Editing Role-playing game (section)

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{short description|Game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting}}
{{for|the video game genre (also abbreviated RPG) or the tabletop game genre|role-playing video game|tabletop role-playing game}}
{{distinguish|text=other forms of [[role-playing]]}}
{{RPG}}

A '''role-playing game''' (sometimes spelled '''roleplaying game''',<ref name="secondperson">{{Cite book |last1=Harrigan |first1=Pat |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gf4DQgAACAAJ&q=Second+Person:+Roleplaying+and+Story+in+Playable+Media |title=Second Person: Roleplaying and Story in Playable Media |last2=Wardrip-Fruin, Noah |publisher=MIT University Press |year=2007 |isbn=9780262514187}}</ref><ref name="gurpsrp">{{Cite book |title=GURPS |title-link=GURPS |publisher=[[Steve Jackson Games]] |year=2004 |edition=4th |pages=Chapter 1 |quote=But roleplaying is not purely educational. It's also one of the most creative possible entertainments. Most entertainment is passive: the audience just sits and watches, without taking part in the creative process. In roleplaying, the "audience" joins in the creation, which may introduce a huge impact on the project. The GM is the chief storyteller, but the players are responsible for portraying their characters. If they want something to happen in the story, they make it happen, because they're in the story.}}</ref> or abbreviated as '''RPG''') is a game in which players assume the roles of [[player character|character]]s in a fictional [[Setting (narrative)|setting]]. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting or through a process of structured decision-making regarding character development.<ref name="Cover">{{Cite book |last=Grouling |first=Jennifer |url=https://archive.org/details/creationnarrativ00cove |title=The Creation of Narrative in Tabletop Role-Playing Games |publisher=McFarland & Company |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-7864-4451-9 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/creationnarrativ00cove/page/n16 6] |quote=As suggested by the name, TRPGs are played face-to-face (around a table, most likely), and involve players 'acting out' a role. This acting is not always literal. Players do not arrive in costume or speak exclusively in character – something that differentiates TRPGs from live-action role-playing games (LARPs). Instead, players develop characters based on certain rules and are responsible for deciding what those characters do over the course of the game. |url-access=limited}}</ref> Actions taken within many games succeed or fail according to a formal [[role-playing game system|system of rules and guidelines]].<ref>(Tychsen 2006:76) "The variety of role-playing games makes it inherently challenging to provide a common definition. However, all forms of role-playing games – be they PnP RPGs, CRPGs, MMORPGs, or LARPS – share a group of characteristics, which makes them identifiable from other types of games: storytelling with rules, control of fictional characters, a fictitious reality, usually the presence of a game master (or game engine), and at least one player."</ref>

There are several forms of role-playing games. The original form, sometimes called the [[tabletop role-playing game]] (TRPG or TTRPG), is conducted through discussion, whereas in [[live action role-playing game|live action role-playing]] (LARP), players physically perform their characters' actions.<ref name="TychsenEtAl2006DefiningLARP">(Tychsen et al. 2006:255) "LARPs can be viewed as forming a distinct category of RPG because of two unique features: (a) The players physically embody their characters, and (b) the game takes place in a physical frame. Embodiment means that the physical actions of the player are regarded as those of the character. Whereas in an RPG played by a group sitting around a table, players describe the actions of their characters (e.g., "I run to stand beside my friend")"</ref> Both forms feature [[collaborative storytelling]]. In both TTRPGs and LARPs, often an arranger called a [[game master]] (GM) decides on the game system and setting to be used, while acting as a facilitator or referee. Each of the other players takes on the role of a single character in the fiction.<ref name="whatisnarrative">{{Cite web |last=Kim |first=John |title="Narrative" or "Tabletop" RPGs |url=http://www.darkshire.net/~jhkim/rpg/whatis/tabletop.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080829174633/http://www.darkshire.net/%7Ejhkim/rpg/whatis/tabletop.html |archive-date=29 August 2008 |access-date=9 September 2008}}</ref>

Several varieties of RPG also exist in electronic media, such as [[Online text-based role-playing game|multiplayer text-based]] [[Multi-user dungeon|Multi-User Dungeons (MUDs)]] and their graphics-based successors, [[massively multiplayer online role-playing game]]s (MMORPGs).
Role-playing games also include single-player [[role-playing video game]]s in which the player controls one or more characters who are on a quest.
Role-playing video games may include player capabilities that advance over time using statistical mechanics. These electronic games sometimes share settings and rules with tabletop RPGs, but emphasize [[Leveling-up|character advancement]] more than collaborative storytelling.<ref name="Tychsen2006CollaborativeNarrative">(Tychsen 2006:75) "PnP RPGs are an example of interactive narratives. The rules and fictional worlds that form the basis for these games function as a vessel for collaborative, interactive storytelling. This is possibly the most important feature of PnP RPGs, and one that CRPGs have yet to reproduce."</ref><ref name="Crawford">{{Cite book |last=Crawford |first=Chris |url=https://archive.org/details/chriscrawfordong00craw_0/page/163 |title=Chris Crawford on Game Design |publisher=New Riders Publishing |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-13-146099-7 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/chriscrawfordong00craw_0/page/163 163] |quote=In some ways, the emphasis on character development has impeded progress in storytelling with RPGs. The central premise of these [computer RPGs] is that the player steadily builds his abilities by acquiring wealth, tools, weapons, and experience. This emphasis on character development tends to work against the needs of dramatic development – dramatic twists and turns clash with the prevailing tone of steady development. Fortunately, this impediment is not fundamental to the RPG genre; it is a cultural expectation rather than an architectural necessity. |url-access=registration}}</ref>

Some RPG-related game forms, such as [[trading card game|trading/collectible card games (CCGs)]] and [[wargaming|wargames]], may or may not be included under the definition of role-playing games. Although some amount of [[role-playing]] activity may be present in such games, it is not the primary focus.<ref>(Heliö 2004) "In the family of role-playing games there are also a whole bunch of other game types and game-like activities that can be included or excluded, like the collectible card games (such as Magic: The Gathering) and board and strategy games (like Warhammer 40.000), or different forms of theatrical and larp-like combinations, such as fate-play. The action of role-playing is usually somehow present in these game forms, but the focus can be more either in the competitive nature of the game (MtG, Warhammer), or in the immersive performance (as in fate-play), than in role-playing itself."</ref> 

The term ''role-playing game'' is also sometimes used to describe other games involving [[roleplay simulation]], such as exercises used in teaching, training, academic research, or [[Therapy|therapeutic]] settings.