A role-playing game (RPG) is a type of game in which players assume the roles of imaginary characters in a setting created by the game developer and indirectly experience the adventures of these characters.
In role-playing games, players often come together to generate narratives. The game progresses according to a pre-established scheme of rules and strategy, within which players can freely invent. The player’s choices shape the course and conclusion of the role-playing games.
Role-playing games are often more fun and casual than competitive. An RPG unites its participants into a single team fighting as a group. An RPG game rarely has winners or losers. This makes role-playing games uniquely different from board games, card games, sports, and other types of games. Role-playing games attract because they ignite the imagination of the players.
There are many different types of role-playing games. Today’s PC role-playing games are not an original genre; They are derived from real-life or board games that have been popular with children and even adults for a long, long time. One such role-playing game might involve dinner guests acting as suspects in a murder mystery, while another might involve players sitting around a bonfire and narrating parts of a story and rolling dice. Another role-playing game could consist of costumed participants reenacting a medieval battle with padded armor and heavy weapons.
At its core, role-playing games are a form of interactive and mutual storytelling. There are simple forms of role-playing in traditional children’s games, such as “cops and robbers,” “dogs and postmen,” “cowboys and Indians,” and “playing house” or “doctor.”
The original form of role-playing game was the fantasy war game, inspired by the tradition of brave knights and witchcraft and using tiny figures and scaled terrain grids to demonstrate the action in a similar way to games of warfare. strategic warfare.
Role playing games have rules generally known as game mechanics. Almost all role-playing games require the participation of a game master (DJ), who narrates the game session and acts as a moderator and rules referee. The rest of the participants create and play the inhabitants of the game scene, known as player characters (PC). The player characters are collectively known as a “group”.
Role-playing games on the Internet range from graphic games like EverQuest to simple text-based games. They can also be divided into genres according to the imaginary place where they take place. Fantasy RPGs are inspired by fantasy literature, such as the works of JRR Tolkien. The best games in this field are Dungeons & Dragons, Exalted, Palladium Fantasy, RuneQuest, Legend of the Five Rings, etc.
Science fiction role-playing games are inspired by science fiction literature. The setting is generally in the future. Popular games are Rifts, Traveler, Cyberpunk 2020, Paranoia, Shadowrun, etc.
Horror RPGs are inspired by horror literature. Horror RPGs can be divided into two groups. The first is inspired by the works of HP Lovecraft, which focuses on humanity’s fight against malevolent extradimensional entities. The second focuses on playing with supernatural creatures, such as vampires, changelings, and werewolves. The main titles are Call of Cthulhu, Kult, World of Darkness Changeling: The Dreaming, Vampire: The Masquerade, Vampire: The Requiem, Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Werewolf: The Forsaken, Hunter: The Reckoning, Orpheus, and Mage: The Ascension.
Historical RPGs, as you can probably imagine, take place in the past. Scenarios that have been explored in RPGs include Pendragon (based on Arthurian legends), Sengoku (about the Japanese warring states), Recon (about the Vietnam War), Fantasy Imperium (takes place in historic Europe) .
Superhero RPGs are inspired by superhero comics and graphic novels. The main games are Champions, DC Heroes, Marvel Super Heroes, Mutants, and Masterminds.
