What is Roleplaying?

What is Roleplaying?


Roleplaying is a way for a group of people to come together and tell a story. It is no different than one person writing a short story or a novel. Only instead of doing it alone, you are doing it within a group of two or more people. So if you think writing is okay, then you should believe roleplaying is okay as well. Those that are so opposed to roleplaying do not seem to realize that it is simply telling a story. No one becomes the characters that they are portraying. In that way, roleplayers are like an actor in a play or movie.


The different people in the group create characters for a setting that has been created typically by a Gamemaster who acts as an editor to bring the story and characters together. Typically the players in the group will have a good guy and a villain in the story. That way the story will be interesting and have many potential plot twists that not even the Gamemaster might see.


Once the characters have been created, the Gamemaster or one of the players will begin the game with an opening description. There was a time when all roleplays began in a dungeon, then it became an inn. But over time, people have tried to come up with other ways to get their group of characters together.


Anyway the opening description sets the stage for the other characters to interact. The opening might say the wind is blowing strongly through the area so the other characters will have to deal with the wind. So roleplaying is like putting on a play in this regard. You take on a role in your mind and decide what would your character do. And then you describe what you think your character is going to do as a result of what the other players have done.


So what is the goal in roleplaying? Is it to win? No. The goal of a roleplay is to tell an interesting story that people want to see through to the conclusion. And most importantly, it is for the players to have fun telling the story. Each character may have their own goals and agenda but their success and failure should not limit the fun of the people involved.