Role playing game

A group of role players participating in a private session in a particular home.

A role-playing game or JDR (typical translation in Spanish of the English role-playing game or its acronym RPG, literally "role-playing game") is a game in which one or more players play a certain role, role, or personality. When a person plays the role of X it means that he is playing the role of a player character (usually abbreviated as "PJ"). This technique is useful for handling difficult aspects or topics in which it is necessary to take different positions for a better understanding. It consists of the spontaneous representation of a real or hypothetical situation to show a problem or relevant information. In this way they can approach the problem from different perspectives and understand the different interpretations of the same reality.

Origins

At the end of the 1960s, a new concept of gambling was developed in the United States. Specifically, Boston College sociology professor William A. Gamson created SimSoc (Simulated Society) in 1966, a simulation game used in universities and other groups to teach various aspects of sociology, political science, and communication skills.

Later, in 1974, Dungeons & Dragons, which was based on the mechanics of strategy games (wargames), introducing fantasy elements. In this game there were no tiles, no board, not even strict rules; it was solely based on interpretation, dialogue, imagination and the emotion of the heroic adventure. Its authors, Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, however, had to self-publish it because no publisher was confident that it would sell with enough success. This new type of game was called "role-playing", from the French word rôle, which means 'role' in the sense of the character played by an actor.

In a world increasingly based on audiovisual communication, this new type of game met with unprecedented success, especially among young audiences. Today there are thousands of different role-playing games around the world, written in more than a dozen languages. Many of them are available on the Internet for free.

Definition of RPG

Example of role-playing, held at the Burg-Con 2009 Berlin convention. The game director is behind the screen, and the players, around the table, listen carefully.

A role-playing game is an interpretive-narrative game in which players assume the "role" of imaginary characters throughout a story or plot in which they interpret their dialogues and describe their actions. There is no script to follow, since the development of the story is completely subject to the decisions of the players. For this reason, imagination, oral narration, originality and ingenuity are essential for the proper development of this dramaturgical form. In a way, role-playing games are the adult version of children's fantasy games, such as "cops and robbers," "mommy and daddy," or "cowboys and indians," in which children pretend to be a character they actually are not.

More in depth, the etymology of the name refers us to its original meaning. According to the DRAE: «rol. → role. Position or function that someone or something fulfills in some situation or in life.» Indeed, in role-playing games each player plays a fictitious character, with a series of characteristics that define it. The interpretation of the character should not be as rigorous as in a play. In the role there are no scripts by which to be governed. Each player will define the character of his character according to his own criteria and, during a game, will respond to the various situations that may arise, deciding on the moment the actions of this character, that is, improvising.

So, an RPG doesn't follow a predetermined script, but rather the "story" is created over the course of the game. Similar to the children's game, when one player announces "Now I'll shoot you," the other can respond, "And I'll dodge you." It is up to the game director (see below) to decide to what extent the game should remain in the hands of chance, being able to intervene at any time to redirect the plot in one direction or another.

Another aspect that differentiates role-playing games from other games is that each player plays a unique and different character, with different personality and characteristics, depending on the desire of the player when creating his character, or the requirements of the game master at the time of distribution. The basic concept is that the players pursue a common goal, and must cooperate with each other (although sometimes this rule is not fulfilled), and the characters can be complementary; some stand out in physical skills and abilities, others in intellectual or social, and, if the theme of the game allows it, others may have mystical abilities (magic, miracles, etc.). All those characteristics are indicated on a character sheet, which varies depending on the game system.

What is RPG?

Typical dice of different faces (four, six, eight, ten, twelve and twenty) used in various role games.

As in most of the activities that humanity performs, especially recreational ones, there is no one way to play these games. The following guidelines (trend, direction, or characteristic feature of something) represent the majority of RPGs on the market, although there are thousands of variants.

The Game Master

The course of the games is supervised by one of the participants in the game, who is not referred to as a "player" but is distinguished from the players by the term "gamemaster" (although he is also called " game master", "master", "guide", "guardian", "referee" or "narrator", among others). The game director is the one who fulfills the functions of storyteller and mediator between the players, and interprets those characters not characterized by them, the non-player characters. It is generally understood that the GM interprets everything that is not the purview of the PCs (“player characters”), whether they are NPCs (“non-player characters”) or all other elements of the setting: animals, plants, meteorology, fantastic creatures, gods, physical events, magical events and a long etcetera. Other no less important tasks of his competence are that of arbitrator of the rules and that of imagining and describing the scenario and the circumstances that occur in the game.

Components and objectives

To play a role-playing game, at least two people must meet, in one or more game sessions, with no more limit of players than the one defined by the game or by the game master. As has already been said, one of them is always the game director, in charge of directing the storyline of the game. The other person or people are players who will play their own character during the game. Pre-established game guidelines are usually followed and known as the game system, although games can be played with no more contribution than that of the imagination.

The games or sessions are usually set in a time/world or campaign setting, which gives continuity and realism to the game.

Although it can be played with simple communication between GM and players, a typical game consists of the following elements:

• Table, on which you put the necessary material to play and around which the players sit.
• Paper sheets, pencils and other elements to take notes, draw maps or perform other descriptive drawings.
• Givens, they provide the part of random objective that is in the resolution of any action of the character or of any event that happens in the world of play. In general, the game director asks players to pull dice for actions that either have some difficulty or can generate a conflict of interest. The strips can be “active” or “passive”. For example, a player wants to steal a dagger that hangs from the belt of a non-player character. The game director then tells him to make two “active” strips, one of “sigile” and one of “hand tricks”. Depending on the character's values in these skills plus the result of the dice strips, the character will succeed or not. In addition, the game director could decide to use a "passive" strip to determine if the non-player character perceives that someone is trying to steal it, although it is only used if there are doubts about the success of the manoeuvre.
• Books to consult rules, prefabricated adventures or interesting data. Generally a role play is essentially a book that is on sale in specialized stores and that exposes the necessary rules to be able to play, including a character sheet model ready to be photocopied. The editorials of each of these books often publish other books called "suplements" or "modules" and enrich the universe of fiction in which the games are developed. A typical category of these “suplements” are the so-called “adventures” or “scenarios”, which provide the narrative elements necessary to play a particular game.
• Character leaves, one per player. Each describes the statistics (characteristics, skills and other data concerning the character) of a single character played by a single player. The character sheet includes information about everything that may be of the character's interest (historic, description, clothing, weapons, ability to use them, languages that dominates and other abilities or objects in their power). In the vast majority of cases, the character sheet is the only page that a role-player manual authorizes to be photocopyed, thus players can get the character sheets necessary to play. As a character evolves throughout the games the data that describe it can change, so each character sheet should be filled with pencil, so that it can erase and update the necessary changes. Only in exceptional cases, a player can interpret several characters, with their respective leaves (as is the case with the game director, who can interpret dozens of non-player characters, and even PJs if the player running him is absent).
• Screen of the game director, not indispensable, consists of an object that hides the area of the table of the game director, where he puts at his disposal the elements that constitute the game or the scenario intended for the players, which allows to keep the suspense required for the good development of the game, since the players cannot see what the narrator has prepared them. Normally this screen consists of a dip, triptych, or quadriptic cardboard, which may contain useful information for the game director, thus avoiding the unnecessary use of the rule book.
• Maps to place the characters. They can be cartographic (from continents, countries or territories) or on a smaller scale, and can be used as a board.
• Board. The use of board is not necessary, in fact the role is defined by the property of having simulation rules for purely imaginary situations not represented on a board. The board is anyway an option that players and game director can choose if they want, everything depends on the way they want to resolve their actions. In case of use, pieces or figures will be used that symbolize the position of each player character, non-player and other creatures and objects. According to the direction in which each figure is directed, certain aspects of the game can also be determined, such as the visual field, the area of attack or shooting, surprise attacks, on the back, etc.
• Accessories and decoration elements, from models to costumes to better set the game.

Players always aim to interpret the conscious actions of their characters in the storyline being told. Normally the objective is to fulfill together the mission that the game director has proposed, although the game can be nuanced with different approaches, for example, accumulate wealth, solve puzzles or simply keep your characters alive, or achieve the highest degree of realism..

During the game each player will decide what actions his character performs. The game director will decide if such actions can be carried out, and if so, he will decide their difficulty, which will be resolved by common sense or by one or several dice rolls, always based on the rules of the game. The GM will also decide the actions of non-player characters (NPCs) and other elements of the environment.

Differences from other games: collaborate, not compete

In almost all known games until the appearance of role-playing games (chess, Monopoly, Risk...) the final objective —apart from having fun— was based on the victory of one player over the others, or at most, that of a group of players compared to others. In role-playing games, the concept of competition is replaced by that of collaboration, and this is an essential difference between role-playing games and other games. In a role-playing game, players must not only play their character, but they must also complete a mission. In most role-playing games, there can be no winners or losers, but rather groups or teams. For example, in the book The name of the rose , the teacher and his disciple must solve a series of murders that occurred in an abbey; in the James Bond movies, he must save the world with the help of his allies etc. To successfully complete the mission, all players must join forces and collaborate to carry out the common goal.

While games are characterized by their tools, they can also be defined by their rules. When these undergo numerous variations and changes, it generally gives rise to a "new" game.

This collaborative approach is one of the most common approaches, although there are also games in which players receive secret objectives before starting the session, which they must try to fulfill their actions during the development of the game. Said objectives are usually at odds with each other, so that it is this tension that works as the engine of the game and makes it advance until its outcome.

Play an adventure

As has already been said, there is one among the players who plays differently. He assumes an important and essential role which is that of game director, narrator, or master (in certain games he has a specific name, for example in Call of Cthulhu he is given known as "guardian of the arcana"). He is in charge of explaining the situations to the other players. His role is the most difficult, he must have prepared the adventure thoroughly and mastered all the details, before raising it to the rest of the players. It is important to note that not all players react in the same way to a situation, so the GM must have prepared, at least, alternatives to the most common reactions. He creates the basis of a story, which the players shape and tweak based on the actions their characters perform throughout the plot. For this, it is usually based on a series of rules collected in books, which vary for each role system, and for the same system depending on the setting.

The rules are a good guide, but they are not always strictly applied, rather each master is free to shape them according to their way of playing and that of the group, especially if it is for make the game more fun. This is popularly known as the Golden Rule of role-playing: There are no rules, only guidelines.

First of all, we must remember that a role-playing game is based on the interpretation and improvisation capacity of the players and the master; therefore, restricting the progress of the game to a set of written rules is, according to some, removing the biggest point of fun. Even so, there are game styles that advocate not deviating from the options given by the rules strictly. The adventures can be created by the same game master for your game, although there are many that are sold or distributed over the internet.

RPG Variants

A group of adventurers in a medieval-fantastic live role game at Château de Couzan in France.

There are several ways to roleplay. The most common and traditional is the variant called "table role" which is mainly discussed in this article. It is not called "table" because the table is essential but because of its proximity or identity with traditional board games. In fact, being able to sit at a table is the most comfortable way to play the game. Another variant is the live role, in which the participants act "in the real world", either by dressing up and playing their characters in an appropriate place (a forest, private property, etc.), or by living daily but acting through previously established codes. For example, in the live role-playing game Killer, conceived by Steve Jackson in 1982 in the United States and translated into Spanish in 1991, approaching a co-worker from behind and whispering in his ear the words "you're dead" can be enough to represent a murder in the middle of the workplace, without the people not participating in the game having to know that two of their co-workers live their daily lives mixed with the representation of a game RPG. In the "disguised" live role-playing variant, the organization can become very complex: you have to make sure to find a suitable place where no one will be disturbed and you will not be disturbed, you have to take the time to prepare the costumes etc In addition, the game time will be limited by the time that the players have to meet in the agreed place (sometimes staying in situ, if the organizers consider it necessary). In the "everyday" live role-playing variant, the organization requires the control of fewer elements and the game time is much longer. In this last variant, two dates are established, one for the start and the other for the end, and at the end of that period the "dead" or the gestures made are counted and the game director or directors decide which teams or which players have obtained the best results..

Finally, other RPG variants also undertaken by certain players are mail roleplaying, email roleplaying, and forum roleplaying. It could therefore be said, summarizing, that there are the following role-playing game variants:

• Table role play (which mainly describes this article).
• Live role play (scened with costumes and makeups or played simultaneously with daily routine).
• Roleplay by postal mail. This variant is gradually disappearing since the electronic media gradually replace the traditional mail, at least with regard to the simple transmission of information.
• Roleplay by email (played by email).
• Instant messaging role game (played by instant messaging like MSN, popular among subculture furryThe biggest drawback is that more confused and disorganized members become.
• MUD role play (MUD games are similar to MMORPG games but based on text. Some MUD games do not focus on numbers, but encourage storytelling by collaboration.)
• Roleplay by forum (played through a forum).
• Roleplay by social networks Through profile accounts or pages participants play in real time, always focused on some narrative based on the plot raised.^{[chuckles]required]}
• Roleplay by IP voice. Another variation of Rol games is now given with the use of IP telephony (such as Skype, Hangout, or Net2Phone) in which a conference between players is created. While it is not strictly necessary, this type of games can be supported by other virtual tools to launch dice, show maps or move virtual chips (such as the Roll20 or Rolz website).

Themes for role-playing games

Although very often RPGs are slipped into the epic-medieval fantasy genre with very stereotypical fantastical beings (such as elves, wizards and dragons), this is probably because the most famous game was based on in novels of that genre (notably those of Tolkien and Moorcock). The setting of the role actually has an infinite number of themes, limited only by the imagination.

Historicals

As their name indicates, they are based on real events, but since the nature of a role-playing game is that players interact in the story, these games give the possibility of intervening in the development of said events, with the possibility of changing the events that we all know, or simply using the historical context to set what will be the adventure itself. It is a requirement that the events take place on our planet in the past. This category is very interesting for educational purposes.

Some games of this category are: Bullshit!, Far West, War CommandsCaptain Alatriste's role play, etc. It is understood that in a historical game it is necessary to limit itself to the facts, to the merely feasible and verifiable, and to the time-space coherence. Therefore, we must be careful with the "free deportations" and fantastic of the authors not to fall into the unreal, which could land the purely historical objective. On the other hand, being based on reality, it demands from those who create the adventure a great general culture, not only historical but also scientific, cultural, etc., because it is the case that if the players have a greater knowledge than the director of the game in any of the aspects of the story, those could land their plans and remain ridiculous. The handbooks accompanying the game usually try to give the minimum information necessary to cover this point, in addition to serving as educational material, but we must be careful with the "free" contributions of the authors.

Historical with a fantastic part

They are those that, being located in a past or present time, and in our known world, add details of fantasy (or unverified reality). Games like Oráculo, Pendragón, Aquelarre, Ars Magica, La calla de Cthulhu, the third edition of RuneQuest etc.

Horror

This literary genre aims to amuse through the creation of mystery, intrigue and fear. For this to be possible, it is necessary to put the characters in a credible and coherent situation, which is why the action is usually located in the "real" world, in the past or in the present, although there are also some in the future, But that falls within the realm of science fiction. Horror games are often based on cultural superstitions (demons, satanic rites, spirits, vampires, etc.) or can be scientifically based, such as those based on the work of H.P. Lovecraft. Although the protagonists are usually "normal" people (detectives, scientists, soldiers, etc.), as a result of games like Vampire: The Masquerade, players were able to take on the role of the creatures that are the origin of said terror: vampires, werewolves, spirits...

Uchronia (alternate reality)

Many games (as in the literary genre that bears that title) pose a world similar to ours, in order to get out of the limitations that sticking to reality (historical) would imply, but take advantage of already known cultural details that help their assimilation. Uchronia consists of the fictional reconstruction of our real world, but based on how it could have been instead of how it is in its already known state. Games like Falkenstein Castle or Space: 1889 would fall into this category.

Epic-medieval fantasy

Also called heroic fantasy, it is based on European medieval deeds, where a hero traveled, fought and solved intellectual and moral problems, and on traditional legends and tales, especially of Germanic origin. This idea evolved until in the XX century various authors, including J.R.R. Tolkien, created a new fictional world, based on the culture of northern Europe, but open to the appearance of new creatures, species, races and cultures based on legends, but idealized and stereotyped to fulfill political and dramatic functions. Many role-playing games in this category are based on literary works, such as The Lord of the Rings, but others inspired a parallel editorial line, which served as promotional support, as is the case with all the collections of novels based on the classic role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons (Dragonlance Chronicles, Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk, etc). Along the same lines is Warhammer Fantasy Battle, whose main source of income is based on the sale of metal and plastic miniatures.

Sword and Sorcery

The sword and sorcery genre is a subgenre of heroic fantasy, although chronologically it arose almost simultaneously or even slightly earlier (Robert Ervin Howard, founder of sword and sorcery, published the Kull stories beginning in 1929 and the of Conan from 1932, while the main founder of heroic fantasy, Tolkien, began to publish on Middle-earth from 1937, with The Hobbit). Examples of sword and sorcery role-playing games are those created for Robert E. Howard's universe (the Hyborian Age) or the game Stormbringer, set in the Young Kingdoms, by British author Michael Moorcock. The latter's fictional universe has been attributed the genre of dark fantasy ("dark fantasy") for staging a harsh, gloomy and pessimistic world.

Full or future fiction

They are all those role-playing games that are not based on an undefined situation in time or space, or on arbitrary temporary estimations towards the future:

Futuristic science fiction

Following the appearance of the first fantasy role-playing games, the rules were adapted to be used in futuristic environments, changing metal swords for laser guns, magic for psychic magic, castles for spaceships, dragons for giant robots or creatures from outer space and trips across rivers and mountains by interplanetary jumps at the speed of light. Basically, the stories are very similar to the medieval ones, with the same objectives (to save, escape, defeat, etc.), leaving the scientific part in the background. This is how games like Paranoia, Star Strek, Mechwarrior, Traveller, 2300 AD, appeared. > etc Following the advent of the internet, and works like Neuromancer, by William Gibson, the future took on a darker and more decadent turn, and the creative spectrum opened up with games like Cyberpunk 2020. Other aspects based on science fiction are superheroes, mutants and mixtures between medieval fantasy and science fiction, as in the games Sol Oscuro, Shadowrun or Fading Suns, in which science fiction is merely a set.

Space Opera

Also called space epic fantasy. It can be said that it is a subgenre of the previous one but in which the science fiction element is one more of the setting, although it can sometimes represent its main background. For example, the fictional universe of Star Wars (with two role-playing games published to date: the one from 1987 and the one from 2000) is set in an almost mythological past, and not in the future as usual. happen with science fiction. Likewise, within the space opera genre there is the role-playing game of the same title, Space Opera, first published in 1980 in the United States.

Contributions of role-playing games

4 to 20 faces.

Benefits in education

• The game, in general, is fundamental in the process of teaching-learning: when it comes to learning, the quality with which a person learns something is based on the practical utility that finds such knowledge. The game allows access to knowledge in a meaningful way, since it makes relevant, information that would be absurd otherwise.
• Mental calculation, learning of geographical accidents and names, acquisition of solitude at the time of schematicing and taking notes...
• Another great contribution of these games for the benefit of educational development is the promotion of reading as a playful and recreational medium, which in the long run favors the creation of habits that help to overcome many of the difficulties that arise in studies as a result of poor understanding reading, due to lack of motivation.
• Another aspect that helps to develop role games is the acquisition of great expressive wealth. With these games a great wealth of vocabulary is developed, another of the great deficit that is usually the source of school failure.
• The role games also stimulate the creative and imaginative potential of the person, in addition to working the reasoning and logic during the course of the adventures by facing new panoramas, challenges and confrontations and trying to solve them.

Contribution to certain attitudes

• To develop empathy and tolerance: through these games you learn to get into the skin of "other" and begin to think about what others feel in situations that may be alien at first.
• To socialization: the Rol Game promotes mutual support and relationship in terms of equality. As has already been said: it is not competitive, but cooperative games.
• To the empowerment of unexploded skills and understanding of undeveloped aspects of personality.
• To meet personal interests and tastes.
• Awareness and responsibility: Throughout the game, participants face decisions that lead to their corresponding consequences. This is important to create in the individual a wider consciousness of his actions.
• To the sublimation of the repressed aspects of the personality: being a game in which each one interprets a character, in most cases the incarnated character is a projection of certain repressed aspects in the player.
• To the capacity of group work and decision-making, skills that are of great importance in society, and highly valued when looking for a job.
• To the ability to improvise and solve problems, because they are based on situations that must be resolved according to the character's abilities.

Contribution to a good state of mental health

• Fantasy role games have served to help groups of children between eight and nine socially inadaptated years. They developed mutual cooperation skills.

• After passing a personality test on regular players to this type of games, no personality deviation was found, with the possible exception of an increase in Q1 factor (inclination to experimentation, liberal, freethinker).

• The results obtained from research on the value of fantasy role games as a strategy to develop the creative writing of children, demonstrates a greater development for elementary and secondary students of writing, vocabulary and organization of verbal structures.

• Personality factors questionnaires and test were used to evaluate players and non-players, and no differences were found, except for a significantly higher score among non-players of a certain tendency to psychosis (which relates to crime). However, this feature cannot be measured with total reliability and its relationship with criminal behavior is not confirmed, so you cannot draw a conclusion about the possible benefits of role games. Researchers speculate that the persistent negative image about these games comes from not hearing anything about the game other than the alarmist news of the press.

Criticism of role-playing games

Over time, and as role-playing games have become more popular, there have been complaints against them.

With specific events that had a similar supposed game as a background (such as the murder in the Manoteras neighborhood of Madrid, in 1994, of a cleaning worker at the hands of two young men who were hiding behind a supposed game of character cards that it had nothing to do with them according to the sentence), some media have echoed role-playing games as a dangerous and marginal activity.

For this reason, some publishers of role-playing manuals began to include in their books a fairly clear warning indicating to the reader that role-playing games have nothing to do with real life and that they are simply fictional entertainment., although from the 2010s this practice began to fall into disuse.

Original sources

• "Defense of the role." Article published with permission of the author.
• "The role games: towards a pedagogical proposal." Article by Pablo Giménez. Published with author's permission.
• "Seven myths about role games", by William J. Walton.