RPGS play a big role

RPG’s play a big role

By Kenneth Bullock

 

You are an extension of yourself, transcending what limits you in real life.

 

If you search online for Dungeons & Dragons, video game role playing games or cosplay, entire followings can be found. This is because RPGs and roleplaying in general are a lifestyle. The feeling some get from RPGs is almost magical.

 

Clinton Hammond, a longtime D&D player said he first tried the imaginative game back in 1979. Hammond said he enjoys the game for the social aspect and the ability to make characters based on your personality. However, he said there are too many rules to the game and it takes away from the openness role play brings.

 

“Running a fast and loose game for people who have never played before can be thrilling when you watch them open up,” said Hammond. “It’s when they lose themselves in the story and exhibit some truly lateral thinking.

 

The longer Hammond played RPGs for, the more he realized their one glaring flaw: The idea of having a game system in general. The hardcover rulebooks and accessories drew away from the stories Hammond immersed himself in. After this epiphany, he threw away character sheets with numbers and focused more on the descriptions of the characters themselves.

 

The purpose of an RPG is to place yourself in a different world and mindset. Aside from RPGs, there are also people who merely role-play online. Care Schrei, a cosplayer and online roleplayer said one of the reasons for her love is to break away from the norm.There are story-role plays people can participate in, but Schrei prefers one-on-one roleplaying.

 

“I like seeing what will happen with different actions and reactions,” said Schrei. “It’s sort of like a book written by two people.”

 

Schrei explained how important is to have similar interests with someone, or else it’s difficult to co-ordinate a story. Another important facet of doing a roleplay is setting guidelines. Trying to improvise without some kind of plan will not end well.

 

An amateur roleplayer may want to make their character invulnerable. Schrei calls this “godmoding.” A potential for death makes a character more realistic and closer to life. Roleplaying isn’t about breaking every limit of the human experience, but rather making little tweaks to give you more leeway while still keeping life-like limitations such as emotion and injury.

 

Some people will take an established idea, like from an anime or television show. Others will create an entirely new concept. D&D was one of the first forms of RPG to appear.

 

“Who your guy was, what he was good at, what he wasn’t good at, as Game Master, I had a pretty good handle on what was probably going to happen,” said Hammond. “The better players were at creatively impacting and interacting with the storyline, the more things tailed to them.”

 

Hammond said he has more fun when his character has many different limitations. One of his favourites was a legless warrior, riding around on a saber-toothed cat. When asked what Hammond would say to someone who wanted to try out D&D, he merely said…“Do you wanna play?”