Role Playing Games are War, Superheroes, Cops and
Robbers, Knights in Shining Armor, etc... of childhood redone for adults.
The game is not about winning, but about the story and adventure as well
as the social interaction between you and your friends. There are several
levels of Role Playing.
The first is the Table or Board Game where you become a
specific historical figure, or at least replace that figure. Table Top War
Games are the best example of this. It is D-Day, you are the supreme
Commander and you have to place your troops. Some call this what if,
others call it Monday Morning Armchair Quarterback.
The second is Paper and Pencil Games, or Book Games.
Here you create your Superhero, Barbarian, Ninja, Space Marine, etc... to
venture forth into a world full of dangers. Normally you do this with
several other created characters that are supplied by your fellow gamers.
These games are often filled with skills and powers straight of similar
genre literature, along with the creatures and villains that populate
those pages.
The last is more akin to the childhood games, for the
players take on the role them selves. It is the most healthy since they
are not sitting around tables! You have seen them, but you may not have
realized it. They are Paint Ball Players, Laser Tag Participants, Period
Reenactors, whether they are on a battlefield or at a Fair, Festival, or
Historic Site; these people are Role Players. The official term for the
them is Live Action Role Playing, or LARP.
This Site's focus is on the Paper and Pencil Role
Playing Games. |