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ShortQuests -- individual adventure modules! An all-new collection of digest-sized D&D adventures designed to plug in to your game.

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Stormonu" data-source="post: 5415576" data-attributes="member: 52734">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 oftypes: board games, card games, wordgames, picture games, miniatures games.Even within these categories are subcategories.Board games, for example, can bedivided into path games, real estate games,military simulation games, abstract strategygames, mystery games, and a host of others.Still, in all this mass of games, roleplayinggames are unique. They form a categoryall their own that doesn't overlap anyother category.For that reason, role-playing games arehard to describe. Comparisons don't workbecause there isn't anything similar to comparethem to. At least, not without stretchingyour imagination well beyond itsnormal, everyday extension.But then, stretching your imagination iswhat role-playing is all about. So let's try ananalogy.Imagine that you are playing a simpleboard game, called Snakes and Ladders.Your goal is to get from the bottom to thetop of the board before all the other players.Along the way are traps that can send yousliding back toward your starting position.There are also ladders that can let you jumpahead, closer to the finish space. So far, it'spretty simple and pretty standard.Now let's change a few things. Instead ofa flat, featureless board with a path windingfrom side to side, let's have a maze. You arestanding at the entrance, and you know thatthere's an exit somewhere, but you don'tknow where. You have to find it.Instead of snakes and ladders, we'll put inhidden doors and secret passages. Don't rolla die to see how far you move; you canmove as far as you want. Move down thecorridor to the intersection. You can turnright, or left, or go straight ahead, or goback the way you came. Or, as long asyou're here, you can look for a hidden door.If you find one, it will open into anotherstretch of corridor. That corridor might takeyou straight to the exit or lead you into ablind alley. The only way to find out is tostep in and start walking.Of course, given enough time, eventuallyyou'll find the exit. To keep the game interesting,let's put some other things in themaze with you. Nasty things. Things likevampire bats and hobgoblins and zombiesand ogres. Of course, we'll give you a swordand a shield, so if you meet one of thesethings you can defend yourself. You doknow how to use a sword, don't you?And there are other players in the maze aswell. They have swords and shields, too.How do you suppose another player wouldreact if you chance to meet? He mightAfter all, even an ogre might think twiceabout attacking two people carrying sharpswords and stout shields.Finally, let's put the board somewhereyou can't see it. Let's give it to one of theplayers and make that player the referee.Instead of looking at the board, you listen tothe referee as he describes what you can seefrom your position on the board. You tellthe referee what you want to do and hemoves your piece accordingly. As the refereedescribes your surroundings, try to picturethem mentally. Close your eyes andconstruct the walls of the maze aroundyourself. Imagine the hobgoblin as the refereedescribes it whooping and gambolingdown the corridor toward you. Now imaginehow you would react in that situationand tell the referee what you are going to doabout it.We have just constructed a simple roleplayinggame. It is not a sophisticated game,but it has the essential element that makes arole-playing game: The player is placed inthe midst of an unknown or dangerous situationcreated by a referee and must work hisway through it.This is the heart of role-playing. Theplayer adopts the role of a character andthen guides that character through anadventure. The player makes decisions,interacts with other characters and players,and, essentially, "pretends" to be his characterduring the course of the game. Thatdoesn't mean that the player must jump upand down, dash around, and act like hischaracter. It means that whenever the characteris called on to do something or make adecision, the player pretends that he is inthat situation and chooses an appropriatecourse of action.</blockquote>

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