Role-playing game

:This article is about traditional role-playing games. See computer role-playing games for their digital counterparts.

Variations

The term "role-playing game" is used for a few distinct methods of play. The traditional method is a pen & paper or tabletop game played with dice by several people. These frequently use several types of polyhedral dice. Some games and gamers also use miniatures, either on a square or hexagonal grid, or on a plain table, to depict strategic and tactical situations for play. Combat can be (but does not have to be) a significant aspect of such games. Position, terrain, and other elements can affect the probabilities of success for a given action. For example, a character making an attack from an opponent's rear or flank may gain a significant bonus on their chances "to hit" and may also gain advantages on any damage they inflict.

Related Topics:
Tabletop game - Polyhedral dice - Miniatures - Square - Hexagon - Combat

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Sometimes miniatures are not used at all, and sometimes a whiteboard, chalkboard or similar drawing surface is used in lieu of any figures or tokens. However, many gamers are also collectors of the miniatures and engage in the related hobby of miniature figure painting.

Related Topics:
Whiteboard - Chalkboard - Miniature figure painting

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Another mode of play is live action role-playing (LARP), in which the players physically act out their characters' actions. The two types of LARP are theater-style and live combat (sometimes known, respectively, as "Fest" and "Dungeon). Theater-style gameplay is usually more focused on characterization and improvisational theatrics and less focused on combat and the fantastic, if only because of the physical limitations of the players themselves. Live combat games, as the name implies, feature actual combat using padded props called "boffer" weapons. Live action gamers often dress up as their characters and use appropriate props in the game. The related style of freeform role-playing is less physically oriented, and is often played at conventions.

Related Topics:
Live action role-playing - Characterization - Improvisation - Theatrics - Combat - Fantastic - Prop - Freeform - Conventions

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Online text based role playing games have gained popularity throughout writing-based communities. These games often have little to do with the dice or random number generators used by some players to determine outcomes; rather, characters are created and manipulated by their players in the form of a large interwoven story, using only the imagination to determine what occurs. These are usually conducted through internet forums, but can also occur through e-mail or chat programs. This type of role playing can be a form of fan fiction, with players taking the roles of characters from their favorite movies, television shows or books.

Related Topics:
Online text based role playing game - Random number generator - Story - Internet forum - Chat - Fan fiction

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The term is also used as a name for a genre of video games that almost always lack the "role-playing" element of pen-and-paper games but borrow many gameplay elements from said games. These games are called CRPGs which stands for "computer role-playing games" or "console role-playing games" depending on whether the game is played on a personal computer or on a video game console.

Related Topics:
Video games - Gameplay - Computer role-playing game - Personal computer - Video game console

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These computerized simulations have become increasingly prominent over the last two decades. The most recent computer role-playing games have endeavored to incorporate social interaction via networking, beginning in the realm of text based chat rooms, and soon moving to static persistent worlds represented in the text MUD and the like (MUSHes, MOOs and MUXes). Currently, these have evolved to incorporate graphical representations of tokens (characters, equipment, monsters, etc.), as well as physical simulations obscuring much of the underlying rules of the games from users. Today, online role-playing games are epitomized by massively multiplayer online games such as EverQuest and City of Heroes. These games (MMORPGs, or Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games) are played exclusively online and feature graphically intensive gameplay in a virtual world shared by thousands of other players simultaneously.

Related Topics:
Networking - Chat room - Persistent world - MUD - MUSH - MOO - MUX - Massively multiplayer online game - EverQuest - City of Heroes - MMORPG - Virtual world

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Computers are inarguably superior to humans in creating simulations, and they have allowed simulation games to become more realistic than ever before. They do, however, have one great drawback: They do not have the creativity and flexibility of a human referee. Some people also prefer the face-to-face interaction of paper-and-pencil role-playing games to computer games which are played over a network. Computer-assisted role-playing (CARP) seeks to overcome the limitations of both computer and paper-and-pencil games.

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