"Interactivity is the crucial difference between role-playing games and traditional fiction." "Both authors and major publishers of tabletop role-playing games consider them to be a form of interactive and collaborative storytelling." And that player-role is the "role" being referred to in the term Role-Playing Game, and the dynamic between player choices and actions and game master-directed outcomes is also what is called Player Agency. This creates a very dynamic and unpredictable game experience where the players have an essential role to play in the game and story that emerges. That happens from the human game master playing-off of the players' choices by creating outcomes and new scenarios in response to them. The term RPG comes from the pen-and-paper games where a human serves as a Game Master (also referred to as the Dungeon Master or something else, depending on the game being played) and creates situations for other people playing as characters in the story, with the choices and unique thoughts and input of the players in the story are an integral part of the story that ultimately manifests. But I think the topic is important for the genres and for the quality of experiences which are being made by developers and publishers. I have a lot of material and past writings to go through which could result in me adding to it and refining it over time, though likely not any time soon. Main and original post - Updated October 8th, 2020 But to completely understand why, you might have to read the exploration and reasoning of the topic that's below. Therefore, an RPG is a game with a focus on player agency. That choice/consequence-interactivity-based collaborative storytelling is the outcome of what's called Player Agency. And a game where the player doesn't choose their character's choices and actions and experience intelligent reactions to their specific choices and actions, but instead presents a set linear narrative, isn't an RPG.Īt its core, an RPG is "collaborative storytelling" between the player(s), the GM, and the world's rules. So, an RPG is a storytelling game with form and structure, with robust gameplay and endless possibilities. The endless storytelling possibilities are the essence of what makes a game an RPG, and they are created through the interactivity of player choices, a GM reacting dynamically to and narrating the outcomes to player actions, the game world's rules, and chances of probability. So pure hack and slash play is anathema to me too. Gary Gygax, the creator of the term Role-Playing Game, expands on what the term refers to, and what isn't an RPG, here:Īs false to the game form as the pre-scripted “story,” is play that has little more in it than seek and destroy missions, vacuous effort where the participants fight and kill some monster so as to gain more power and thus be able to look for yet more potent opponents in a spiral that leads nowhere save eventual boredom. The DM makes the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS game infinitely flexible-he or she can react to any situation, any twist suggested by the players, to make each adventure vibrant, exciting, and unexpected. The DM runs adventures for the characters and narrates the actionįor the players. The DM is a person who takes on the role of lead storyteller and game referee. What makes the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS game unique is the Dungeon Master. There, you have the freedom to create anything you can imagine, with an unlimited special effects budget and the technology to make anything happen. While the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS game uses dice and miniatures or other tokens, the action takes place in your imagination. In the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS game, you create a hero (also called a character or an adventurer), team up with other adventurers (your friends), explore a world, and battle monsters. However, a roleplaying game provides form and structure, with robust gameplay and endless possibilities. In fact, this game invented roleplaying games and started an industry.Ī roleplaying game is a storytelling game that has elements of the games of make-believe that many of us played as children. The DUNGEONS & DRAGONS game is a roleplaying game.
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