What do you like in your RPG?

[pawsplay]

I will disagree with the OP. RPGs are not allegorical, and cannot be, because they do not have a pre-ordained structure. Instead, I would say RPGs are their own experience, that the experience is precisely a virtual reality. While real life extends into the themes introduced into an RPG, there is no requirement any given matter has to be addressed, and hence RPGs can be considered in the realm of play, rather than philosophy.

RPGs are a mix of dramaturgy, storytelling, strategy, challenge, puzzle, improvisation... They are definitely not, however, novels.

 

[Janx]

I will disagree with the OP. RPGs are not allegorical, and cannot be, because they do not have a pre-ordained structure. Instead, I would say RPGs are their own experience, that the experience is precisely a virtual reality. While real life extends into the themes introduced into an RPG, there is no requirement any given matter has to be addressed, and hence RPGs can be considered in the realm of play, rather than philosophy.

I hate it when a discussion drags down to "let me go look up the real meaning of the word", but I suspect I need to, because I'm either using it wrong, or you're missing the point of allegory. Let me go look it up here...
Allegory - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

OK. I suspect those of who "like" allegory aren't using the best word. Allegory is supposed to teach a specific lesson with a specific point. Like Plato'sthe cave.

While movies like Dances with Wolves (or its modern remake Avatar) may make a statement, their design is not specifically allegorical. It's something else, I just can't think of the right word. For those who argued against "allegory", please pretend we said the "right word" and ponder from there.

There's gotta be a literary term for taking a real world historical or current situation and emulating that in fiction (but not actually setting it in that literal situation). FYI, emulation in writing terms means to write in the style of or model after. Thus, in many ways Eragon is an emulation of Star Wars: a new hope.

RPGs are a mix of dramaturgy, storytelling, strategy, challenge, puzzle, improvisation...

...and building. Lots of players like building something, an empire, legacy, whatever.

They are definitely not, however, novels.

they could be novels. Though not all adventures are novel worthy. And not all sessions run to be "like a novel" are any good (railroad concerns).

I do posit that a DM can use storytelling techniques to make the experience of their game feel like a novel (in a good way). Skipping the boring parts, etc.

I also posit (having done so), that if the story of your campaign deeds is decent, you could edit and refine it into an intelligible story.

 

[pawsplay]

If you set aside the word allegory, you have "theme," but I feel RPGs are a naturally postmodern medium in which theme is discerned from the text, rather than being explicitly communicated by the author. Allegory is the wrong word, but I would go further and say those kinds of thematics in general are not roleplaying-like.

RPGs can be used to play with a theme... but that theme is not necessarily a real-world theme through the lense of distance. It could be a purely fantastic theme. "What would it like to be wandering in a post-apocalyptic wasteland?" is intrinsically interesting for itself, completely aside from any parallels you want to draw to our modern civilization. A lot of RPG stories are what I would consider dreams of flying, rather than modernistic themes.

 

[Bedrockgames]

I do not believe having a setting or campaign operate on an allegorical level is important for to enjoy it. However, I do enjoy having a theme (for instance I recently played in a savage world's game that played with the theme of Identity, and it helped bind the entire thing together). Things in an RPG are not pre-ordained, but the GM introduces enough elements to sustain themes (in the form of conflicts, NPCs, world events, etc). What matters most to me is the presence of conflict, interesting characters, and a fun setting. If there is a cool theme behind it all, great. If not, not a problem.

 

[TerraDave]

And here we have the great split between Science Fiction and Fantasy:

Science Fiction is about social commentary, both historical and topical.

Fantasy is about depeer archetypes and more basic issues.

Yes, there is blurring and counter-examples...more "serious" fantasy may have strong historical or enviromental themes, and there is plenty of science fantasy.

In any case, fantasy remains the most popular RPG form becuase it allows exploration of those archetypes in a relatively accesible way. This includes kicking but and taking stuff.

 

[Ed_Laprade]

And here we have the great split between Science Fiction and Fantasy:

Science Fiction is about social commentary, both historical and topical.

Fantasy is about depeer archetypes and more basic issues.

Here we go with the sweeping statements again. Might I sugest that you go read an old issue of Gernsback's Amazing Stories from the 20s? Not a lot of social commentary there. Or are you going to try and tell us that that isn't science fiction because its... old?

 

[steenan]

I wouldn't like an RPG that explores a "trendy" real-world issue, a topic from the headlines. There is enough of it in papers, TV and the net and I find it very irritating to hear about the same thing over and over, no matter if it is direct or metaphorical.

Anyway, I like RPGs that create parallels to real-world situations and issues. Or, more general: I like to feel that what we do in the session is in some way important, something more than a mere game. Making choices and exploring situations that are fictional, but allude to things that matter to us in real life brings this kind of weight.

And it's this kind of choices that I like most in my RPGs. A scenario that has a predefined moral would be uninteresting at best and infuriating at worst (if I disagreed with the moral). But putting my character in a situation where I can't have it all and I must choose what I value more - that brings immersion and emotion. A good GM takes something we face everyday and, using a fantastic world, makes it epic.

I does not, of course, mean, that I require a game to create catharsis to call it a good one. The rest is also fun to play. It's fun to explore, it's fun to roleplay interesting characters, it's fun to overcome challenges. But it is this one session in twenty, or even fifty, that moves me this way - the session I remember even after many years have passed.

 

[coyote6]

"Kill 'em all and take their stuff." Is allagorical of what?

Home invasion robberies?

 

[pawsplay]

And here we have the great split between Science Fiction and Fantasy:

Science Fiction is about social commentary, both historical and topical.

Fantasy is about depeer archetypes and more basic issues.

1. What does this have to do with the OP?
2. No.