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Week 7 : First glance at RPG

Falling down the rabbit whole - first glance at RPG.

Through my presentations I would like to share with you my hobby and passion. All three will be dedicated to it and will discuss the various aspects of it and some advice for people who would like to give it a try.
But what am I talking about? Nothing else than RPG, which stands for Role Playing Games. I'm sure that this topic makes a 100% on your geek alert, but I shall not falter! Before I go on I would like to make it clear I am not talking about computer games. RPG computer games, or cRPG have been created to somehow create a  possibility of enjoying the regular Pen and Paper RPG's without being forced to make appointments with other people.
Other people. This is something I think should be pointed out. A real Role Playing Game, called pen and paper as I mentioned a moment ago, is something you do with a group of friends. Basically the idea is to role play characters, heroes of an adventure in a more or less realistic world, surviving more or less fictional events. I like to think of a RPG session as storytelling or better yet, story weaving, because the people taking part in it weave a story together.
Apart from players, a RPG session requires a Game Master who can be thought as the director of the story. Fundamentally, he describes a situation to players, who then react to it. In other words, it is the game master's responsibility to prepare a scenario, an adventure in which the player shall set heroes, whom they will create themselves. Then the GM will guide the heroes through the adventure, although that does not mean he will help them. Usually the GM should be merely an observer and the motor of the imaginary world in which the adventure is set, giving a reaction to every action the players input through the means of their heroes.
RPGs can come in many different flavors. Many rulebooks have been written, giving a reader a detailed description of a world, and some mechanics and rules that help to decide the outcome of actions. From the most commonly known I can point out the infamous Dungeons and Dragons, or Warhammer and the World of Darkness. There are also many rulebooks that are almost not known at all. But the truth is, you don't even need a rulebook to enjoy a good RPG evening with your friends. You can come up with your own world, or even simply play in the real one. You can have fun in a scenario placed in the country where you live in, maybe only adding a few twists. If anybody read any of the Jakub Wędrowycz series, they will know what I'm talking about. It can be as fun to play the role of a medieval knight fighting dragons as it could be to play a homeless guy in Warsaw. Seems stupid? What if the homeless guy is the only witness of a crime? And now the villain is after him? Inspiration for an adventure can be found everywhere around us, in the news, in movies, in books. And through RPGs we can create our own stories, together with a group of friends, which can be as good as any Spielberg movie. It just takes a bit of imagination.
In the next publication I will talk about RPG's from the players’ point of view and give some advice. In the mean time:
1. Have you ever played a pen and paper RPG? Did you like it?
2. Do you think these games can be fun and creative or are they just a waste of time?

Comments

Anna Bińkowska said…
I tried at least once a pen and paper RGP and I can tell You that I enjoyed it. I have a friend who is really into those kind of games and the thing which suprised me the most was the rule book. I did not understoond what people see in them until I got one for a moment. I could sit and read it for half an hour like it was nothing. I was suprised how really entertaining would be just studying the rules of the imaginary world I can play in.

I think those types of games are fun and create new bonds between friends. We can be creative, compete or cooperate at the same time with people we see everyday at work/school and talk about it later for hours.
I'm happy you see it that way. It's true, that these games can really make people bond with each other and develop a sense of cooperation, since usually the players need to cooperate to achieve their goals.
yoshi said…
I had contact with that kind of activity many years ago but all what I did was creating a character to some play (no idea what was the name of that game). For now I don't think that I would enjoy such a game. About some idea of that RPG, in my opinion there is huge responsibility on game master. That is the person which has to manage whole story during play, keep in mind attributes of particular characters to make its story more interesting and generally needs flexible mind to provide interesting story
Yeah it's true that the GM has a lot to do, however I believe it's the responsability of every person taking part in the game to do their part, in such a way, that everybody has a good time.
Sylwia said…
I have never tried RPG, but one of my good friends is playing regularly. She spends hours and hours playing with her friends. That's way I have heard a lot about it. To me it seems to be fun. It builds up imagination and integrates people. I would like to try it one day. But on the other hand it's very time demanding activity. She spends a lot of time preparing her rols and later on playing. It would be hard to find time for it now. What's more I think I wouldn't be a good buddy to play with. Unfortunately I do not have vivid imagination. However, as I mentioned above, maybe it would help me to improve my creativity.
This comment has been removed by the author.
It's true that RPG take a lot of time, but on the other hand most interesting hobbies do. Personally I play once every week: we meet with my friends Friday evenings at my place and play for a few hours. Since I am the GM, I also need to find some time during the week to prepare the scenario, but still it is perfectly feasible.
I used to play paper RPG’s quite a lot back in schooldays. I think that it is a great way of spending time with your friends. It also helps develop your imagination. We used to met every second weekend and spend couple of hour in Dungeons & Dragons Universe. That contradicts the common statement that young people do nothing more than watching TV and playing video games.

Of course nowadays I don’t have so much time to do this but from time to time we try to continue our common hobby. This is a perfect way of staying in touch with each other. Of course those meetings can’t go one without couple of beers, and often we don’t really remember where we ended the story:)

As for the second question I definitely think that gaming (computer, paper or whatever you can think of) is not a waste of time. Of course it is not an entertainment for everybody. I generally think that whatever makes you happy and relaxed is not a waste of time, if you do it on some limited bases , and you don’t neglect your everyday duties (and you don’t brake law of course)
Unknown said…
I have never played RPG. Actually, this was the first time I have read about RPG and learnt something about it. I had always thought it's a different game. I used to think that in RPG you are playing with cards not with stories. Isn't it amazing how much we can learn from this blog? ;)

Last spring my friends organized a game called „Wedding”. The rules were quite simple. We were at an imaginary polish wedding in the 90ties. Everyone got his or her character and a challenge, and of course had to dress up. I don't know if it was RPG or just a special party but we had a lot of fun. If RPG looks like our game, I want to start playing.
armandstanczak said…
Well Sergio, thank You for asking that question ;) I'm a huge opponent to such brutal and uncivilized games, I would even call it witchcraft. But in all seriousness, never have I ever played any RPG in my life. I think it's more of a time consuming parrasite than anything productive. Just like in Futurama, when Bender got caught in the downward spiral to hell - Futurama: Bender's Game. You can see what it can do for our minds when we dwell too much into the depths of RPG. and as You can see, Unfortunately I do not have vivid imagination which helps with staying away from this as possible.
Cheers.
I completely agree with the last paragraphs of your comment! As long as it's not harmful and stuff, any form of entertainment is good.
Hey, I'm glad that this publications was actually so informative for somebody! What you did (the thing with the wedding) is actually called LARP, which is an abbreviation for Live Action Role Play. Basically it means preparing such a scene, were every player actually dresses up and players their role. In LARPs GM usually also play some roles, but also oversee the whole thing. I would say that LARPs are RPGs taken to the next level, because you really play out a scenario, not just tell the story :D
Unknown said…
I tried once or twice long time ago in a high school if I remember well. It was very interesting experience, something new and different for someone who played role-playing games only on the computer but at the end I just get bored and my story with RPG’s ended and since then I never tried again. I don’t think it is waste of time I rather think that it is a way of spending time with friends creatively and if you find good GM (game master) who know what he is doing for example Sergio who is preparing stories two weeks earlier trying to put all quests together it can be great fun as I heard :D
Unknown said…
Kinda wierd questions... I've played PRG a lot when i was like 15-16. I loved it. But as one man said "It requires the most powerful graphic procesor - your imagination." I think it's a lot of fun then you do it with people as passionate about it as you. I my opinion it very important type of entertainment for young because it will develop creativity and allow kids learn that not only computer games can be a lot of fun.
Tomek Niezgoda said…
I’ve never played pen’n’paper RPGs and I probably never will. I have played some RPGs on a PC, notably Fallout and Neverwinter Nights. The surprising thing for me is that developers are trying to move this genre to consoles which don’t use a mouse and a keyboard. I don’t think it’s profitable for many game companies to create such games nowadays. However, there are indie developers who often produce titles reminiscent of the old 2D ones. And there are also some Kickstarter and Indiegogo initiatives trying to bring them back.
Well said, very well said indeed.
Just for the record, Fallout is one of my favorite settings for playing RPGs :D And Neverwinter Nights actually is placed in the realms of Dungeons & Dragons. Anyways the truth is that older cRPG kind of reasembled the spirit of tabletop RPG (Gothic was really good, the first one). Newer cRPGs often deviate from the root idea, although they can still be a lot of fun to play. With all the indie and retro games hype there are some games that somewhat are close to a pen and paper ROG experience, although they are not really cRPG games. I might recommend Lone Survivor.
Natalia said…
Yes, I have played RPG and it was quite interesting experience. I have vivid imagination and I see what people are saying to me, so this kind of activity provides me a lot of fun :) In my opinion this kind of activity gives you a oportunity to know other people more in various situations. I know "this is only game" and many people will treat it only like it is nothing, but also they can show to others their "real face" by actions of their hero. Everyone put a little of self to such creations so they can identify with it. RPG sessions can strongly integrate people so I don't think this is a waste of time.
elos said…
I have never played also this kind of RPGs in pure described by you version but.. I think sometimes during some parties, when atmosphere is appropriate I start to talk stupid/crazy/unreal stories (I hope funny stories:-)). Sometimes my friends behave in same way. Very interesting topic but "pure" RPG is not for me, I dont even play RPG on computer, honestly I dont like it. I prefer to play myself :-)
Seisyll said…
1. Have you ever played a pen and paper RPG? Did you like it?
I have played it and I still play. Being able to depict myself as a different person in certain situation/story is the feeling only a good book can bring you close to.

2. Do you think these games can be fun and creative or are they just a waste of time?
They can be fun. If you are playing with a good team and story teller it can be pretty creative (or at least creative to the point when you always come up with a way to put C4 into your plan). Is it a waste of time? I don't think so. It really helps your creativity and is a better way to chill out than a computer game.
alt_pl said…
I have been playing pen-and-paper Rpg games since 1996. I have played Kryształy Czasu which was one of the first biggest polish pen and paper role playing game (completely unplayable). It is good way of spending some time and try to dive in fantastic adventures narrated by Game Master. I also have lots of dice as well ( starting from typical d20 systems dice [d4,d8,d10,d12,d20] to custom made ones [like d23 which i call 'GMs horror'). I used to play at least once a week whilst nowadays I have much more limited free time I would like to spend on throwing dice and casting spells :)
lukasz-anwajler said…
1. Have you ever played a pen and paper RPG? Did you like it?

Yes, it was fun. I played AD&D and some others too. I think this is much more interesting than computer games, but it all depends on game master and other players. It doesn't limit people as players and they can whatever they want.

2. Do you think these games can be fun and creative or are they just a waste of time?

Well, sure - it's waste of time, sessions I had were at least 4 hours long. But it's worth it, it's very creative, relaxing and interesting, playing with each others' minds only. I'd recommend it to everybody, to play it at least once and check what is it all about.
Oh man, I've heard a lot about Kryształy Czasu, but never had the courage of playing it after I heard about some rules and mechanics xD Shame you're so busy now, hope you'll cast some spells soon!
Isn't it kind of a contradiction saying that their a waste of time, but their worth it? :P Anyway I also believe that everybody should give it a try at least once! Unfortunately the experience depends completely on other people, I know people who don't like RPG because their first experience was bad. That often means the gm didn't do a very good job, although some people just don't enjoy RPG obviously.

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