Eposic RPG: FAQ

We've received a few questions from visitors that don't really know what roleplaying games are all about. Rather than try to answer you all individually, we thought we'd write up this FAQ page. Got it? This isn't a page about Eposic, but about roleplaying games (RPGs) in general. If you're already into RPGs, you'll probably already have your own answers to these questions, and they may differ from our answers. (But we're writing this FAQ; if you want to give your own answers, write your own FAQ!) If you're not already into RPGs, we think these answers will give you some insight into what RPGs are, and help you to know whether or not you ought to get involved in them--or what the heck your loved ones that have taken up the hobby are really up to!

Questions:

Question: These things called roleplaying games, often referred to as RPGs--what are they really?

Answer: Put simply, RPGs are exercises in imagination. Basically, a group of people gets together and pretends to be a different group of people. Each person in the group except for one is called a player. The one person in the group that is not a player has the job of referee, though he's seldom called that. In the popular Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) game, the referee is called the Dungeon Master. In other games, the referee may be called the GameMaster, the StoryTeller, the Director, etc. (In the remainder of this FAQ, we'll refer to the referee as the GM, which is short for GameMaster.)

Each player in the group assumes the role of a fictitious person, and interacts with the rest of the gaming group as though she were that fictitious person. The fictitious person a player pretends to be is called a character. When playing a character, players often say things like, "I draw my longsword and attack the goblin." What they really mean is, "Let's pretend that my character draws her longsword and attacks the goblin." But it's more fun to speak in the first person, as though you actually are your character. Think of it as being an actor in a play, but with the actor making up his own lines as the play unfolds.

Question: What are the rules for a roleplaying game?

Answer: It is the GM's job to decide on the rules he will use in his game, and to convey to the players what these rules are. If the group is ok with the rules the GM sets forth, then everyone may have an enjoyable experience. If one or more people in the group don't like the GM's rules, they can present their arguments to the GM as to why they think the rules should be different from what the GM has proclaimed. But the GM has the final say in all matters. RPGs are not examples of democracies. If you are playing a game where you find you are disagreeing constantly with the GM, and the GM refuses to see things your way, the only recourse you have is to find another group, or at least another GM.

Not every GM has the time or motivation to make up his own set of RPG rules. To make things easier for these GMs, gaming companies publish rules for various types of roleplaying. TSR (now owned by Wizards of the Coast, the company that publishes the Magic the Gathering collectible card game) was the first company on the roleplaying scene in 1974 with its Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) game. Flying Buffalo Inc. (FBI) followed shortly thereafter in 1975 with their Tunnels and Trolls (T&T) game. Numerous other companies have published numerous other sets of rules since then.

The most popular RPG rules used today are the Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) rules, based on the original D&D game. The current version of the game is referred to as D&D 3rd edition. You may also hear the acronym AD&D bantered about. This stands for "Advanced Dungeons and Dragons", which was what the 1st and 2nd editions of the current 3rd edition were called. For the 3rd edition, the game publishers decided not to refer to their product as "Advanced". But the 3rd edition rules are just as complicated as either of the 1st or 2nd edition rules were, and maybe more so. It's definitely not a beginner's game.

For a game suitable for beginners, turn to Ken St. Andre's Tunnels and Trolls game. (More about this below.)

Regardless of what published rules a gaming group might decide they want to use in a game, it's still the GM's prerogative to enforce and/or modify the rules as he sees fit.

Question: How do I win a roleplaying game?

Answer: Well, since the GM is making the rules of the game, you have to ask the GM how he determines the winner. Most GMs don't bother to declare winners. The reason people play RPGs is not to win, but to participate, and to briefly escape reality. This implies that RPGs are not really games. RPGs have rules, but often no stated objective other than to just 'have fun'. The 'game' is left open-ended, ending whenever the GM and/or the group decides it is time to end it and move on to something else. Some players say that if a character is 'still alive' when the group decides to end things, then the person playing that character has 'won'. Maybe the best way to look at it is to consider yourself a winner if you had fun.

Question: What is a campaign?

Answer: Before a group begins to play an RPG, the GM determines the rules of the game. Involved in this is the task of determining the history and setting (genre) of the fictitious world in which the players' characters will 'exist'. The collective rules, history, and setting of the GM's devising are often referred to as a campaign. Thus, you may hear of a GM talking about his D&D campaign. This means the GM is using the D&D rules (possibly modified) in his game. It doesn't indicate, however, anything about the history or setting of his game. On the other hand, if someone says he is 'running' a Dark Sun campaign, he is actually telling you more, since there are published materials complete with history and setting details about a fictitious world called Athas, also referred to as Dark Sun.

When someone says they are running a campaign, they mean that they are taking on the job of GM for an RPG game on a reoccurring basis for the same group of players and characters for an extended duration. They aren't saying anything about what rules they're using, what the history of their fictitious world is, or what the setting for their fictitious world is. Before you agree to play, ask what rules they are using. The answer to this question may offer insight as to what setting to expect, provided you know something about the rules they say they are using. If not, ask about the setting. (For instance, GURPS, published by Steve Jackson games, is a set of rules that can be used to run a game of practically any genre. Someone running a GURPS campaign could be running a fantasy game, a space game, a spy game, a cyberpunk game, a superheroes game, etc., etc.)

As for the history of the GM's fictitious world, many GMs are rather lazy at providing such to their players. This is unfortunate, as GMs often have certain assumptions about their fictitious worlds that the players do not share, causing much confusion during the game. This is one area where published materials can be very handy. If you are a GM running a campaign for a fictitious world for which there are published materials, allow the players to read as much of the material as possible (without giving away any campaign secrets, of course) before starting the campaign. This will help the players to better visualize the fictitious world in which their characters supposedly exist.

Question: How do I create a character?

Answer: The GM must tell you how to go about this, as character creation depends on the set of rules he is using for his campaign. In some games, such as D&D, there are several options given for creating a character, and it is left up to the GM and possibly to the players as to which option(s) to use.

Most GMs run campaigns that require characters to have certain quantified or qualified attributes. In D&D, a character's attributes are: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. A player rolls some number of six-sided dice for each attribute, and assigns the total or some portion of the total to the attribute. Usually, the higher the number, the more impressive the attribute. Higher values for attributes are generally more desirable in other RPGs as well. The methods used to generate attributes in RPGs other than D&D varies widely, as do the names associated with the attributes, as do the number of attributes assigned to each character.

Some published RPG games use a point system in the character creation process. Rather than roll dice to determine values of attributes, each player is alloted so many points to begin with, and may assign these points to her character's attributes in any way she sees fit, subject to approval by the GM. In this type of system, players more often get to play the type of character they really want to play, provided they understand the rules well enough to design a character appropriately. GURPS is an example of such a system, as is FUDGE (a freely redistributable universal gaming system that has gained popularity due mainly to its being available for free over the internet--there's a link to more FUDGE info on our links page, which you can reach by clicking the Elsewhere link in the left margin).

Other things to consider when creating a character: Your character's name, age, sex, height, weight, currently-owned possessions (usually referred to as equipment), and background story. The background story must not conflict with the GM's world history and setting. Of course, all aspects of each character are subject to GM approval. If the GM says your character isn't allowed in his world, then you've got to change something about your character; the GM will tell you what you need to change.

Some RPGs require you to choose a race or kindred for your character. In RPGs, the race of a character usually isn't something as mundane as Caucasian, African-American, Asian, Hispanic,etc. More exotic races abound in RPGs, depending on the setting of the campaign. In a fantasy setting, elves, dwarves, and hobbits are among the races to which your character may belong. In a space campaign, your character might be a Vegan, Vulcan, or Ewok, depending on the specifics of the setting for the GM's campaign. In some games race isn't important, while in other games the GM may give your character special abilities based on the character's race. This should all be spelled out in the GMs rules for his campaign.

Another facet of a character in some RPGs is the character's profession, or class. The character's class is an indication of the types of skills the character is trained in and can most easily improve in. In 3rd edition D&D, there are 11 classes: Barbarian, Bard, Cleric, Druid, Fighter, Monk, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Sorcerer, and Wizard. Characters of each class have certain special abilities that pertain just to that class. In class-based games, your character is expected to act like a member of the class (profession) to which she belongs.

Some RPGs don't force you into a stereotype by making you choose a class. They let you pick and choose from a master set of skills, and the skills you choose for your character might not be very much related to each other. Good GMs will ask players to explain their choices of skills in the background stories for their characters. You should strive to do this anyway, unless the GM specifically tells you not to.

Question: So how do I actually play an RPG?

Answer: OK, so you've gotten a group together and one of your number has been designated as the GM. The GM has decided on the rules, the history, and the setting for his campaign. The rest of the group has agreed that it sounds fun enough to play and have created characters. What to do next?

After the players have created characters, play proceeds as follows: The GM describes the current situation of the characters, with the players asking for as much clarification as they need to understand the situation their characters are in. The players then describe how their characters act given their current situation. According to the rules of the game, the GM determines the chances for success of the actions described by the players. The success of these actions is then determined, usually through some random or pseudo-random method (such as rolling dice). The process then repeats itself, with the GM describing the new current situation of the characters, based on the success or failure of the attempted actions of the characters.

This process usually continues for some number of hours, until the group decides it is time to quit and return to reality. This period of time spent playing the game during some number of contiguous hours is often called a 'session'. The game does not usually end at the end of a session. Rather, the group will take up with their characters where they left off at the end of one session and start there when they get together and begin the next session. The game is left open-ended, continuing from one session to the next.

Exceptions to the above are RPGs played at conventions, where a game will only be played for one or a very few sessions; these games are not referred to as campaigns, but are sometimes referred to as 'tournaments'. (Often at such convention tournament games, one or more players will be given prizes for playing well, so in these cases, there are 'winners').

Occasionally, a GM might wish to run a 'short' game of only a few sessions. In such cases, the GM usually has some particular reason for running a short game, and such reasons vary wildly. But for the most part, a group will continue to play an RPG campaign for several sessions, ending it when either all the characters 'die', or the GM runs out of challenges for the characters, or the group decides they would rather do something else.

Question: Do I need special computer programs to play?

Answer: No. Some companies publish computer programs to help you play their RPGs. But most companies aren't currently doing this, and none of them require you to buy computer programs to play GM-moderated RPGs. It can be very convenient to have computer programs to help you track your characters if you're a player, but the largest benefit of RPG computer programs is the aid they can give a GM in creating a campaign and in populating his fictitious world with lots of believable non-player characters (NPCs), monsters, and treasure.

Question: Do I need dice to play?

Answer: No. There are published games that do not require dice or any other means by which to produce random or pseudo-random results. However, most RPGs rely on some mechanism whereby random numbers are generated, with the result used to indicate success or failure of an attempted action. If you are playing D&D without any modifications, you will need a number of dice of different sizes (number of sides). The normal six-sided dice are used in a lot of RPGs, but four-sided, eight-sided, ten-sided, twelve-sided, and twenty-sided dice are also commonly used.

Most RPGs use a common notation to designate a number of dice of a given size. This notation is nds, where n represents the number of dice and s represents the size of each die. For example, 3d8 designates that three dice, each with eight sides, are to be rolled, and their total used to indicate success or failure (and probably the degree thereof) of an attempted action.

Question: Do I need a group to play?

Answer: No. But if there's only one person playing, that person shouldn't be both player and GM; there's little fun in that. It's better to have a group, but when you can't get a group together for whatever reason, you can try solitaire play. Some companies have published adventures specifically for individual play. Of these, we recommend the Tunnels and Trolls (T&T) solitaires published by Flying Buffalo Inc. You can find a link to their web site on our links page (which you can reach by clicking the Elsewhere link in the left margin). You'll need to buy a copy of the T&T rules to play the solitaires, as the solitaires assume you already know the rules. (Unless you buy the solitaires published by Corgi, a British publisher; their solitaires had a mini-rules section that explained enough of the rules to play the solitaire. This is a very inexpensive way for a beginner to learn about roleplaying.) The only dice used by T&T are six-sided dice, so you don't have to go hunting for dice of other sizes.

There's also a number of solitaire T&T adventures on the web. Eposic has developed an animated dice roller designed specifically for use with online T&T solitaires. Visit the T&T Corner in our RPG section (click on the RPG link in the left margin, then click the Quick Link to the T&T Corner) to find the animated dice roller, including a list of links to sites with more information about online solitaires.

And, hey, remember, the main objective of an RPG is to have fun! We hope you do.