Kwalish Kid
Explorer
Hey, I'm an instructor of a university course on RPGs. Could you do me a favour and PM me your bibliography? Any information on your paper would be interesting to see, really.
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"Why do we do it?"
- Thread starter Webby140
- Start date
chitzk0i
Explorer
I first tried it because my brother was running a game and invited me to join, I think. I didn't really know or think much about role playing before I tried it.
A lot of the satisfaction I draw from gaming is venting aggression and frustration through my character's actions. I also find that when the rugged, powerful characters I play succeed, I also feel successful and confident, which I don't often experience in my everyday life.
Usually, I feel very connected to the story. There was one campaign I was in that was the opposite, though. I didn't really get make an original character, the rules system was drastically modified, and I felt like the DM's elaborate, serpentine plots funneled us into a particular course of action.
I think it's a great idea for a DM to bring a personal touch to the campaign with his own story. I started DMing because my brother's campaign drew enough interest that another game was needed. Once I started, I kept going because entertaining my friends made me feel more confident and self-assured.
I was introduced to roleplaying at a very young age (around 5 or so; I am now 27) and enjoyed having the ability to create my part of the story and create something more personal. It has ultimately led me into stage and improvisational theater as a very important hobby in my life. I enjoy watching movies and some TV, and I read novels fairly often, but there is simply more excitement and more of a personal investment in creating my own characters and helping to collaboratively create a story.
I would say telling a collaborative story is the best part. I usually DM, and I greatly enjoy crafting detailed story lines and characters, but even moreso I enjoy when the players create something that changes or propels those creations in a new and different direction than I'd originally planned or expected. I love reworking the stories and characters I create around the ideas that the players put forth and the through the consequences of the actions the players take.
As a player, I've dealt with both good and bad DMs, so I've felt very differently. Usually, however, I take great pains to get myself involved in the story even if it isn't to my liking, because playing a different personality to my own or being involved in events beyond our world is exciting and can be very immersive. I try to make characters who fit within the story, and then I try to give it a new spin through my character's actions.
I DM partly because I'm the one who's always willing to put a lot of work into world-building and preparation time, but that's because I enjoy doing so. I like writing plots that focus on how the supernatural or the unexplained affect the lives of common people, and I enjoy dealing with moral shades of gray. Often, books and movies and other entertainment avoids, whitewashes, or immerses itself too deeply in these things, never quite striking a balance that I find totally fulfilling. By crafting my own stories with my players, I find I can develop these things more fully, and explore their consequences in much more depth. Most of all, however, I enjoy it when the players are so involved -- when all of my work seems to take control of them -- and I just get to sit back and watch the players discuss the things happening around them and really experience something new and worth exploring on an ideological level.
Aeolius
Adventurer
What drew you to roleplaying, rather than watching the endeavours of characters created by other people (on TV series for example)?
To be fair, "watching the endeavours of characters created by other people" could also include reading books.
As children, we are all role-players; cops-n-robbers, cowboys and indians, pirates, knights, superheroes, and more. Some people choose to grow out of such games, others do not. D&D is a tool for collaborative explorations of our imaginations, nothing more or less. Some use their imaginations for wargaming, some for interactive story-telling. D&D can be used as a commonality for both.
Role-playing, in it's loosest abstraction, is simply interactive television. Instead of watching the show, we participate in it, mold it, and change it to our liking. Can one role-play in a game of WoW? Of course you can, but it isn't required. One can role-play while playing solitaire, for that matter, but best not to do so out loud.
What aspect of roleplaying do you enjoy the most? (Escapism? Creating an original character? Being able to tell a collective story? Doing things you're unable to IRL?)
All of the above. I see role-playing/D&D as a collaborative work of interactive fiction. I set the stage; creating a world and populating it with creatures, encounters, traps, and treasures. Then the players enter, stage left, shaping our shared world with their characters.
How do you feel about the stories that are created through playing? Do you feel a stronger connection to them, or less? Do you feel you're part of its telling, or just an audience member to the DM?
I have my own peculiarities. I am fascinated by hags and the sea. However I do not expect the same of my players. Therein lies the challenge. How to I describe the world beneath the surface with a degree of both realism and imagination in such a manner as to engage current and potential players? How are the machination of my hags affected by a party that may or may not care to partake of their schemes?
DMs: How do you feel about the writing of original plots for DnD? And what drew you to DMing specifically?
"I DM, so that my hags have someone to play with."
To be fair, "watching the endeavours of characters created by other people" could also include reading books.
As children, we are all role-players; cops-n-robbers, cowboys and indians, pirates, knights, superheroes, and more. Some people choose to grow out of such games, others do not. D&D is a tool for collaborative explorations of our imaginations, nothing more or less. Some use their imaginations for wargaming, some for interactive story-telling. D&D can be used as a commonality for both.
Role-playing, in it's loosest abstraction, is simply interactive television. Instead of watching the show, we participate in it, mold it, and change it to our liking. Can one role-play in a game of WoW? Of course you can, but it isn't required. One can role-play while playing solitaire, for that matter, but best not to do so out loud.
What aspect of roleplaying do you enjoy the most? (Escapism? Creating an original character? Being able to tell a collective story? Doing things you're unable to IRL?)
All of the above. I see role-playing/D&D as a collaborative work of interactive fiction. I set the stage; creating a world and populating it with creatures, encounters, traps, and treasures. Then the players enter, stage left, shaping our shared world with their characters.
How do you feel about the stories that are created through playing? Do you feel a stronger connection to them, or less? Do you feel you're part of its telling, or just an audience member to the DM?
I have my own peculiarities. I am fascinated by hags and the sea. However I do not expect the same of my players. Therein lies the challenge. How to I describe the world beneath the surface with a degree of both realism and imagination in such a manner as to engage current and potential players? How are the machination of my hags affected by a party that may or may not care to partake of their schemes?
DMs: How do you feel about the writing of original plots for DnD? And what drew you to DMing specifically?
"I DM, so that my hags have someone to play with."
Wombat
First Post
What drew you to roleplaying, rather than watching the endeavours of characters created by other people (on TV series for example)?
I had been playing miniatures wargaming and board wargames for several years before I found rpgs (well, before rpgs were commercially available). I also read a lot on history, mythology, folklore, and other oddly related topics. To top this off, I loved theatre, but was initially too shy to go out for it. So essentially rpgs brought all my interests together!
What aspect of roleplaying do you enjoy the most? (Escapism? Creating an original character? Being able to tell a collective story? Doing things you're unable to IRL?)
The collective creation of a story, of an alternate reality, with a group of friends is a grand draw. That and now it is a great way to catch up with the doings of my friends every week
How do you feel about the stories that are created through playing? Do you feel a stronger connection to them, or less? Do you feel you're part of its telling, or just an audience member to the DM?
We are utterly part of it! This is the great part -- sort of like actually being in a favourite novel (oddly of which would never include roleplaying novels, which are, in our view, universally bland, if not outright terrible). We create a world and get to play in it -- that's quite the rush!
DMs: How do you feel about the writing of original plots for DnD? And what drew you to DMing specifically?
D&D was the first game on the block. When I started, it was literally the only game in town. I ran it for a couple of years, but given the few adventures available, and how little I liked them, I HAD to come up with my own plots and stories. Due to this early training, I now am utterly a "write your own adventures, create your own worlds" kind of GM. Also, once other games appeared on the market, I was able to shift my group to other systems, which was preferable for us. So I played OD&D, but dropped out for AD&D (barring a few individual games), came back for 3e (though not as our only game), and have dropped out for 4e (too much of a miniatures battle game for our tastes). But no matter what the system, I am quite comfortable creating my own worlds and my own adventures -- my game, my rulings.
I had been playing miniatures wargaming and board wargames for several years before I found rpgs (well, before rpgs were commercially available). I also read a lot on history, mythology, folklore, and other oddly related topics. To top this off, I loved theatre, but was initially too shy to go out for it. So essentially rpgs brought all my interests together!
What aspect of roleplaying do you enjoy the most? (Escapism? Creating an original character? Being able to tell a collective story? Doing things you're unable to IRL?)
The collective creation of a story, of an alternate reality, with a group of friends is a grand draw. That and now it is a great way to catch up with the doings of my friends every week
How do you feel about the stories that are created through playing? Do you feel a stronger connection to them, or less? Do you feel you're part of its telling, or just an audience member to the DM?
We are utterly part of it! This is the great part -- sort of like actually being in a favourite novel (oddly of which would never include roleplaying novels, which are, in our view, universally bland, if not outright terrible). We create a world and get to play in it -- that's quite the rush!
DMs: How do you feel about the writing of original plots for DnD? And what drew you to DMing specifically?
D&D was the first game on the block. When I started, it was literally the only game in town. I ran it for a couple of years, but given the few adventures available, and how little I liked them, I HAD to come up with my own plots and stories. Due to this early training, I now am utterly a "write your own adventures, create your own worlds" kind of GM. Also, once other games appeared on the market, I was able to shift my group to other systems, which was preferable for us. So I played OD&D, but dropped out for AD&D (barring a few individual games), came back for 3e (though not as our only game), and have dropped out for 4e (too much of a miniatures battle game for our tastes). But no matter what the system, I am quite comfortable creating my own worlds and my own adventures -- my game, my rulings.
What drew you to roleplaying, rather than watching the endeavours of characters created by other people (on TV series for example)?
I enjoy both.
What aspect of roleplaying do you enjoy the most? (Escapism? Creating an original character? Being able to tell a collective story? Doing things you're unable to IRL?)
It’s hard for me to pick favorites. I love exploration and puzzle solving and problem solving. I love the way having a human judge makes the possibilities endless. I love using it as an excuse to hang out with friends.
How do you feel about the stories that are created through playing? Do you feel a stronger connection to them, or less? Do you feel you're part of its telling, or just an audience member to the DM?
I don’t think about it as a story until I’m telling it. I feel the same attachment to a story about a game as I do to a story of anything else I’ve done in my life.
DMs: How do you feel about the writing of original plots for DnD? And what drew you to DMing specifically?
I don’t worry about originality. The backstories I write as DM don’t need to be good or original. It’s just a game. Heck, I think cliché can often serve the game well.
Besides, if I did fancy myself an author, I would think it would be a waste of time trying to come up with an original plot. I don’t think there are many left that haven’t been discovered. What I usually enjoy in stories I read/watch is not the plot but the execution.
I DM because people ask me to. Because the other DMs deserve a chance to play PCs. Because I like being surprised by the players. Because it’s fun to create.
I enjoy both.
What aspect of roleplaying do you enjoy the most? (Escapism? Creating an original character? Being able to tell a collective story? Doing things you're unable to IRL?)
It’s hard for me to pick favorites. I love exploration and puzzle solving and problem solving. I love the way having a human judge makes the possibilities endless. I love using it as an excuse to hang out with friends.
How do you feel about the stories that are created through playing? Do you feel a stronger connection to them, or less? Do you feel you're part of its telling, or just an audience member to the DM?
I don’t think about it as a story until I’m telling it. I feel the same attachment to a story about a game as I do to a story of anything else I’ve done in my life.
DMs: How do you feel about the writing of original plots for DnD? And what drew you to DMing specifically?
I don’t worry about originality. The backstories I write as DM don’t need to be good or original. It’s just a game. Heck, I think cliché can often serve the game well.
Besides, if I did fancy myself an author, I would think it would be a waste of time trying to come up with an original plot. I don’t think there are many left that haven’t been discovered. What I usually enjoy in stories I read/watch is not the plot but the execution.
I DM because people ask me to. Because the other DMs deserve a chance to play PCs. Because I like being surprised by the players. Because it’s fun to create.
For me, it was a supplement to that kind of entertainment. I can read LoTR or watch Star Wars and enjoy them, but with an RPG, I can participate in similar adventures.
Thus, to me, the dichotomy is not much different to me than watching a sporting event as compared to being on a team, or listening to music versus learning to play an instrument.
Both sides have their merits, and each form of spectator entertainment informs and improves its participatory counterpart...and vice versa.
I enjoy all aspects of RP about the same, but if you held my feet to a fire, I'd be forced to say that character creation coupled with doing things I can't do IRL are the most fun to me.
The best professionally written fiction provides a potent dose of immersion for me, one that can last decades. An average story will be memorable, but may not be vividly recalled, but reading the back-cover blurb or a synopsis will refresh my memory instantly.
However, by the nature of the beast, even an average role-playing game makes me go through mental processes analogous to real world life, so right out of the starting gate, I'm more involved. I can clearly recall several sessions of the very first game I played in back in 1977 (the year, FWIW, in which I read LotR), especially the final sequence in which another player's Magic-User and my Fighter were the last party members to die, facing off against a Purple Worm. His PC died when engulfed on a Natural 20. Mine lasted a few more rounds, when with simultaneous initiative- and with both he and the Worm at 4HP each- he missed and the Worm didn't.
I can remember that, but I can't recall what other sci-fi or fantasy I read that year, other than the aforementioned LoTR.
I like it, but I have gotten burned out on occasion. When I do, I'm a horrible DM and need to take a break.
I was initially drawn to be a DM because in my local group at the time, EVERYBODY took a turn behind the shield. However, I turned out to be pretty good at it, so I've spent a good portion of my 30 years in gaming as a DM.
What drew you to roleplaying, rather than watching the endeavours of characters created by other people (on TV series for example)?
You could play with plastic army men and imagine what they do and wiggle them around to walk, or you could try removing the actual little army men and D&D allowed you to create your own TV show with a set of rules to know when something happened that everyone could agree on rather than argue over being shot in the head or the leg....
What aspect of roleplaying do you enjoy the most? (Escapism? Creating an original character? Being able to tell a collective story? Doing things you're unable to IRL?)
Creation and storytelling in a world unlike our own. You can kill without hurting people, and take their stuff. You can create your own world or character and make things work a special way for them that defies modern physics, and you could see how things were in another time depending on if you playedin a medieval setting, and learn about that time through practice rather than just reading about it wherein you can't just build a catapult or ballista and fire it off in your backyard, nor build a castle and defend it from an invading hoard to see if it would tactically work against another persons (DMs) ideas and tactics. Creating a story rather than just watching one, where you have a say in what happens next and don't always get stuck with filler episodes that waste time in TV shows.
How do you feel about the stories that are created through playing? Do you feel a stronger connection to them, or less? Do you feel you're part of its telling, or just an audience member to the DM?
I don't view the DM as the TV where you just watch them tell the story, but rather along with the DM providing hooks to snare you into a path you get to follow that path and alter its direction through your taking part in it rather than just watching it on TV or the DM just reading a story to you.
DMs: How do you feel about the writing of original plots for DnD? And what drew you to DMing specifically?
I think all original plots are now written, and everything today is just a variation on something that has already been done. Making my own things as a DM, I would say the extended freedom not given to the players. The players can do anything in the world in which they play by way of having their characters try to perform any action they want to see them do. The DM gets to create everything that is not control by the characters, and put in any and all quirks into the world that will give it character and feel to set the mood for the players to further tell their shared stories.
Sort of like Dungeon Master from the cartoon series. He appeared only when something important needed to be pointed out indirectly, but never really aided or hindered the characters from doing whatever they saw was the right thing to do to get to their goals.
You could play with plastic army men and imagine what they do and wiggle them around to walk, or you could try removing the actual little army men and D&D allowed you to create your own TV show with a set of rules to know when something happened that everyone could agree on rather than argue over being shot in the head or the leg....
What aspect of roleplaying do you enjoy the most? (Escapism? Creating an original character? Being able to tell a collective story? Doing things you're unable to IRL?)
Creation and storytelling in a world unlike our own. You can kill without hurting people, and take their stuff. You can create your own world or character and make things work a special way for them that defies modern physics, and you could see how things were in another time depending on if you playedin a medieval setting, and learn about that time through practice rather than just reading about it wherein you can't just build a catapult or ballista and fire it off in your backyard, nor build a castle and defend it from an invading hoard to see if it would tactically work against another persons (DMs) ideas and tactics. Creating a story rather than just watching one, where you have a say in what happens next and don't always get stuck with filler episodes that waste time in TV shows.
How do you feel about the stories that are created through playing? Do you feel a stronger connection to them, or less? Do you feel you're part of its telling, or just an audience member to the DM?
I don't view the DM as the TV where you just watch them tell the story, but rather along with the DM providing hooks to snare you into a path you get to follow that path and alter its direction through your taking part in it rather than just watching it on TV or the DM just reading a story to you.
DMs: How do you feel about the writing of original plots for DnD? And what drew you to DMing specifically?
I think all original plots are now written, and everything today is just a variation on something that has already been done. Making my own things as a DM, I would say the extended freedom not given to the players. The players can do anything in the world in which they play by way of having their characters try to perform any action they want to see them do. The DM gets to create everything that is not control by the characters, and put in any and all quirks into the world that will give it character and feel to set the mood for the players to further tell their shared stories.
Sort of like Dungeon Master from the cartoon series. He appeared only when something important needed to be pointed out indirectly, but never really aided or hindered the characters from doing whatever they saw was the right thing to do to get to their goals.
