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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Menexenus" data-source="post: 2903403" data-attributes="member: 8951">The OP is asking what is at the heart of a role-playing game?  What is it essentially?  Well, since it is a "game," it stands to reason that having fun is the point of the enterprise.  However, could one have fun without telling a story and still call it a role-playing game?  I guess it depends on what you mean by "story".  There are one-shot role-playing games where players are handed pre-generated characters, and the goal is merely to keep your character alive while accumulating as much treasure and XP as possible.  But even these most rudimentary examples of role-playing involve some being the protagonist of some story.But if playing a game that has a backdrop counts as "telling a story" (i.e. if the one-shot tournament module counts as "telling a story"), then the definition of "telling a story" is way too broad.  After all, if that counts as telling a "story", then so does playing Clue or Monopoly.  (In Clue, I'm trying to solve a murder.  In Monopoly, I'm trying to accumulate properties and drive my opponents out of business.)Maybe the OP should have asked: "Is the purpose of playing a role-playing game to have fun or to create art?"  That would seem to get at the distinction he wanted to make.  And, of course, the answer to that question would seem to be contained within the wording of the question.  As I said in the first paragraph, insofar as a role-playing game is a *game*, it's purpose is to *entertain* those who partake in it.  (It's not called "improvisational theater"; it's called a "role-playing game".)Asking this question here is likely to provide one response, asking it on the White Wolf message boards is likely to produce a different one.  Still, as long as it is called a "game", I think the answer is obvious.The next (more interesting) question is: "What is it about role-playing games that makes them fun?"  This question would probably provide a more illuminating look at people's opinions about the hobby.</blockquote>

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