Roleplaying Games: An Introduction

In 1974, the roleplaying hobby was born with the release of Dungeons & Dragons (D&D). This quirky and new kind of game--played with books, paper & pencil, funny dice, little metal figurines, and huge maps--exploded in the '70s and continued to grow. While D&D is meant to emulate fantasy fiction, today there are RPGs available for any genre you can think of: science fiction, horror, super heroes, fairy tales, Old West, feudal Japan, giant robots, World War II, crime, espionage, etc. And some genres are mash-ups of the above, like horror in the Old West.

Roleplaying games are often misunderstood. The '80s brought controversy over devil worship (an accusation disproven, of course). People who play RPGs are assumed to be outcasts--geeks and nerds. These sorts of stereotypes and assumptions are born of misunderstanding. Now that "geek is chic," many celebrities have outed themselves as roleplayers or D&D players. To name a few: Actors Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, NBA All-Star Tim Duncan, Royal Shakespeare Theatre Alum, Dame Judi Dench, and TV personality, Stephen Colbert. But what is roleplaying?

There are more opinions on how to describe a roleplaying game than I could list here. In this case, I will go with the broadest, high-level description I can. Roleplaying has been likened to "cowboys and Indians" or make believe with rules. It's been described as interactive storytelling. These two basic descriptions are both, in essence true. Let me break it down by describing a typical RPG.

In an RPG, the players at the table take on different roles. One player takes on the role of the Game Master (GM--also called Dungeon Master, referee, narrator, storyteller, etc.). The GM's job is to come up with a framework of a story or a series of encounters. The other players make characters, the protagonists in the GM's story. The GM is tasked with taking on the roles of the other people and creatures in the world, and to describe the world for the other players. Whenever the players want to take an action that involves tension or danger, or is contrary to another character's aims, they use the game rules to gauge their success. This is usually done by rolling dice--the forementioned funny-shaped kind. And that's the basics.

Roleplaying is great for families because there are so many benefits to playing them. Skills like socialization, basic (and sometimes not-so-basic) math, and general creativity are all honed at the game table--not to mention quality family time. Roleplaying games can make for an evening of fun, and the players have the option of telling huge, years-long stories if they choose. And if some of the most successful people in the world have played them, how can that be a bad thing?