What is roleplaying?

[Wolfspirit]

You know, I've been thinking about it, and I was wondering if we could get together a working explanation of what roleplaying "is". There's been a couple situations recently where I've met people who had no clue what RPing was; heck some people thought that Dungeons and Dragons was a type of video game. Another had a hard time when I was trying to explain to her what it was until I realized she had no concept of what a DM was. So, any thoughts?

I guess another hard topic would be "why do you do it", which is normaly the next question asked when said clueless person gets a rough idea of what I spend every Thursday night doing

 

[Drawmack]

It is an exercise in improvisational acting with dice used to randomly determine the result of actions and task resolution.

That usually leaves them saying uhhh okay and leaving me alone. If they persist farther I usually invite them to play one week.

 

[rich_f]

I'm assuming you are asking about role-playing as it relates to games. Role-playing also has applications in therapy, or so I am told.

Anyway, my thumbnail answer:

"Role-playing is a game of make-believe bounded by a rule-set designed to provide a framework for resolving encounters between characters created by the participants of the game."

I *think* that borrows heavily from Col_Pladoh's definition, but I'm not sure.

As to why you would do this? It's fun. It's a creative outlet. It's escapism.

 

[Mr Fidgit]

my short answer is, "it's cooperative storytelling."

 

[Shiv]

Usually I keep it very simple.

"Roleplaying is cooperative storytelling."

If they ask what that means, I explain thusly. "When you read a novel or watch a movie, the storyline has already been laid out for you by the author/writer/director etc. Cooperative storytelling allows you to be an active participant in determining the outcome rather than simply going along for the ride. You get to control the actions of one of the main characters."

If they ask about the dice thing, I get into it, "resolution of tasks...yada yada yada."

EDIT:

Mr. Fidget...beat me to it.

 

[Oni]

What I usually wind up telling people is this:

Roleplaying is about using your imagination. It is sort of like when you played pretend as a kid, but with a rules framework that lets you know the effects of your actions. But mostly it's an excuse to get together with people you like and have fun.

 

[alsih2o]

*alsih2o pulls out and hammer and attempts to nail jello to a wall....then decides against it...

 

[rich_f]

[B But mostly it's an excuse to get together with people you like and have fun. [/B]

You know what, I think that's the best answer yet, and the best one we're going to see on this topic. Well put!

 

[Mr Fidgit]

EDIT:

Mr. Fidget...beat me to it.

yes, but your longer explanation is better than mine, which is something like: "you don't want to know."

p not really )

 

[damieus]

Roleplaying is an adult version of all the imagination games we played as small children where we ran around with plastic swords and slayed dragons and rescued princesses (or at least I did).