Last post started this discussion, so you should read that before this one.
Setting up
The players make characters, and the GM lays out a framework for an adventure. Everybody gathers in one place (a player's house or the back room of a gaming store are most common) and arranges themselves comfortably, usually in a circle of some sort to facilitate communication between everyone. Each player brings their gaming supplies-dice, paper, pens and pencils, books and munchies-and sets up their spot to their liking. The GM does likewise, though the GM usually has a visual screen of some kind-a trifold cardboard screen, an open book or the like-to keep the players from seeing too much information (including the surprises) about the adventure.
There is invariably a lot of talking, catching up, occasional gossip, joking and 'shop talk' as everyone is setting up. This takes longer, usually, than setting up, but since this is a social game, that's half the point. At some point, though, the GM draws everyone's attention to the game, and it begins.
The GM and players may recap what happened the last time they played, refreshing their memories of what has brought their characters to this point. Have you ever played a video game, then not gotten back to it for a week or two, and when you start it up again, you have no idea what's going on anymore? Same thing here, except you have everyone's memory working to catch up with the moment again.
This done, the GM then explains where the characters are (usually where they left off, like the cliffhanger of a movie or TV episode), reminds the players what they were doing or planning (in my case, frequently, the players have to remind me) and reestablishes the environment and situation. Remember, this is all done verbally, though many GMs like to use visual aids like photos or drawings to more quickly explain. Anybody the characters are talking to or interacting with (including fighting) are described again to refresh the mental image. These "non-player characters" are abbreviated as "NPCs". Quicker to say, quicker to type.
Playing the Game
Having thus established the scenario, the GM then turns things over to the players. They may ask questions to clarify their mental image, like, "Where is that beady-eyed guy standing now?" "What color is the carpeting in this room?" "Does the door look weak enough to bash in?" "Does the king seem amused by the fact that we're covered in mud?" The GM, who has the original mental image of the scene in mind, can answer these questions off the cuff. She acts as the eyes and ears for everything around the characters, allowing the players to experience it more vividly. Simple questions based on perception are answered truthfully.
It bears mentioning that certain questions will not be answered truthfully, or at all. These are questions the characters would have no way to know the answers to. "Is she going to try to pick my pocket?" "What is the combination of this lock?" "What will happen if I pull this lever?" "Does he really like me, or does he just want me to buy his merchandise?" Any questions regarding information the characters have not stumbled across, or questions about what an NPC is thinking can only be answered according to the characters' perceptions or, if all else fails, with a simple, "You don't know."
Now the game really begins. Armed with the information provided by the GM and what they see in their minds' eye, the players can have their characters take action. "I charge the dragon with my axe, yelling at the top of my lungs." "Can I climb this wall?" "I take a drink of ale and listen to the guys at the table behind me." Taking action can also include (very importantly) talking to NPCs. This is done "in-character," as if the player was really her character and the GM was really the NPC the character is talking to. Characters can negotiate, travel, fight, sleep, flirt, eat, research, anything people in that environment can do. Many characters can also do things most people could not do in that environment. They may cast magical spells, or use high-tech spy gadgets, or use psychic abilities, or walk a tightrope as thin as kite string (depending on the game, of course). They may fight (and kill) demons in righteous fury, they may travel between different worlds, they may become rulers or start their own martial arts academy.
RPGs are not limited in their choices the same way computer and video games are. Imagine a fighting game like Super Smash Bros Brawl where you could choose to knock out one of the blokes watching the match. How about a computer game like Baldur's Gate where you could build a house in the town of Nashkel? RPGs offer that kind of flexibility. The good GM pays attention to the interests the players show through the actions of their characters, so she can plan adventures that will appeal to them. Does the character want to plant an orchard? No reason he can't, unless the setting has nothing like trees. Does the character want to sneak into someone's mansion and make off with their silverware? She can go right ahead and try...unless nobody in the world has a mansion (or silverware). Players will know the ground rules for the setting, and they will understand what they can and cannot do according to the way that world is. Perhaps it is a world where there are no horses, but instead the people ride huge flightless birds. In this setting, a character could decide to take up riding-bird breeding, or have an idea to race them, or simply want to buy (or catch, or steal, or win) one with particularly bright feathers. The character's player wouldn't try to buy a horse, because there are none, but she is free to do (or at least try) what she will when it comes to the birds.
Combat
Most RPGs also have combat. Usually a lot of it. There are always monsters to fight, evils to vanquish, dragons to slay. Even in a game without monsters, there are usually terrorists, or Nazis, or gangs, or raiders, or poachers. There is always some foe, some conflict that is more than "man against nature", "man against himself" or "man against God." Without such conflict, RPGs would be little more than playing House, and, as a game, that's no fun. The characters (and, vicariously, their players) need to feel that they are making a difference, that they are heroes, and that the world is the better because they do their derring-do.
Combat can be anything from the finesse of a rapier duel to the messy splash of bullets from a machine gun to the flash and roar of terrible magics. Undead are turned or destroyed by faith (and, when that fails, bashed to flinders), dragons are slain in protection of innocent damsels, armies are decimated and always, always, there is something waiting around the proverbial corner to test its ability against the might of the characters. Some villains never learn, neh?
Sometimes, the characters must only protect themselves from a bunch of hooligans. Other times, they fight to protect their homes or loved ones from an invading army. And then there are the times when Evil is afoot, the world (or at least some significant portion of it) is in jeopardy, and the characters are the only ones who can stop it.
Rewards
The characters' rewards for heroing vary, from the simple gratitude of homeless people (hopefully not homeless due to the characters' actions) to wealth, status and power within the game's setting. Their rewards tend to be the kinds of things we wish we could get in this world. Piles of gold, tracts of land, titles of nobility, membership to an exclusive (game-world) club, adoration of fans, and the like. Many times, better weapons for the fight against evil make the most valued treasure of all. After all, who knows when the next villain is going to start mucking things up?
There are also less tangible rewards for the characters. Experience breeds competence, and characters may grow stronger, faster, smarter, more accurate and more knowledgeable. They may acquire special powers or associations with important organizations in the game world. There is always a system of improvement in RPGs, however, because if the character cannot develop and grow, that character will be no fun to play for very long.
Which brings us nicely to the other major difference between RPGs and computer, video or other kinds of games. RPGs are open-ended, not only in terms of choices that can be made, but also in terms of length. You do not "win" in an RPG, not in the classical sense. It is not the players versus the GM, nor is it a competition between players. As a story being written ad-lib, the end of one adventure can (and usually does) lead into the beginning of the next. Just like life, the story doesn't end when one obstacle is overcome-there are always more obstacles to face.
What this means is that RPGs are not usually games played in a single evening and then forgotten. It is typical for a group of friends to meet once a week, once a month, or more or less often, over the course of months or even years as they play out the adventures of their characters. Many players (and GMs) even play two or more separate storylines at the same time, perhaps meeting for one particular game every Monday night, another every third Saturday and yet a third on whatever night everyone can manage to get together, whenever that is. Players and GMs both may belong to different gaming groups, which expands the social aspect of the game even more.
In the end, there is usually not a set point at which any RPG can be considered "over". If a particular group of adventurers achieve goals that remove them from adventuring life, or if a party of heroes is wiped out by a particularly nasty encounter, another group of adventurers with different dreams and goals can be created and thrust into all-new adventures, whether in the same setting, or a different one entirely.
What is the Point?
Like any hobby, the point of an RPG is simple: to have fun. They are called role-playing games for a reason, after all. RPGs are a good way for friends to get together, share each other's company and participate in an activity that promotes cooperation, creative and logical thinking, problem-solving and social interaction. The imagination is unfettered, there is a (sometimes, much-needed) break from the difficulties of real life, and it is a chance to refresh and recharge.
It is also a way to create legends, stories the players and GMs will tell and retell with fond memory for years to come. The reason for such romanticism is that, in an RPG, characters (and, vicariously, their players) can make a real, measurable difference in the world. I mean, how often does one of us poor schmucks get to save the world, or even save the day? Players of RPGs come away from the gaming table feeling a sense of accomplishment, and even this can be elusive in our real lives.
Role-playing games are a self-affirming activity. Your decisions in the game have consequences on your character, and you get to see the relation of cause and effect. You see what decisions were poor ones, but more importantly, you also see what decisions were good ones. This helps bolster self-confidence and makes a person feel relevant. It helps develop social and communication skills (after all, you can't play without talking to other people) and promotes reading (anyone who cannot or does not read will find navigating rules to be pretty sodding difficult, at best). It encourages creative problem-solving and also offers the chance to really blow off steam.
Because sometimes, the dragons just need to be taken down.
Until next time, true believers!
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