Playing a Role

Given that my last two posts on gaming rapidly spiralled out of my control and became rather compendulous in length, I was planning on resolving to keep this one shorter. Then I remembered I was going to be writing about roleplaying games (or RPGs), and realised that on this, of all topics, I am quite likely to have a lot to say. As I start to write this, I'll try and keep it to a sensible length (not least so there's a chance that someone might actually read it!), and failing that, may split it across one or more posts.

For those who might not know what an roleplaying game is - in a broad and generic sense - it's quite self-explanatory. It's a game in which you are somehow projecting yourself into a different role. While that can actually end up applying to a lot of different games that aren't truly RPGs (such as some of the 'big box' tabletop games I mentioned last time), specifically, an RPG is a game where you play a character and describe their actions. 

Generally, though not always, there is a rules element to the game, with varying degrees of complexity, which are used to resolve actions. If my character is trying to break down a door, for example, I could roll a number of dice, factoring in the strength of my character and what the door is made of, to see whether or not they succeed. 

These games usually feature one person acting as a game master (GM) to describe the world and facilitate the players' interaction with it. As a player takes on the role of one character, the GM takes on the role of EVERY non-player character in the world. 

The first roleplaying game - the absolute classic, which most people will think of when you mention RPGs - is, of course, Dungeons & Dragons. Created by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson in the 1970s, D&D introduced a whole new form of gaming to the world, which has grown and grown ever since. D&D is an epic fantasy world, complete with monsters, magic, heroes and villains. The GM is referred to as the 'Dungeon Master'. There is a heavy emphasis on combat and exploration, but this really depends on the group - it would be easy to run a politicking, balance-of-power campaign, Game of Thrones style. 

If this book could talk...it would probably say 'I can't get rid of these NERDS.'

D&D is by no means the only system available, though - far from it. For any style and setting you can think of, there will be either a fully-fledged game, or a system which would lend itself to it. Horror, science fiction, fantasy, comedy, superheroes - you name it. All it takes is a group, a GM and the imagination to get started. 

One of my personal favourites is the 'World of Darkness' setting by White Wolf. It's actually an old system which was updated in 2004. It represents a gothic horror setting in the modern world, with various rulesets for different aspects of the supernatural - vampires, werewolves, mages, and stranger things - each of which lends itself to exploring a different broad theme. 

The settings are masterful and give you scope for all sorts of different game styles, from mortals against the odds and unknown horrors, to vampires vying for political control of a city. One of the things I love about it is that the rule system is simple, effective and satisfying, letting you tailor it more towards a cinematic style of play or a more gritty realism. It's easy for new players to pick up, and the fact that it is anchored in the modern world makes the setting very accessible too. Sidenote: my favorite side-series in this setting (which I've never had the chance to play/run) is 'Requiem for Rome'. VAMPIRES IN ANCIENT ROME.

You also end up with lots of gorgeous books.

RPGs are perhaps the strongest examples of something I referred to in my first post - escapism. You are trying to put yourself in the place of a character different from you, with the agency to act and explore a whole different world. This can be anchored with pictures, maps, even props, or a simple grid representing the game world, but it is firmly routed in imagination and descriptive communication. The job of the Game Master is to set the stage, your job is to act on it. The show Community actually does a very good (though sideways and humorous) job of capturing the essence of this, in the episode Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (yes, that one). This is enhanced by the fact that, the majority of the time, you create your own character, defining their background, personality and nature, and bringing them to life within the game system. 

Since first being introduced to Dungeons and Dragons by a friend's dad when I was about 11, I've become pretty firmly ensconced in a GM role. Throughout my my teens, I was DM for various D&D campaigns (and sundry other games) with a group of friends, spanning a series of epic adventures over the years. 

Also in my teens, I ended up running a couple of play-by-forum (World of Darkness) games with other interested people from around the world. I did this for about three years. Playing this sort of thing by forum is actually pretty impractical - it lets you take a lot of time to work on descriptive writing, but it means that any sort of gameplay progresses glacially slowly. Now I'm running another online game (D&D, via Google Hangouts and the excellent Roll20 virtual game board tool) with a group of friends. 

As I mentioned in my first post, it's easy to write off gaming activities as pointless. There is certainly a culturally ingrained reaction when people hear Dungeons and Dragons mentioned - that's it's the purview of extreme geeks, something fundamentally sad that's perhaps even worthy of scorn. It's a byword for sad geekery. 

Seriously, what's geeky about this? These are literal bargain-bin adventurers.

This almost invariably, as with so many things, seems to come from a lack of understanding or familiarity, but that's usually hard to convey to people in brief. The time I've put into GMing over the years has taught me a whole lot, such as thinking on my feet (you really need this…), various writing skills, world- and setting-building, and, in a weird way, presentation skills (I have a natural aversion to putting myself on the spot in front of people, but that's precisely what GMing requires). 

I'm sure I could go on with this topic, but I'll cut myself off there, in the interests of brevity (though the number of paragraphs tell a different story). My parting thought is that I view RPGs as one of the most under-appreciated, yet accessible, forms of gaming. If you have a GM who knows the score, it is possible to play (enjoyably and completely) with practically no knowledge of the system at hand. At its purest, you describe your actions, and the GM helps you resolve these within the framework of the game. This also makes it one of the most liberating forms of gaming. Even sandbox-style, open-world video games are naturally restricted by their nature. Boardgames impose rules restrictions for simplicity or style, but in roleplaying games, the only limitations are those imposed by your character or the setting. 

Back again next Monday for some thoughts on the major blockbusters of the gaming world - the video games. 

It's the forehead of MYSTERY!