Roleplayinggame

Role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of fictional characters and collaboratively create a narrative within a defined set of rules. A typical RPG involves a game master or narrator who describes the world, adjudicates outcomes, and manages non-player characters, while players describe their characters’ actions and choices. The emphasis is on storytelling, character development, and decision-making rather than fixed sequences of tasks.

Core elements include character creation, setting, conflict resolution, and progression. Characters have attributes, skills, abilities, and sometimes flaws. Rules introduce chance through dice, cards, or digital systems to determine success or failure. The game progresses through scenes or sessions, with outcomes influencing the ongoing story and character advancement through experience points, levels, or milestones.

Major forms of RPGs include tabletop or pen-and-paper RPGs, live-action RPGs (LARPs), and computer RPGs. Tabletop RPGs rely on a group gathering around a table with rulebooks and dice; LARPs use costumes and live acting to portray characters in a shared space; computer RPGs are video games that implement RPG mechanics and often feature branching narratives or open-world exploration. Settings span fantasy, science fiction, horror, historical, and modern environments, frequently enabling collaborative world-building.

Historically, the modern RPG originated in the 1970s with Dungeons & Dragons and has influenced video games, literature, and hobbyist communities. Since then, countless titles and systems have expanded the design space, emphasizing cooperative storytelling, exploration, character development, and emergent narratives.