Q.)Do RPGs have something common with RPG computer games?
A.) Not much. The computer games are usually based on Dungeons&Dragons rpg or actually its Advanced version (AD&D). They have the same character classes and the basic idea.
- But in REAL RPG you have a character, you "become" him and think like him. You talk to others and do what you want (as long as it's not something your character wouldn't do). More of this in W.
- The basic idea in rpg: one of the players is a game master (Keeper in Call of Cthulhu, Dungeon Master in D&D). He is the players' "link" to the rpg-world. He is omnipotent, he is the world. He tells the players what happens, describes things like area, weather, mood, objects, other people. He tells the players what other people (Non-Player-Characters = NPCs) do. The players can try to influence things by their actions, but may not succeed.
- Battle and magic is almost always present in rpg (originally form fantasy literature: Sword & Sorcery, the Conan-tales etc). They, as any other action, are usually performed by rolling dice. The characters have certain possibilities of success and the rolling of dice is used to define success or failure.