This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.

A role-playing game, more commonly referred to as an 'RPG', is a type of hobby in which people take on the roles of fictional characters, usually ones that they, themselves, have created. It is not a game in the traditional sense, in that there is no winner or loser, and one "game" (called a campaign) can actually go on for years. Instead, it is more of a get-together, usually weekly or monthly, where the players meet to act out their roles.^[1] The purpose of a game (or campaign) is usually to finish some sort of adventure or goal in-game, such as to find a treasure or defeat a large NPC enemy. When the goal of the campaign is accomplished or failed, the players will create a new goal. It is not considered to be a "new game," but rather a "new campaign," and the game does not "end" until or unless the group decides to stop meeting. The versatility of the games allows players to leave and join easily, and if a player's character dies permanently, he can roll [defined further down] a new character. If a player cannot make a particular gaming session, his or her character is usually played as an NPC for that day, meaning s/he has a more minor role.

Contents 1 How to play 1.1 LARPs 2 Stats 3 Supplies 4 Types of Games 5 Influences 5.1 Video Games 5.2 MMOs 5.3 Trading Card Games 5.4 Unstructured RPing in chatrooms 5.5 Message Board RPs 5.6 Text Adventures 6 History 7 Definitions 8 References and Footnotes 9 See also

[edit] How to play

Though it is not uncommon for an experienced player or group to write their own RPG, these games are not so unstructured as a child who is "playing pretend". There are specific RPGs that people will play; RPG is just a term used to describe the type of game, which is more similar to board games then to any other type of game. Instead, Role-Playing Games are sold as sets of books. These books will include the "core set," which describes things like classes, races, attacks, weapons with stats, enemies with stats, and the stats that every character has to calculate, alignment options, and the method of calculating stats on characters. There are also other, "optional" books, which contain things like "extra" weapons, enemies, or spells, campaign suggestions, NPC models, or the addition of a new element to the game, such as terrain advantages. The "extra" books are like an expansion pack for a computer game, or for those who are unfamiliar with the subculture, some extra blocks and people for your Lego set along with some more blueprints.

In order to keep the game together, you need a GM, or Game Master. The term for "Game Master" will vary by game; for example, in D&D, s/he is called the DM, or DungeonMaster. The Game Master's job is to direct the game; he thinks up a campaign, narrates the story, decides the result of certain player actions, makes the final decisions as to whether or how someone can join the game, and may alter some minor rules of the game's books, such as giving an EXP bonus to a player who does something really creative. The GM is also in charge of playing most NPCs. It is generally considered unacceptable for the GM to attempt to also play a character in the game due to the possibility of bias towards has own character's goals, though some individual groups may disagree with this rule of etiquette, and there is often an exception for #LARPs, where the GM may be more of an organizer rather then being the one who decides the storyline (in which case all players would make the storyline spontaneously as they are playing, and report significant events back to the GM). Players may also be allowed to play more then one character at a time.

Another thing the GM is in charge of is making sure the players roll their characters correctly. "Rolling a character" is a slang term used to describe the process of character design, derived because the earliest and most popular RPGs use dice in order to determine many character traits. In one commonly-used example of character design, you will first need to choose your race, class, and #alignment. You will then decide on your character's looks (following a base model for the race or clan as set forth in the core books) and name, which is something you can decide on your own without any guidelines save those already mentioned. Some games however may only have one race, in which case you may choose a [clan (disambiguation)|clan]] instead, or maybe this choice will not exist in the game you are playing. A war-based game may have ranks or jobs instead of classes, and these are only examples. Every game has [[ |alignment]]. Depending on what you choose in these categories, your character may get stat modifiers [to be explained later], 'class abilities', free equipment, or other bonuses and deficits. After that, there will be some sort of random process to determine your character's #stats within the range of their class, race, or other "type", to which you will add in any modifiers and then choose your equipment, abilities and/or spells.

Characters in the game are usually given some sort of equipment to start out with, and they are always given some sort of abilities (such as the ability to jump really high or have a better chance to dodge attacks then other characters) or spells. These can be given out by an amount of money or points which is used to choose the equipment and abilities, by money which is used to buy supplies once the game starts, by a standard "equipment and ability set" that every character of your type and alignment always starts out with, or by some other method. All of this information is recorded on "#character sheets" and is used for adventuring, battle, and negotiation. In more experienced groups, players will often create their own characters without being overseen by the GM, who will trust that they did it correctly and did not add extra points or equipment that was not alloted to their character. This is often true, because experienced players realize the need for a balanced game and the reasons that things often don't work if you inflate characters' abilities.

A section on "stats" would be appropriately explained here, however it would detract from the section on "how to play" and therefore is instead located below this section.

After every player has created at least one character, the game begins. The GM will explain the campaign (meaning: goal) and describe a scene. S/he will also tell the players whether at this time, they know each other, are best friends, brothers, or have just met, etc. In games with 25 [note: arbitrary number] or more players, especially if it is a LARP[defined later], the GM may not give detailed backgrounds on every player. However, larger games are usually done by recruiting and only have a few players (maybe up to 12 or so - again arbitrary number) at the first session, so they can also be given adequate background if necessary. The players then begin to talk, telling the GM what they will do, talking to other players whether in full role-playing mode in which they speak as though they were the character, or by saying things like, "Okay, I ask you if you have any gold." The players ad-lib their way through the game with their characters, and the GM narrates and gives them situations to play through. It could be seen by some as a type of fantasy improv. Games may include solving puzzles, negotiation, chases and combat, daily activities and social interaction, navigation, hunting, war planning, or any number of things. In some games, players may be given "turns," in which the GM will ask the player who's turn it is what he would like to do next. Of course this player's "turn" may involve other players or group combat. In other games, there are no "turns" outside of combat, and the GM will narrate and then a character will react to the situation as he would if he were actually there. A GM may still ask a specific player what they think the party should do in order to keep the game moving when necessary, but anybody can respond or take action. In some campaigns, the GM may not reveal the goal of the game until after the game has started. In other games, the goal can be obvious (i.e. "defeat the other army") rather then created, and other games, especially large-scale games where players are not all adventuring together, may not have any particular goal in mind but rather be structured like an MMO.

As the players adventure through the game, in most games they will gain experience. The most common way to gain experience is by killing enemies, and most RPGs have a lot of battles. You gain experience by successfully defeating an enemy (which does not always involve killing them), and the amount of experience you gain is decided by a combination of random-choice methods and semi-arbitrary numbers chosen by the GM, or only one of those things or some sort of semi-static system. Like your character, the enemies have stats, which determine how easy or difficult they are to beat in combat. However, since you are roleplaying creatively, you could also beat the enemy in creative ways, for example, by verbally manipulating a human or alien, or by tickling a dragon to make him laugh hard enough to ignore your partner who is stealing his gold. Experience is given in points, which is recorded on the character sheets, and when you have enough experience points, your character will increase in #level. Increasing in level also increases all or some of your character's #stats, and may also grant them a new ability or spell. Characters also have HP, or Hit Points. Hit points are like your life-meter - you lose H.P. when you get hit in battle, and if your HP is reduced to 0 that means your character has died.

[edit] LARPs

Usually, RPGs are played by sitting on a couch or floor or around a table, having the GM narrate, the players describe what their characters will do, and can speak either in character or by saying, ~"My character asks your character this."~ However it is not at all uncommon for players to fully act out their characters in what is called a LARP (pronounced as a word; Live-Action Role Play)^[2]. When doing a LARP, it is more common then in a non-LARP for players to dress as their characters or create and bring fake weapons to the game, and to have less GM involvement. It is also more common, in a combat-based game, for players to engage in combat with each other more frequently then with NPCs, or to have player characters from two different warring factions both involved in the same game. LARPs are more likely to be larger games (30+ players - arbitrary number), and are more likely to be arranged by recruitment. A LARP's characters often die more often, due to the usually-more-frequent combat with player characters, and sometimes in a LARP players play something like a realistically-sized talking squirrel in a game where that is not a normal or common thing to play. None of these elements, besides that of the players acting out their characters and walking around the room, are rules or universal truths of LARPs, they just have a tendency to happen. LARPs may have more then one GM, in order be better able to keep an eye on the action.

[edit] Stats

Main article: Statistic (role-playing games)

Stats are what are used in an RPG game to determine the strength of your character. (Even though the term is technically redundant, the phrase "RPG game" is in use.) Stats are determined at the beginning of the game (at character creation), most often either by dice roll or by a static set of stats given to all players of your race, class, profession, type and/or gender, though some games have other methods. Some or all of your stats will increase when you gain a level, and weapons, items, clothing/armor or vehicles may also have stats. Enemies, and occasionally non-enemy NPCs, also have a set of stats, and comparing your stats to their stats plays a part in determining who will win a battle, whether the battle is a fight, a choice between who's idea to try first, an attempt by one character to manipulate or steal from another, or an attempt by one character to gain the friendship or romance of another. Some spells or abilities may have stats as well, such as a determination of how likely that individual spell is to succeed. Below is a list of some of the stats that may be used, to better illustrate their purpose.

HP: HP stands for hit points. Hit points are lost when a character is injured or in a battle (fight), and can be regained up to a maximum amount through time, items, or healing abilities. If the HP reaches 0, a character has died. Mana: Some games include mana, which is a measure of how much magic you may use within a given time. Other games involving magic do not use mana, and instead may put a limit on the amount of times per day you can use a particular spell or ability, or require you to give up something else in order to use it. Mana functions similar to hit points, in that it can be lost and regained up to a certain maximum amount. Attack, Defense, and Power: A number is assigned to the attack, defense, or power stats in order to determine how much damage a character can deal or resist within a battle. The attack or power of the attacking character is usually compared to the defense of the defending character, but since in some cases both characters are attacking each other at the same time, the calculations can sometimes be slightly more complicated. More commonly, if both characters are fighting, the attacks will be calculated in "turns". In some games, a character can only attack an enemy once, at which time the enemy may or may not have the ability to counter, and the player must wait before the character can attack the enemy a second time. Stealth: This stat determines how quickly or quietly a character can move. The stealth is compared against the random determination system to see if they succeed or fail in missions involving doing something which is physically sneaky. Beauty and Charisma: Charisma is a measure of how diplomatic or likable a character can be. Beauty has a similar function, but is a number assigned to the characters actual beauty, because even in real life some people may be more likely to do something for someone if they are pretty. Charisma and occasionally beauty may be used when a character is trying to convince another character or NPC (collectively these can still be referred to as "characters") not to fight, negotiate a deal or trade, convince a new character to join their party or army, to lie to another character or convince them of the truth, or to gain a date. EXP: EXP, pronounced by letter, is the term used for experience. Experience is gained for accomplishing something in-game, almost always by killing an enemy (or friend). Some GMs may give an EXP bonus at the completion of a campaign if all players had the same goal in the game. Experience does not have a "maximum amount"; instead, the character gains a higher level once they have a certain number of experience points. More EXP is given for harder battles and less EXP is given for easier battles. Minor accomplishments other then winning in combat are usually only given 1 or 2 experience points (depending on level and on how your game measures experience), if any. EXP is generally referred to as 'EXP' rather then 'experience', except within the phrase "experience points" or in 'official' writing, such as the game's rulebooks or official website.

A full listing of all stats that are frequently included in the games is not necessary here; these examples demonstrate the difference purposes that stats can have.

[edit] Supplies

As mentioned previously in this article, the most-needed supplies in an RPG game are rulebooks, paper and pens. Many games also require dice. Dice are the most common way to determine the random combat system, and many and varied dice are needed in the games that use them. Each player brings their own dice to the game, and players are sometimes looked upon as "cool" for a time if they have unique or interestingly-designed dice. Regular 6-sided dies are seldom used, but the 4-to-100-sided dice that are used always have numbers rather then any kind of special symbols (some dice have a symbol to represent the '0', '1', or highest number on a die, but the symbol still represents the number if present). Another commonly-used supply is graph paper, often with larger-then-standard squares. The graph paper is often needed in games that involve ships, or in games where the characters design their own weapons, or in any game to draw a map. In conjuction with maps, or as stand-alones, miniatures can also be used. Miniatures are small statues that represent the placement of a character in a game, especially used in games involving larger-scale battles or ship battles. Many RPGs and TCGs are specifically designed to involve the use of miniatures, but they are also sometimes used in RPGs which were not created with the intent of having players using them. They often an indicator on the front which can be moved to represent the miniature's HP, though this is generally not needed in games where they are only used optionally. There is also a category of games similar to RPGs which are actually built around the use of miniatures, with the games themselves also being referred to asminiatures. Other supplies include the weapons or costumes that participants may design, folders or a treasury fund for larger games, or supplies unique to a specific game.

[edit] Types of Games

The most recognized type of RPG game is a fantasy or adventure game. Dungeons & Dragons was the first RPG game invented and sold, and it is also the most well-known. Dungeons & Dragons is set in a fantasy world involving, well, dungeons and dragons, and it's main focus is on a party of adventurers who seek to find a treasure or slay a specific enemy. Other RPGs in this genre may involve vampires, ninjas and [assassins], aliens or a Spartacus-era realistic setting, but they all involve adventurers of some kind who kill a lot of enemies. Many people today, even those who frequently participate in RPGs themselves, believe that that is still the only type of RPG game available, or that this genre and the sci-fi genre are the only types. (The game of the first type involving aliens would also be considered science fiction, but the section of the article is describing different styles of game rather then genre, and the sci-fi mentioned here normally refers to games played while living on a spaceship.) This is an incorrect assumption. The second most well-known type of RPG is the science fiction RPG, in which the characters are usually on a spaceship. Star Trek, for example, has 3 or 4 RPGs that use it's title^[3]. There are also war-based RPGs or RPGs about warring clans of fantasy characters or historical groups, realistic-fantasy RPGs (in which the characters have full-out conversations, just as you would in real life, but the characters are vampires or faeries or living 40,000 years in the future - these types of games are often played out as #LARPs), and even games with no fantasy or adventure element at all but those that are based around people going to school and work and dating and going to the movies. This last type of game is one that is unlikely to have a detailed combat system.

[edit] Influences

RPGs have inspired a large number of other products and activities. One of those activities is participating in #LARPs, but since a LARP is actually just a specific method of doing an RPG, using the same products and game title, it will not be explained again here.

[edit] Video Games

Main article: video games

In video games, 'RPG' (a genre) is used to refer to any game in which the character has stats and rises in level and collects items and/or armor. For older systems and portable systems, the character is usually represented as a sprite. In newer, non-portable systems, or on (modern) computers, the characters will probably look the same as they would in an adventure game. Like most traditional RPGs, the character gains experience as it kills enemies, and gains levels as it gains experience. Games such as The Sims, however, in which the player plays the role of one or many characters similar to traditional RPGs that do not involve combat, are not considered RPGs within video games.

[edit] MMOs

Main article: Massively multi-player online role-playing game

In computers, MMOs are designed off of traditional RPGs. MMOs are far more similar to a traditional fantasy RPG then (console) video games are. In an MMO, like in a traditional RPG, you must create a character, choosing race, class, gender and name and designing the look of your character. Some MMOs also allow you to edit your stats. MMOs are played online, on a server with hundreds of other people in the game world at the same time. Unlike traditional RPGs, there is often no direction given as to where you should go next, so players will use the in-game chat system to form parties with other players and decided where to go, or will complete an objective that will help them improve their weapons and armor. The games have "quests" or "missions" that you can complete for this purpose, with the player choosing which quest or mission they would like to attempt, or you can simply go and kill things to gain experience or grab items off of the corpse. Unlike the RPG genre of video games, players in MMOs can actually role-play and define the personality of their character, get married, or choose to act against the normal personality traits of their race and class, etc.

[edit] Trading Card Games

Main article: trading card games

Trading card games, or TCGs, are card games in which players create their own decks, rather then having both players use a single, uniform deck. The game has some sort of story or plotline, and the goal of the game is not to collect the most cards or make a pattern with the cards, but rather to complete an adventure or (most commonly) to kill your enemy. Many trading card games, such as Magic: The Gathering, include things like goblins, magic, special attacks, creature^[4] levels, racial abilities, and HP (or "life points"), as would be seen in an RPG. Some other TCGs are based off an RPG-genre video game, such as the Pokémon Trading Card Game. Other TCGs, however, such as Dragon Ball Z, may include none of these things.

[edit] Unstructured RPing in chatrooms

Chat RPs, in which players role-play different characters in an internet chatroom, have been mentioned earlier in this article. In those games, players will closely or loosely follow a set of rules and settings used in a specific title of a traditional RPG game. However, there is another way of RPing in chat rooms in which none of these rules are used. Instead of setting up a mini-character sheet for their characters (or posting one at a message board of the same community for use in later chat RPs), the chatters will simply say something like, "I am a 7-year-old raccoon, small for my age, and I am always getting into trouble. I hate my mom and my sister but I will do anything to defend my little brother and my best friend. I like trees and the pond near my nest." These characters will not have stats, but they may say, "I am a good fighter." Or, they may use a character from a posted character sheet, which may have stats on it, but in casual RPs that do not follow a specific ruleset, stats are not usually used in battle, if the chat includes battle (sometimes chats will include people punching or hitting each other, but with no real "battle" involved). This type of chat RP that does not follow an RPG ruleset is often centered around furries, a specific anime or other TV show or novel popular in this subculture, or a mix of characters and settings from many different anime. These chat sessions do not contain GMs.

[edit] Message Board RPs

Another type of role-playing done online is done on message boards. Again, in these RPs, members of the message board may create character sheets, but do not usually need to. This type of RP runs more similarly to a collective movie or novel then it does to any other type of activity involving role-playing. The setting and type of characters is chosen initially by whoever decided to "start" the RP, but after that, further changes are usually decided by the community as a whole, often individually and without discussion. It is common for members to have more then one, or even 6, characters in this type of RP, due to the non-immediacy of play and to the lack of need to memorize everything our characters do (because it is still posted there for reference afterwards). Members will participate by posting what their characters are doing and saying, as well as describing the scenery around them and controlling minor action of other members' characters if they are also in the scene (for instance, by having the character agree with what the other character just said). In combat, instead of stats or a "system" being used, members will creatively decide what the result of the attack was. For instance, player a may post, "Character A grabs a pipe off of the wall and strikes Character B over the head." Player B can then decide his character is still be wearing a helmet, or falls unconscious, or turns around and punches Character A, or an infinite number of other things that could happen to Character B. However, the actions must either fit the character or lead to a mystery later on, and must vaguely follow stat information most of the time if character sheets including stats were used. If the RP is based off of a well-known story, movie, poem, book, or setting which has it's own characters, those characters will usually be played by the participants, as opposed to in RPGs, where the known characters will usually be NPCs if they exist in the game. There is no specific genre or "type" of RP, or any specific settings, that are used significantly more or less often then others in this type of RP.

[edit] Text Adventures

Main article: text adventure

Finally, there is a type of game called "text adventures". (These may be referred to as video games, but that could also be considered incorrect due to lack of graphics.) Text adventure games are not known to have evolved specifically from RPG games, but some text adventures were based on traditional RPGs. Text adventures were first created in the mid-seventies^[5], and like an RPG, involve someone (the computer) telling you where you are and what is around you, while you tell the computer what you will do. Some text adventures, such as Hugo's House of Horrors, include graphical elements, but are still text adventures involving role-playing, because the commands must still be typed. Text adventures are also one of the only things given the label "RPG" in which you actually role-play. (MMOs allow this component, but most players of MMOs choose not to do so.) Recently, individuals have started to create text adventures again^[6], probably due to their simplicity in modern times as opposed to what was consider complexity in the 70s, and some recently-created text adventures can also involve online play ^[7].

[edit] History

Main article: History of role-playing games

In the 1970s, individual groups of people started to develop fantasy wargames, inspired by sword and sorcery fiction, in which each player controlled a single character. The earlier role-playing tradition was combined with the wargames' rule-based character representation to form the first role-playing games.^[8] Dungeons & Dragons, published in 1974 by Dave Arneson's and E. Gary Gygax's TSR, was the first commercially available role-playing game. TSR marketed the game as a niche product. Gygax expected to sell about 50,000 copies total to a strictly hobbyist market.^[9] After establishing itself in specialty stores, it developed a cult following.

Due to the rampant and unexpected success of Dungeons & Dragons, other groups and companies soon began releasing RPGs as well. Traveller, designed by Marc Miller(1977, Game Designer's Workshop), was originally intended to be a system for playing generic space-themed science-fiction adventures, in the same sense that Dungeons & Dragons was a system for generic fantasy adventures, but an optional suggested setting called the Third Imperium was detailed with the publication of following supplements and since then this setting has become strongly identified with the game. The changes in this setting over time, especially those involving the Fifth Frontier War as depicted in the Journal of the Travellers Aid Society, arguably constitute use of metaplot in a role-playing game.

For a time in the late 80s and early 90s, Dungeons & Dragons had been sometimes been used by other companies as a generic term for fantasy role-playing games. TSR undertook legal action to prevent its trademark from becoming generic.^[10] Games such as GURPS and Champions also served to introduce better standards of character balance, and later games such as Vampire: The Masquerade have emphasized more-involved storylines and character development, emphasizing the players' involvement with their characters. Competition from MMOs and TCGs led to a decline in the RPG industry. The financially troubled market leader TSR, Inc. was eventually purchased by Wizards of the Coast.^[11] To combat the decline in sales, WotC began to allowing other companies to publish D&D-compatible supplements. Meanwhile, self-defined "Indie" role-playing communities arose on the internet, studying role-playing and developing several forms of role-playing game theory such as the GNS Theory, and critical reflection on role-playing games has become popular in Scandinavia, including a yearly academic conference.

The internet has also brought about RPG sessions done in chatrooms. These groups do not develop their characters completely, and usually play only for a single session, creating new characters or plotlines when they decide to RP (role-play) in chat again. These chat sessions will be based off a particular traditional pen-and-paper RPG game, and dice-rolling scripts will be used for the random component.

The Game Publishers Association (GPA) is an organization that was created to assist adventure game publishers. The stated goals of the GPA include facilitation of communication between game publishers and others in the gaming community and promotion of the adventure gaming industry as a whole. The GPA maintains a member database, publishes a mailing list, and offers a "press exploder" tool which issues press releases to game-related outlets. ^[12].

[edit] Definitions

Alignment

Alignment is a character trait, chosen by the creator, which indicates very basic personality tendencies, usually indicating "good" or "evil". In MMOs, alignment may be defaulted based on your race and class, or it may have an option such as "deity" which gives you your alignment. Some traditional RPGs remove certain alignment options from a few of the character types, but in general it is the creator's choice.

Attack

Attacks, when the use of the word is linked to this definition entry, refers to a list of specific attacks that a character may have. For example, the Kamehameha wave used in Dragon Ball would be listed as an attack if there were a Dragon Ball RPG game. These attacks sometimes, but not always, require extra power, a consumable item, or cause negative effects to the character or terrain when used. Other attacks may simply be the "signature" or "standard" attack of a given class of characters; the one they use most often (Signature attack can also be used to refer to an extremely powerful attack that is seldom-used, but only available to one specific type of character). Spells in a game involving magic usually also fit this definition, including some being referred to as a "signature attack," but outside of that phrase, they are usually referred to as spells (or some other, game-specific word), and collectively as "spells and attacks". Weapons are not referred to as attacks, though a specific weapon or weapon-type may be needed for a specific attack.

Balance

In RPGs, both video games and traditional RPGs, the stats and abilities of characters of similar level need to be such that either character could potentially win a contest with others, though it is sometimes alright if one character would always win at wits and creativity while another would always win at swordfighting. This is referred to as balance, and if the characters are not balanced, arguing or players getting left out may occur. This is less important in traditional fantasy-based games where a party of adventurers all work together, but they do need to be able to help defeat the same leveled-enemies in most cases.

Character sheet

A character sheet is a template, printed specifically for each game, that gives players a place to record their character's stats, experience, items, location when necessary, spells and attacks, ailments, and any special abilities. More experienced players may not use the official character sheets, either because they have memorized them and use their own paper instead, or because they would like to alter something from the officially-deigned template.

Class

Classes in fantasy games may be something like Wizard, Druid, Paladin, Monk, or Warrior, and in some games it may be literal; Lieutenant, Captain, Major, etc. Games where most or all character are of one species may instead use main-species classes to indicate affiliation to a specific in-game group, and then have something like "[species] hunters" or "[species] researchers" for non-species characters. Other games may use jobs (such as Blacksmith) for classes, they might use it to indicate level in schooling (e.g. "3rd grader") or they may not have classes at all. Other games may use classes in other ways.

Combat system

Combat system refers to the methods and calculations engaged in determining the accuracy of an attack (hit or miss, or sideswipe for ½ damage), the amount of damage done from a hit, the amount of damage prevented by the character, the amount of enemies in a group a character was able to hit, and any other element of combat that would not be determined by the players' choice. Often this system involves dice, such as the d20 system. In games where players battle each other frequently, paper-scissors-rock is a common method.

consumable item

Items in a game that can only be used once, or that slowly dissipate as they are used, are called "consumable items". Often, consumable items, or reagents, may be needed for a spell or special attack. Food and drink are another form of consumable items.

EXP

EXP, pronounced by letter [E-X-P], is the term used for experience. Experience points are gained through battle and occasionally other methods, and when you have enough experience points, your character rises in level.

EXP bonus

This is when the GM gives extra experience for something that is not part of the rules to give experience for.

GM

GM stands for Game Master, which is the person who organizes and narrates the game, as well as deciding what happens in circumstances in which random-choice is not used (for example, by deciding what the inside of a building looks like, or what NPCs may be there). "Game Master" is the generic term, but many games use other terms to describe the Game Master for that specific game.

in character

Things that are said "in character" mean your character is speaking. Things that are said or done "out of character" (or OOC) is a way to let everyone know you are not playing your character while saying that. These terms are usually used while RPing on the internet.

LARP

LARP is an acronym for "live-action role-play". Players of traditional RPGs can choose to fully act out their characters, as you would in a movie, instead of just talking about what the characters are doing.

Level

When adventuring in most RPG games, characters gain experience points for their activities, and when they have enough experience points they gain a level. This means they move from level 1 to level 2, and so forth, giving an increase in some or all stats, possibly gaining access to certain areas (especially in video games), may be allowed to fight different monsters, and are considered a stronger character. In some games, level takes a part in damage calculation, so that if you need to roll [here: rolling a die] 45 or higher to hit something, the roll of the die may be added to your accuracy attribute and your level, instead of just being added to your accuracy, or you may be able to roll a second time once you reach a certain level, or you may gain access to more spells and skills.

NPC

NPC stands for "non-player character," and the term is only used as an acronym. The term refers to enemies you may be fighting if the enemy is not another player, however it is usually used to refer only to those characters who can carry on conversations with you, and that you don't immediately destroy. In MMOs, the frequency of using the term 'NPC' to refer to a non-specific changes from "infrequently" to "almost never". In non-MMO video games, the term is used to describe characters that say the same thing every time you talk to them, and have no character development, such as a shopkeeper. However, if the term is used for any character in any type of RPG that is not controlled by only one player, with the exception of generic enemy monsters in non-MMO video games, then the term is still correct for that purpose.

player character

Any character in an RPG (of any kind) controlled by only one player, or one controlled by any number of players in a video game.

Race

Race refers to the species of your character. Your character may be of the races human, goblin, elf, dwarf, XXztarian (aliens), Feral, Wolf/Werewolf, Vampire, Barbarian or hobbit (these are only examples), and some games may have their own races, such as "Night Elf" or "Darkstalker".

random-choice

Random-choice, in RPGs, refers to whatever method is being employed to choose uncontrolled random numbers (or otherwise) to determine outcomes. For example, if one character is trying to convince another to sell him a token, they might use paper-scissors-rock to determine whether or not the item is sold. In that instance, paper-scissors-rock would be the random-choice method. In many games, the random-choice method is rolling dice, in which case dice is used to determine a random number which is then calculated with other numbers (such as stats) in order to determine the result.

Roll

Roll, where it links to this definition, is used within the phrase "rolling a character". Because the first and most common types of RPGs used dice to decide how many points are put into a given stat before modifiers, terms like "rolling a character" to create a character, "re-roll" to redo it or create a new character, or "roll" to ask things like "What did you roll?" (one possible answer: "A druid.") These terms are still in use today, even in games that do not use dice to create characters, and even in computer games which require no rolling or (visible) random-determination system at all.

Stats

#Stats are a set of attributes (strength or agility, for example) that use numbers to represent how strong of a skill a character has in that area. Stats are also used by weapons, armor, and NPCs, and can be used by vehicles, spells, attacks, terrain, or almost any tangible element in the game... or sentient non-tangibles (such as an enemy made out of air which you have to defeat).

terrain advantages

In some games, characters of a certain class, race, species ("species" because non-playable species are not considered "races"), alignment or profession will gain advantages in certain areas. For example, a hell demon might get attack and defense bonuses while in a volcano.

[edit] References and Footnotes

[edit] See also

• Terms used in RPGs
• Gaming conventions
• Partial list of artists used in official RPG books
• List of RPG designers
• List of RPG publishers
• List of published RPGs by name
• List of published RPGs by genre
• List of campaign settings
• Japanese role-playing games
• Role-playing game at the Open Directory Project
• John H. Kim's Role Playing Game Page - Encyclopedia of role-playing games and companies
• Pen & Paper - RPG Database