What Is Roleplaying?

For visitors who don't know what roleplaying games are, here is a short analagy. Take a novel. This novel features characters. Imagine you are one of the characters in the novel. The character has a destiny to interact with other characters and the plot of the novel itself as determined by the author. In a roleplaying game, the outcome of the story is unknown to the character. The character, under the control of the player is free to make decisions, meet other characters etc, and go a long way to determine the how the story will turn out. The characters may receive hints and clues which they may use to unravel the plot, and act in accordance with events in which they may become embroiled. The outcome of any event, non-player character interactions, and plot delivery are the domain of the games master (or GM). Some games refer to the GM by different titles e.g. the' Keeper' in Call of Cthulhu, or the 'Dungeon Master' in Dungeons & Dragons, but essentially the role is the same.

How To Start

Like many others, I started out by being introduced to Dungeons & Dragons by a friends older brother. My interest in such games escalated from there. At the age of ten, i wasn't much of a roleplayer. Killing tbe monsters and getting the treasure was great. Unfortunately, there are a fair few roleplayers who like D&D for just that reason. Games like Hackmaster are reported to cater for this breed of players. D&D has now moved into its third edition utilising the 'D20 system' and its open gaming license rule set. With many new games, the D20 system is being incorporated to take advantage of the D&D player base. The familiarity of the system is likely to entice players to give new games a try without having to learn a rule system from scratch. It also frees developers such as Mongoose games to concentrate on game settings rather than inventing new rule systems. My only foray into the D20 system is Traveller T20. Its still very new to me and have not yet formed an opinion of the system.