish space. So far, it's
pretty simple and pretty standard.
Now let's change a few things. Instead of
a flat, featureless board with a path winding
from side to side, let's have a maze. You are
standing at the entrance, and you know that
there's an exit somewhere, but you don't
know where. You have to find it.
Instead of snakes and ladders, we'll put in
hidden doors and secret passages. Don't roll
a die to see how far you move; you can
move as far as you want. Move down the
corridor to the intersection. You can turn
right, or left, or go straight ahead, or go
back the way you came. Or, as long as
you're here, you can look for a hidden door.
If you find one, it will open into another
stretch of corridor. That corridor might take
you straight to the exit or lead you into a
blind alley. The only way to find out is to
step in and start walking.
Of course, given enough time, eventually
you'll find the exit. To keep the game interesting,
let's put some other things in the
maze with you. Nasty things. Things like
vampire bats and hobgoblins and zombies
and ogres. Of course, we'll give you a sword
and a shield, so if you meet one of these
things you can defend yourself. You do
know how to use a sword, don't you?
And there are other players in the maze as
well. They have swords and shields, too.
How do you suppose another player would
react if you chance to meet? He might
After all, even an ogre might think twice
about attacking two people carrying sharp
swords and stout shields.
Finally, let's put the board somewhere
you can't see it. Let's give it to one of the
players and make that player the referee.
Instead of looking at the board, you listen to
the referee as he describes what you can see
from your position on the board. You tell
the referee what you want to do and he
moves your piece accordingly. As the referee
describes your surroundings, try to picture
them mentally. Close your eyes and
construct the walls of the maze around
yourself. Imagine the hobgoblin as the referee
describes it whooping and gamboling
down the corridor toward you. Now imagine
how you would react in that situation
and tell the referee what you are going to do
about it.
We have just constructed a simple roleplaying
game. It is not a sophisticated game,
but it has the essential element that makes a
role-playing game: The player is placed in
the midst of an unknown or dangerous situation
created by a referee and must work his
way through it.
This is the heart of role-playing. The
player adopts the role of a character and
then guides that character through an
adventure. The player makes decisions,
interacts with other characters and players,
and, essentially, "pretends" to be his character
during the course of the game. That
doesn't mean that the player must jump up
and down, dash around, and act like his
character. It means that whenever the character
is called on to do something or make a
decision, the player pretends that he is in
that situation and chooses an appropriate
course of action.
