Lost Destinys' Abyss - Role-Play Forum

THE ROLEPLAYING FORUM

What is a roleplaying game?

If this is your first look into roleplaying games, RELAX; this is just a structured form of make-beleive play acting. To understand roleplaying, you need only think back to your childhood and those wonderful afternoons spent playing Cops 'n' Robbers, Cowboys and Indians, or Dress-Up. What you were doing was roleplaying, a sort of spontaneous and natural acting that completely occupied your imagination. This play-acting helped you learn about life and what it meant to be a grown-up. It was an essential part of childhood, but just because you have grown up doesn't mean you have to stop. The focus is on verbal description and storytelling, with players describing what they do instead of acting it out.

A roleplaying game consists of the following roles, the Storyteller or Gamemaster (GM) and the players. The Storyteller is who presents the story plot to the players, controls any characters not controlled by the players themselves (NPCs, non-player characters), and applies the rules of the game. The Gamemaster must have a firm grasp of the game rules and the fictional background in which the world is set. It's the most demanding posisition in terms of time, energy, and imagination - a lot like directing a play when you can't control all the actors - but it can be very rewarding as well.

The Storyteller uses the background given in the gameworld to devise a basic plot into which he places the player characters (PCs). He describes the situations to them as the characters would know it and the players describe what their characters would are doing and how they are responding to the situation. The plot generally flows from there, with the Gamemaster presenting obstacles, non-player characters, and other elements to the players in story form and the players continually deciding what their characters will do and reating accordingly. This way both the players and the Storyteller create a story together ... and have a lot of fun along the way.

Then what are all the rules for? Well, many situations will come up in the course of a game that require more than common sense to resovle. For example, if you've never been in a firefight, it might be hard to judge how things should happen in one. The rules give you a way to play out those situations in a logical and consistent manner. When the outcome of an event is in question, you roll dice and the result of the roll helps you determine what happens. The GM generally applies the rules as required, but if he wants to discard a rule, he may do so, as long as he informs his players beforehand, is fair about it, and keeps the game fun for everyone.

In some roleplaying games it's enough for the characters to survive and maybe amass some money. The stories aren't just about greed; they're about extreme circumstances, passion, revenge, technology, the definition of humanity, and what it is like to live as a normal person.

Take a look at some of the roleplaying games available to you. Try it out. If you like it, the rulebooks are available in most book, hobby and comic stores. When you're ready, we'll be there - waiting for you to invite us in.

Battletech: A Game of Armored Combat	Bubblegum Crisis: MegaTokyo 2033	Cyberpunk: The Roleplaying Game of the Dark Future	CyberGeneration: Revolution 2
The World of Darkness	Full Thrust: Fleet Actions in Deep Space	Dirtside II: Science Fiction Ground Combat	Rifts: Role-Playing Game

Coming Soon:

Setting up a Chronicle or Storyline

Roleplaying Ettiquette Guide

Email the webmaster with any comments or questions

Roleplaying Game Name	Roleplaying Game Description	Publishing Company (Type of game)
Battletech: A Game of Armored Combat	A dark age has befallen mankind. Where the United Star League once reigned, five successor states now battle for control. War has ravaged once-flourishing worlds and left them in ruins. Technology has ceased to advance, the machines and equipment of the past cannot be produced by present-day worlds. War is waged over water, ancient machinery, and spare parts factories. Control of these elements leads to not only victory but to the domination of known space.	FASA (stategic board and storytelling game)
The World of Darkness - Vampire: The Masquerade,Werewolf: The Apoclypse, Mage: The Ascension, Wraith: The Oblivion, and Changeling: The Dreaming	Throughout the world mortals walk, believing themselves safe in the light of civilization. But hwat happens when the darkness does not recede but stays, refusing to yield to the penetratin rays of light. In the darkness lurks what the mortals believe do not exist, the vampies, werewolves, mages, wraiths, and fairies.	White Wolf, Inc. (storytelling game)
Rifts: Role-Playing Game	The fictional world of Rifts is quite violent and deadly. It is an exotic realm where magic is as real as technology, and demonic creatures plague humankind.	Palladium Books (storytelling game)
Bubblegum Crisis: MegaTokyo 2033	Based on the hit Anime video series. Join the Knight Sabers and the AD Police in their quest to protect MegaTokyo from Genom and their fearsome Boomers.	R. Talsorian Games, Inc. (storytelling game)
Cyberpunk: The Roleplaying Game of the Dark Future	The Corporations control the world from their skyscraper fortresses, enforcing their rule with armies of cyborg assasins. The Future never looked so bad. But you can change it. You're wired in, cyberenhanced and solid state as you take it to the fatal Edge where only the toughest and the coolest can go.	R. Talsorian Games, Inc. (storytelling game)
CyberGeneration: Revolution 2	The second game after the Cyberpunk movement, which is dead, crushed beneath the jackboots of the Incorporated States of America. Buta new force has taken to the Street to carry on the battle their parents lost. Forged in the fires of a mysterious nantech plague that has ravaged the 21st century, this handful of angry juvegangers now wield increddible powes that defy both science and cybertech.	R. Talsorian Games, Inc. (storytelling game)
Full Thrust: Fleet Actions in Deep Space	The tactical starship combat rules. Simple, fast-play rules that can be used with any size of starfleet. Basic rules of play can be learned in just a few minutes. No referring to charts or tables required during play.	Ground Zero Games (strategic board game)
Dirtside II: Science Fiction Ground Combat	A comprehensive set of generic rules for simulating science fiction battles in virtually any background or "future history". The system covers combined-arms actions from a few platoons up to full battalion combat group level. Rules are included for infantry, AFVs, of all types, artillery, aerospace support and landings, combat walkers and more.	Ground Zero Games (strategic board game)

[ Poetry Corner ] [ Short Story Forum ] [ Vampire Pub II ] [ Midi Jukebox ] [ Role-Play Forum ] [ Recipe Connection ] [ Guestbook ] [ Other Links ] [ Return Home ] [ Credits/Copyrights ] [ Email ]

Wolf Pack Inc, Friday, August 29, 1997
Most recent revision Saturday, March 7, 1998